Micarta grips and oil

S

Speed Triple

Joined
Jan 4, 2011
Messages
28
I just received my ESEE 5 and oiled the blade. Some oil ended up on the grips. I decided to put oil all over the grips as it looked bad with spots of oil only. This ended up not looking bad but only darker.

It's my first knife with Micarta grips so I'm new to it. Could the oil maybe damage the Micarta? How do you clean Micarta?
 
Micarta consists of thin layers of a cloth or paper (in the case of your knife they are canvass) sandwiched in between layers of a plastic resin. The top layer of canvass will absorb the oil, sweat, or other liquids but it does not go any deeper than the thin layer on the surface. The scales are easily cleaned with Dawn dish soap or other degreasing soap. Should look good as new when your done.
 
Yep wash the knife and scales under warm water with some dish soap and they will be like new.
 
Don't use the dishwasher, the layers will delaminate. There is not need to soak, submurge, or use excessive measures to clean them. Removing the scales is possible, but stripping the barrels inside is common, and then you have to realign the scales to the tang. It's more effort than is needed.
 
rweeks said:
Micarta consists of thin layers of a cloth or paper (in the case of your knife they are canvass) sandwiched in between layers of a plastic resin. The top layer of canvass will absorb the oil, sweat, or other liquids but it does not go any deeper than the thin layer on the surface. The scales are easily cleaned with Dawn dish soap or other degreasing soap. Should look good as new when your done.
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Thanks rweeks! Worked like a charm!
 
foxx said:
Don't use the dishwasher, the layers will delaminate. There is not need to soak, submurge, or use excessive measures to clean them. Removing the scales is possible, but stripping the barrels inside is common, and then you have to realign the scales to the tang. It's more effort than is needed.
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I'm very afraid of the dishwasher. Just stuffed up my wife's pressure cooker's lid in there and she gave me hell.
 
Yeah i dont think putting it in the dishwasher would be the best idea. I would just get a rag with a little bit of soapy warm water and wipe it down good. Then i would take a dry rag and get it dry as possible. When i oil up my blades i usually put some oil on a paper towel and wipe from the spine to the edge. I start by the handles and work my way up to the point. I usually never get any oil on the handles this way.
 
Hand soap worked well for me. I just scrubbed really well with a brush. I had let mine go for way too long when I cleaned it too; they were nearly black.
 
A little bit of dish soap goes a long way. My canvas scales don't usually get too bad, but I've got a Bark River with denim laminate scales that insists on soaking every drop of leather treatment out of its sheath.

The normal mud, clay, etc. that finds its way into my handles is easily taken care of with a toothbrush and some hot water.
 
plowboy87 said:
is there any way to keep the oil and sweat off the micarta?
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Other than wearing gloves...not really.

They're tools, I wouldn't worry about it. Micarta is pretty durable stuff, you're not going to hurt it. If you want it to look "pretty" forever then basically you need to not use it, that's just how micarta is. It will darken if you handle it, there's just no way around it.
 
The best solution to keep the micarta clean is to buy two knives, one to use and one to display. ;)
 
it's not about the looks, it tends to get slick when i'm working with them after a couple weeks and washing the scales is just a pain.
 
plowboy87 said:
it's not about the looks, it tends to get slick when i'm working with them after a couple weeks and washing the scales is just a pain.
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Understood. Wish I had a better answer, but again with micarta, it's kinda the nature of the beast....they just get dirty. Maybe ESEE will make some handles out of G10 eventually(hint hint Jeff and Mike). All the benefit of micarta without the absorption of oils and sweat.
 
i was thinking just that, fingers crossed for some day soon. that and a certain kick ass folder
 
I like the way it looks dirty. But yeah, just give it a quick scrub an it'll look like new for about as long as it takes to go out and put it to work again.
 
Use WD-40 to clean micarta. I've been machining/sanding/shaping the stuff for years and have always used WD-40 to get the dust off and see what I have without changing the look of the stuff. Obviously, it'll be wet for a few minutes but it dries quickly. Spray it down and then wipe it off well with a paper towel. It'll displace any oil or grease that's on there. Better than the water/soap method on knives in general as you're not then possibly trapping moisture in between the scales and tang. Obviously, that's not a concern on ESEE's with their coatings under the scales, but it's just a better habit to get into. Faster than soap/water too.

If you're using the knife often, one treatment per week (a time investment of about 45 seconds) should do the trick, unless you're just into something horribly nasty.
 
t1mpani said:
Use WD-40 to clean micarta. I've been machining/sanding/shaping the stuff for years and have always used WD-40 to get the dust off and see what I have without changing the look of the stuff. Obviously, it'll be wet for a few minutes but it dries quickly. Spray it down and then wipe it off well with a paper towel. It'll displace any oil or grease that's on there. Better than the water/soap method on knives in general as you're not then possibly trapping moisture in between the scales and tang. Obviously, that's not a concern on ESEE's with their coatings under the scales, but it's just a better habit to get into. Faster than soap/water too.

If you're using the knife often, one treatment per week (a time investment of about 45 seconds) should do the trick, unless you're just into something horribly nasty.
Click to expand...
That's what I did. It was darken of the oil in WD40. I washed it with soap and it was as new.
 
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