100% acetone for knife cleaning.

[Phydeaux]

I only use acetone for removing layout dye and cleaning before I glue on scales with epoxy.Don't forget, acetone is quite flammable. Tape gunk, i use WD40.

If my memory serves me correctly several of the plastics that acetone will dissolve are acrylics, styrenes, acetates. You can dissolve the styrofoam packing peanuts (not the water soluble ones)in a container of acetone. It's really quite amusing. After you put a bunch of them in, it will start to increase the viscosity. A friend of mine said it's like "home made" napalm when it gets viscous enough. If you do burn it, stay away from the smoke and fumes. If you let the acetone evaporate, you get a lump of plastic.

Ric

 

[Skimo]

used motor oil, one oil change and you're set for life.

 

[bernard_s3]

I just cleaned up a leatherman supertool that was full of rust. Here's the method I used.
-Boil water and soak knife for 5 min
-Scrub with dish soap and scouring pad
-rinse
-using a med bristle toothbrush, scrub all parts with a 50/50 solution of CLR
-soak in the 50/50 solution for 5 min
-rinse and check for any remaining rust
-re wash with dish soap to remove all CLR
-DRY!!! then Oil

This leatherman was pretty rusted, now looks almost brand new. This should work with any SS knife, just remove all of the washers.

 

[Mitchell Knives]

One thing that noone has mentioned:

Acetone in it's straight form is not something that you want to be absorbing into your skin or breathing on a regular basis.
It can be nasty stuff.

+1

I use acetone frequently, and wear rubber gloves. If nothing else, acetone is bad for your skin.

 

[Bill1170]

+1

I use acetone frequently, and wear rubber gloves. If nothing else, acetone is bad for your skin.

Acetone strips the protective fats/oils from your skin, making it "too clean." This is very bad for your skin's integrity as a barrier to foreign substances and pathogens.

 

[GronK]

I prefer Windex or soap and water to get rid of tape gunk. I also find it helps to keep a knife dedicated to cutting tape for that purpose, but that's just me.

I would be careful with the Windex. There's ammonia in it that can react with metals. I sprayed generic glass and surface foaming cleaner on an ATS-34 blade for a quick clean up after cutting an orange and it immediately started turning black! It took a serious bit of rubbing with metal polish to bring it back.

 

[TomTerrific]

Read the ACGIH Documentation of Threshold Limit Values for info on the toxicity of acetone. Its main effect is respiratory irritation from breathing relatively high concentrations of vapors. The major hazard in my mind is being very flammable.

My degree is in chemistry and acetone is used a lot in labs. We used it to dewater glassware. Excessive skin exposure will dewater one's skin giving it that prune effect you also get from being in the bath too long.

It is prudent to avoid exposure when you can. Unfortunately, we usually don't have a small sample of handle material to test to see how acetone reacts with it.

Rubbing/isopropyl alcohol comes in different concentrations and some of it has skin conditioners added. It is used in cleaning scope lens and caution is required to not get the alcohol with gunk in it.

 

[Lord Bear]

TomTerrific what was that about dewatering glassware?

 

[TommyBBQ]

I have been told by a knifemaker that acetone is safe to use on a Bodegga's titanium handles. He said it will make the handles very shinny and make the colors really stand out. Does anyone here have a knowledge on this subject?

 

[dkb45]

Word of caution about acetone. It can melt some plastics. Seen it melt through some cups, and my mom has melted quite a few plastics with it. 70%or higher alcohol works nearly as well, and is safe to touch along with not melting plastics.

 

[SOLEIL]

2 year old necrothread, lol.

 

[Threethreethree]

I sometime use acetone on the blade if i have to but i avoid putting it on any plastics as i remember how it nearly melted the backspacer of my old BM afck, now it looks shiny and smooth.

I now generally use isopropanol or more commonly just a thorough cleaning with dish soap then wd40, i wipe and allow wd40 to dry then i lube with ballistol.

 

[BITEME]

I used acetone before and ended up leaving a fingerprint in the plastic scale(swiss army knife) so I don't use it anymore,lighter fluid i.e. Ronson,Zippo.. this stuff cleans tons of different stuff anykind of tape residue ,gunk ,oils,sharpie marker and it doesn't ruin plastic ..also pretty inexpensive

 

[Bill1170]

Acetone is fond of water, so it "dewaters glassware" by mixing with the water to pull it off the glass surfaces. Glass is very hydrophilic (loves water), and so is acetone. Rinsing with acetone strips off residual water, then the acetone dries quickly, leaving the glass clean and dry.

Acetone is safe for all bare metals, but definitely dissolves the butyrate scales found on Swiss Army Knives. G-10 is immune to casual contact, as is nylon (FRN), but I wouldn't soak them in acetone.

 

[om diggity]

Acetone is not as effective at degreasing as something like naptha or mineral spirits and is a lot harsher on more plastics.

 

[tholiver]

Yeah lighter fluid works for me! I've even used it (carefully) to clean gummy sticker residue off of book covers.
Since i converted my Zippos to butane i pretty much use lighter fluid just for cleaning stuff.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Thanks for the responses.
ATS-34 Gerber EZ Out (lo these many years ago) was the first knife I used acetone on. Before using acetone as gunk cleaner it had developed a patina with slight pitting. After using acetone the patina went away. Pitting remained of course but immediately stopped progressing. What an unexpected bonus I thought. Anecdotal at best but the memory prompted my original question about acetone and rust prevention.

I'm betting the rusting/pitting on ATS-34 (pretty highly stainless) was due more to salts, acids or other corrosives, and not so much just water. Acetone works well as a cleaner/stripper, so if there were some embedded salts or whatever on the steel, it might've done a pretty good job cleaning those up. But as mentioned by others, I wouldn't really expect acetone to prevent rust beyond that. Keeping the knife clean & dry will do most of that, and oiling a clean & dry blade won't hurt.

Also, true patina (black iron oxide) isn't likely to form on ATS-34 anyway, as the chromium in the stainless steel will form a chromium oxide layer (thin & transparent) instead. That is what makes the steel 'stainless'. Acetone also won't remove black iron oxide by itself; some abrasive action would be needed for that, as the oxide is integral to the steel itself. Whatever discoloration might've been on the steel, I'm betting it wasn't an oxide 'patina' as such, but some other surface residue on the blade.


David

 

[eKretz]

Acetone is safe to use as long as you're not sniffing it in enclosed areas, drinking it, or peeling back your skin and pouring into the hole. (For sure, don't drink it [yes, kidding! I hope no one would even consider this!] or clean with it and then light a smoke, for example). I have used it for many many years as a machinist to clean things that need to be oil-free. In my experience it works FAR better than mineral spirits, and the bonus is it evaporates away almost instantly, unlike mineral spirits or lighter fluid. Acetone is produced in small amounts by the human liver, so small amounts aren't harmful (I.E. The smidgen you might get on your hand from a dampened rag). It does indeed rapidly attack some plastics though, and will melt through styrofoam instantly, so do NOT try to pour it into a styrofoam cup.