Cleaning a new wood handled knife

mobenzowner · Jul 30, 2012

I know many of you thoroughly clean a new knife upon it's arrival. Some of you like to give the knife a nice wash with soap and a toothbrush under hot water to clean the joints and liners. This gets out grit, polish residue and what not. In most cases this does indeed make the knife smoother to operate. I have done this on ocassion to my bone and stag handled knives. What do you all do when you receive a wood handled knife that seems gritty? I cant imagine a warm/hot water and dawn diswashing liquid bath being a good thing for the wood. What method is good for cleaning a new gritty ebony, cocobolo, or bocote handled slippie?

richstag · Jul 30, 2012

I will just open the knife and put a good amount of CLP into the pivot and all along the inside of the backspring. Then I work it open and closed a couple times and let it sit overnight on the backspring with a paper towel under it. In the morning all the crud has run out and I wipe it all out with a pipe cleaner and wipe off the excess oil with a rag. My ebony 85 has seen lots of accidental harsh chemicals and such and nothing bad has happened. I would not use soap and water on purpose though.

As a matter of fact I don't clean any of my knives with soap and water.

When I really want to overhaul my 85 I fill it up with CLP and blow it out with 150psi of air

For regular pivot oiling I usually use mineral oil if its a food safe knife. Either way, I have found CLP works better for breaking loose crude.

Paradiggum · Jul 30, 2012

richstag said:
I will just open the knife and put a good amount of CLP into the pivot and all along the inside of the backspring. Then I work it open and closed a couple times and let it sit overnight on the backspring with a paper towel under it. In the morning all the crud has run out and I wipe it all out with a pipe cleaner and wipe off the excess oil with a rag. My ebony 85 has seen lots of accidental harsh chemicals and such and nothing bad has happened. I would not use soap and water on purpose though.

As a matter of fact I don't clean any of my knives with soap and water.

When I really want to overhaul my 85 I fill it up with CLP and blow it out with 150psi of air

For regular pivot oiling I usually use mineral oil if its a food safe knife. Either way, I have found CLP works better for breaking loose crude.

I second the notion of loading it up with something like CLP and using an air compressor. In my case I used WD-40, but I was looking to remove water. Well, sweat. I went on a 9 mile hike on a rather hot day. I usually just carry an H1 Spyderco, but I forgot to take the peanut out of my pocket and when we were finished with the hike it was quite soaked. So I dried it the best I could at the car and hit it with WD-40 when I got home. Blew it out with the air compressor the next day and oiled it. Worked like a charm. Got out quite a bit of pocket dust that the usual pipe cleaner swipe missed.
:thumbup:

richstag · Jul 30, 2012

Paradiggum said:
I second the notion of loading it up with something like CLP and using an air compressor. In my case I used WD-40, but I was looking to remove water. Well, sweat. I went on a 9 mile hike on a rather hot day. I usually just carry an H1 Spyderco, but I forgot to take the peanut out of my pocket and when we were finished with the hike it was quite soaked. So I dried it the best I could at the car and hit it with WD-40 when I got home. Blew it out with the air compressor the next day and oiled it. Worked like a charm. Got out quite a bit of pocket dust that the usual pipe cleaner swipe missed.
:thumbup:

That WD works wonders for displacing water though doesn't it! I dropped my 85 into a bucket that filled with rain water the other day. I flushed it with CLP but you could still see moisture. Flushed it with WD and it was GONE.

navihawk · Jul 30, 2012

I use mineral oil. let it soak into the joints and use shop air to blow it out. Wipe down the wood afterwards.Usually the wood is stabilized, but my ebony GEC kind of likes the oil. I oil the joints with a little Buck knife oil I got from 300Bucks for which I am grateful. It has graphite in it and makes for a nice smooth joint.

Obsessed with Edges · Jul 30, 2012

I think mineral oil is a good idea, with wood. A lot of wood furniture-restoring 'oils' are mineral-oil based anyway, so I can't see it hurting a wood-handled knife at all. I'd avoid using anything with strong solvent in it, which might strip too much of the wood's natural oils, and maybe even the color. The solvent in WD-40 is pretty mild and will evaporate quickly anyway, and the balance of what's left is light mineral oil. For flushing out grit/dirt, I'd think WD-40 would be fine. Focus the spray on the internals of the knife, and minimize getting too much on the wood. Wipe down the wood immediately after.

sitflyer · Jul 31, 2012

I don't fear using a little mild dish detergent and warm water on my wood handled knives, especially when it is a wood like Mahogany, Bocote etc. I often will use my EDC knives cutting a sandwich, or other light food prep duties, and will clean them afterwards like any other knife, then pat dry and blow out what water I can...they do fine. IF the wood shows any signs of excess drying, then I will add a few drops of mineral, or orange oil and rub it in. When sharpening oil will inevitably get on my knives as I use oil stones, again, no worries, just pat off the extra oil and good to go. I believe that they were made to use, and most of these woods will hold up to much more than most people subject them to...just my opinion...

Will Power · Jul 31, 2012

My Queen Heritage Ebony got the usual scrub down with a small amount of liquid soap and the toothbrush. I never put the knife in water, just a running tap. Afterwards, hairdryer, WD40, drop of oil and wax polish on the handle. Shine on!

mobenzowner · Jul 31, 2012

I really appreciate all the thoughts and suggestions.......
Kevin

supratentorial · Aug 1, 2012

I do wash my bone handled knives with soap and water. But for knives with wood covers, I only wash the blades. Mineral oil will darken some woods such as cocobolo. With oil and use cocobolo can start to look like ebony. Un treated wood actually has some anti-microbial properties (see quote below). Case's ebony seems to be robust. I accidentally put one of my ebony handled Case knives through the wash. !!! It survived though it's a little worse for wear. The wood covers were warped a little but returned to normal when it dried.

bernard_levine said:
Yes, that's the stuff.

2-3 drops on a soft rag, wipe down the metal parts.

A drop or two won't hurt most handle materials, BUT slobbering it on will discolor bone or ivory, weaken leather.

2-3 drops on a soft rag. THAT IS ALL. Don't glug-glug it :barf: all over everything.

*

Mineral oil won't HURT the wood of a cutting board, but oiling a board :thumbdn: defeats the antibacterial properties of dry wood.

So for pretty, use oil. For health, use NOTHING but soap and water.

http://www.knife-expert.com/cut-bo93.txt

If you're the kind of kid who doesn't wear a bike helmet because it would mess up your hairdo then go ahead and oil that cutting board...