Have you ever put a SAK in the ultrasonic? I've been weary of doing so myself because I fear that it will ruin the scales or dissolve the glue that holds it in place. Their scales seem a bit lacking in the durability side in my opinion.
Personally though with how there is toothpick in there and how I use the SAK toothpick all the time I would go overboard by some peoples standards in cleaning. I would remove the plastic scales and clean the scales separates from the metal as I can be a bit more hard on the metal than the scales. For me that probably means a ultrasonic cleaner, toothbrush, alcohol swabs. The scales would be soap and water, alcohol swabs. And I would just buy new toothpicks, their cheap. I am just worried about all the crud/gunk in the scales from the precious owner using the toothpick, and getting all that stuff back on it after I put a clean toothpick back in there unless I do this.
If you don't have an ultrasonic, it's by no means necessary just use soap and water with a toothbrush or larger nylon brush to get into all the nooks and crannies to get the crud out.
Edited In:
The alcohol swabs use isopropyl alcohol just like obsessed with edges used but in a more controlled fashion. So it is possible but a lot less likely that you experience the same thing he did. I use alcohol swabs to great effect on quite a few things that I be hesitant to douse isopropyl alcohol in, the limited amount you use being the key reason. It also typically starts to dry up before I even think about wiping it dry so exposure time is also quite limited due to the nature of it.
I will admit I never thought of using isopropyl alcohol like obsessed with edges did, I have to keep that it mind as it may come in handy at a latter date on a different project.
2nd Edited In:
Curiosity just got the better of me, so I tried the alcohol swab which is 70% isopropyl alcohol on the busted scale on my Vic Rally it seems to take little effort to disolve the scale, far less than expected. Just rubbing the swab on it a few times leave a red print on the swab. It's actually enough to dull down the color quite easily and make it look like junk. And I found if I rub it with my hand it will bring the normal color back after the alcohol dissolved. You can't tell I did anything to that scale now, but that scale is pretty beat up from pocket carry since 2006 so that's not saying much. In short I take back what I said, don't use it, it's more hassle than it's worth unless you feel like experimenting with a scale.
(I just didn't want to recommend something that could damage a knife, so I just tested it out despite have good success on everything else. I left the original post up in case anyone read it and just edited in the other stuff after experimenting.)
