Sterilizing a blade?

M

Mr. McMick

Joined
Jun 24, 2010
Messages
101
Background: I flip a balisong in my spare time. No, I'm no master. Upon seeing one of my cuts, a friend suggested that I sterilize the blade, he suggested rubbing alcohol. Really, washing and wrapping cuts seem to keep them from being infected, but it was an intriguing thought. The only question I had was:

Would this damage the blade?

I seem to think it wouldn't, but while a knife enthusiast, I am hardly an expert on metals. So I figured it would be worth starting a thread on. Also, if this wouldn't work, any ideas on what would?

Thanks!
 
Rubbing alcohol is fine. Won't do a bit of damage to the steel. It is a solvent, so try to keep it out of the pivots/joints of your knives, or it'll flush out your lubricant. Not a big deal, as long as you re-lube afterwards.
 
if you really want to get ahead of it you could run some neosporin on the edge
doing woodcarving as a hobby since i was a kid, i have had tons of little cuts, none have ever become infected and i never clean the knives.
 
Rubbing alcahol is probably your best option. It removes germs, fingerprints, tape and sticker residue and whatever else. I actually clean my blades with it at times because it serves so many good purposes. Like others have said, don't get it in the pivot. It actually evaporates if you put it on a cloth, so don't worry about having to dry your blade.
 
SuzukiGS750EZ said:
Rubbing alcahol is probably your best option. It removes germs, fingerprints, tape and sticker residue and whatever else.
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It doesn't get rid of finger prints or glue. For that, use WD-40 and it'll come right off.
 
SuzukiGS750EZ said:
It actually evaporates if you put it on a cloth, so don't worry about having to dry your blade.
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That I did know :) Rubbing alcohol is actually great for IT work, when your cleaning out important parts of circuitry and such, it evaporates before damage can be done, quite handy. I still wondered about blades, having read about how some liquids, like blood, can seep in the pores and rust it from the inside out.

^Read that somewhere, it seemed a reputable source, but I could be wrong, if I am, sorry :/
 
Mr. McMick said:
That I did know :) Rubbing alcohol is actually great for IT work, when your cleaning out important parts of circuitry and such, it evaporates before damage can be done, quite handy. I still wondered about blades, having read about how some liquids, like blood, can seep in the pores and rust it from the inside out.

^Read that somewhere, it seemed a reputable source, but I could be wrong, if I am, sorry :/
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Blood is salty. That's what really accelerates rusting. And it doesn't help that blood will coagulate and trap that salt & moisture in those pores. Not an issue with the alcohol or other solvents. In fact, solvents like alcohol do their best work by breaking down solids (like dried blood) and displacing water & other liquids from those tiny pores in the metal.

I used to work in electronics too. Alcohol (IPA) was useful in situations where something got wet. Does a thorough job of flushing out water from all those nooks & crannies that otherwise can't be reached.
 
THG said:
It doesn't get rid of finger prints or glue. For that, use WD-40 and it'll come right off.
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While still wet, alcohol will help dissolve & remove fingerprints. I used to work in semiconductor manufacturing, and in cases where silicon wafers were touched with ungloved hands (not supposed to happen, but it does), we used IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol) on a cotton swab to clean the prints & finger oils off.

And it does also work on some (but not all) adhesives, like the type used on price stickers on merchandise & such. I've used it to clean the 'goo' left behind when stickers are peeled off.
 
Would rubbing alcohol work to take out the gunk in the pivots? I would relube after drying, or course.
 
singularity35 said:
Would rubbing alcohol work to take out the gunk in the pivots? I would relube after drying, or course.
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Yes. It's a solvent, so it would break down oil & grease. When I've taken apart some of my knives, I've found it very easy & convenient to drop the small parts, like screws & washers, into a jar with some rubbing alcohol in it. Let 'em soak in there while you're cleaning up the rest of the knife. As previously mentioned, the alcohol will evaporate rapidly when you take the parts out of the jar, so drying is a breeze too.
 
SBaker34 said:
I don't leave the knife sitting in alcohol all day it will corrode cheap metal.
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Rubbing alcohol is usually sold in diluted form (usually 70% - 99% alcohol, with the remaining balance being purified water). The only way I can see corrosion coming out of this is, if the container is left open, allowing the alcohol to evaporate off (leaving the water). The plain water could obviously cause corrosion, but the alcohol itself is non-corrosive. The obvious fix for this is to keep a tight lid on the container (which I do anyway, to keep the fumes down).

Keep in mind, medical/surgical instruments were often soaked, and even stored in alcohol solutions for decades, to keep them sterilized. As long as the alcohol remains, no corrosion issues.

Alcohol is also used extensively in the electronics industry to clean circuit boards & other parts. Obviously, if there were any danger of corrosion from the alcohol, it wouldn't be used in this manner.
 
Obsessed with Edges said:
Yes. It's a solvent, so it would break down oil & grease. When I've taken apart some of my knives, I've found it very easy & convenient to drop the small parts, like screws & washers, into a jar with some rubbing alcohol in it. Let 'em soak in there while you're cleaning up the rest of the knife. As previously mentioned, the alcohol will evaporate rapidly when you take the parts out of the jar, so drying is a breeze too.
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Thanks.
 
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