Properly clean a knife?

P

PristineDamascus

Joined
Dec 18, 2010
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41
Well received my Gold Shoki this morning and it was pretty dirty. Thinking about how it was made in the beginning of last year, plenty of people must've touched and deflowered my knife. (lol)

So how would I go about making it shine and perform like new?

I was going to use alcohol wipes and quickly dry it off, but can that damage the knife?

I have two microfiber eyewear cleaner wipes, but I don't know what else to use.
 
Boil it in bleach if you are that worried.

Most people just wipe it down with anything at hand. Maybe even wash it with dish soap on occasion.

You ever get this worked-up with a butter knife? Ever use a utensil in a restaurant?
 
Boiling hot tap water. Lots of it.

Then dry thoroughly, apply canned air if you're finnicky, and apply lube of your choice.
 
Different steel types require different cleaning methods. For most knife steels, very hot soapy water is good for the first pass, since only very high-alkaline substances are capable of tarnishing stainless steel.

Next, air dry it either at room temperature (don't use compressed air - the air that comes from those cans can be extremely cold and it can mess with any differential heat treating the blade may have undergone) or with a clean, unused towel or cloth. Then apply a lubricant or oil of your choice - my favourite is Hanwei oil.

Your knife's manufacturer will often have tips on optimal cleaning methods. Consult the great Google oracle and find out more about your blade to keep it in tip-top shape.
 
I normally take my knife apart, rub down the blade with Brasso, then wash it clean with soap and warm water, then wipe the pivot area of the liners with a Q-Tip, then reassemble the knife using Chris Reeve Grease between the washers.
 
TheBleedingEdge said:
Next, air dry it either at room temperature (don't use compressed air - the air that comes from those cans can be extremely cold and it can mess with any differential heat treating the blade may have undergone) or with a clean, unused towel or cloth. Then apply a lubricant or oil of your choice - my favourite is Hanwei oil.
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I'm just curious, but how would a can of compressed air hurt a knife? Even if it came out at -30 F, which cryogenic treatment of blades is done closer to -300 F, a quick blast to a hunk of steel would only cool the surface of the blade a couple degrees. Even if the whole blade got down to -30 F wouldn't that help most blade steels get rid of any retained austentite which is brittle? I would think if the knife has been around for a while and heat treatment done a while ago most metal transformations will have already occurred and all it will do is make a blade somewhat cold. People probably routinely have their knives get that cold around this time of year for us in the northern hemisphere. Is there really a concern about this that I am overlooking?
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
I'm just curious, but how would a can of compressed air hurt a knife? Even if it came out at -30 F, which cryogenic treatment of blades is done closer to -300 F, a quick blast to a hunk of steel would only cool the surface of the blade a couple degrees. Even if the whole blade got down to -30 F wouldn't that help most blade steels get rid of any retained austentite which is brittle? I would think if the knife has been around for a while and heat treatment done a while ago most metal transformations will have already occurred and all it will do is make a blade somewhat cold. People probably routinely have their knives get that cold around this time of year for us in the northern hemisphere. Is there really a concern about this that I am overlooking?
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I was wondering the same thing myself.
 
TheBleedingEdge said:
(don't use compressed air - the air that comes from those cans can be extremely cold and it can mess with any differential heat treating the blade may have undergone)
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Your kidding right?

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As for the question, Dawn dish soap, water, lube with G-10 gun oil. I will even use a good carnuba car wax on the blade. It will look new.
 
If you really need it clean, varsol is also a good option. Just soak the thing in varsol for a while, which should totally destroy any trace evidence left in the nooks and crannies. Then I'd recommend going out of town and throwing it into some obscure body of water along the way, just to ensure that even if there is some incriminating trace left on the knife, it probably won't...

Oh, wait, no, that's a different kind of cleaning. Nevermind then.
 
Oh, and maybe a nice anti-rust treatment around the pivot area. I don't know about the rest of you, but that seems to be where I get the most corrosion when I rinse my knife and the water gets trapped in that area(and I don't have a can of compressed air handy at work). A Marine Tuf Cloth only around the pivot should do the trick while leaving the rest of the blade safe for food.
 
I do it like Dorito...kind of. Hot! tap water to warm the steel, then dishsoap on a sponge, then rinse with hot! tap and dry with a towel.

For gunk, I'll use Simple Green and scrub with a blue shop towel, which works even better than WD40, I think. Sometimes when working on knives and I just want them clean and shiny, lighter fluid on a tissue.

But in all cases, in the end, it goes to the sink for hot tap and soap.
 
CWL said:
Boil it in bleach if you are that worried.

Most people just wipe it down with anything at hand. Maybe even wash it with dish soap on occasion.

You ever get this worked-up with a butter knife? Ever use a utensil in a restaurant?
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Bleach is a strong oxidizer, I would not recommend boiling your knife in bleach.
 
Hot water and Dawn detergent will clean it up good. It's amazing how many factories use dawn to clean their parts with. After rinsing, blow it off and use the lube of your choice. The most cost effective and efficient that I've used is Rem-Oil..
 
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