Help, A bunch of my knives got wet!

scotchleaf

scotchleaf

Joined
Oct 23, 2006
Messages
2,232
I had a big cup of water spill right into my knife drawer full of folders. I opened them all, dried them as best I could, then left them on a towel with a fan going on them.

I know WD-40's main virtue is that it "get the water out." How would you use it to do so?

Also, What would you oil the knives with afterwards?
 
I’d hose everything with WD40. Blow out and warm them up with a blow dryer.

Should be good.

The WD40 will be fine as a lube until the next time you clean and lube them.

I’ve had knives in my pockets look like the we’re in a pool just from sweating on them in the summer.

(Unless there’s some exotic handle materials or something)
 
I'd likely just sit them on a heater (we have radiators and base board, either would be fine). What types of knives are they?
 
Sorry to say, but they're hosed. Mail them all to me and I'll help salvage some of them for you. ;)

But for real, shoot them with some compressed air and let them finish air drying, then lube them as usual. If they're all modern folders made of stainless steel, I highly doubt they'll start to develop rust. They might rust though if you put them back into that drawer without completely drying that out though.
 
Compressed air (or air duster cans). That should get most of the water out. Ive never had a knife rust, even cheap 8cr13mov blades! And I sweat terribly in the Mississippi summers!
 
If they feel dry right now , I think you did the right thing, hope you didn't forget to dry your drawer as well. :p
if you want you can give the blade if each knife you had
in that drawer a light coat of oil, I use mineral oil..Speaking of drying and mineral oil if you really wanna make sure they are dry you can always disassemble your knives and dry each part separately with a hand towel or 2.If I were you I would put each knife inside a small plastic bag to avoid the
hassle of drying each knife again.
 
Compressed air followed by generous WD40 followed by copious compressed air...then maybe with a drop of pivot lube and a bit more air.

I have a shop compressor, so I admittedly go overboard. It’s basically the same process I use to clean my knives; I use the WD40 as a solvent.
 
craytab said:
I'd likely just sit them on a heater (we have radiators and base board, either would be fine). What types of knives are they?
Click to expand...
Luckily, they were mostly beaters. However, a number of old Kershaws and a Benchmade otf auto got soaked! That last one is the most worrying.
 
Quick overnight them to me I have the resources to dry them out in a controlled environment with the propper heat, humity, and HEPA co trolled environment. I can't guarantee any survivors, time is the essence. I will give a proper burial to the ones who don't make it free of charge and send the rest back to you safe and secure in a vacuum pack.

But in all honesty your good, don't worry about it so much. Dry it off with a towel maybe compressed air if you really feel like it and it's a carbon steel blade. These are tools not sensitive electronic equipment there is no need to worry.
 
I would wipe the off and dry them. Use compressed air if possible. Add some lube after they are dry.

Added: On the bright side, at least the "water" was water and not a soft drink containing sugar.
 
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Water is terrible stuff. Some maniacs even drink it.

I always save all those little silica desiccant packs that come in everything. I keep then in drawers and stuff where I don't want moisture forming like in steel lockers.

If something gets soaked drop it in a ziploc bag with a bunch of those packs.
 
I'd do the same thing I do with my carbon steel kitchen knives.

Wipe them off, leave them out for a little while, put them away. It's just water. The knives are just metal.
 
Believe it or not, knives can withstand water.
Most knives can in fact be washed with soap and water.
Some recomend the use of warm water as a way for the heated metal to hasten water
evaporation.
Unlike a fixed blade, folders tend to retain water by virtue of its sandwiched constructing.
The aim is to ensure that everything is a 100% dried out before storage.
Trapped moisture is a huge no, no.
No doubt that some materials which make up parts of a knife ( as in its handle or scales ), may be porous in nature and soak up water.
Thus its best to avoid knives with such materials if water damage is a cause of concern.
There are of course some after care products which may help to coat or seal a material's surface and repel water.
Prevention is better than cure :)
 
I would open them, dry them off, while in there may as well service them (clean out gunk and re lube) then close them up. No need to soak them in grease or oil. You will just need to remove that eventually which will be harder than removing water. They will all be fine.
 
4mer_FMF said:
Compressed air followed by generous WD40 followed by copious compressed air...then maybe with a drop of pivot lube and a bit more air.

I have a shop compressor, so I admittedly go overboard. It’s basically the same process I use to clean my knives; I use the WD40 as a solvent.
Click to expand...

This ^ would be my choice if I didn't want to disasemble ... if it were my higher priced knives I would probably just disassemble them and wipe them dry ... leave it disassemble for a bit with a fan on and re-lube and put them back together.

Depending on how many knives that may take awhile ... in that case I would go the WD40 and compressed air until I had time to disassemble them.
 
craytab said:
I'd likely just sit them on a heater (we have radiators and base board, either would be fine). What types of knives are they?
Click to expand...

It's happening again, but I agree with craytab craytab . I have forced air heating/cooling in my home, so when a folder gets wet I dry off the outside with my shirt or a paper towel or whatever and then set it (closed) on its spine on one of the floor vents and wait for the heat/air conditioning to kick in. Whenever I remember I left a knife on the vent it's always nice and dried out (also quite warm, in the winter, or quite cold, in the summer). Works great . . .
 
I mean fundamentally they are tools. Unless you are working with low corrosion resistance steels like O1, M4, or especially A2, you're probably fine just shake them out. Hell you could take a blow drier to it them if you're concerned. But I doubt a cup of water is going to ruin your knives.
 
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