Cleaning fox knife handle

[Robbedoes70]

My wife's Fox Italy knife has a problem
The (plastic?) handle has become sticky, and washing it with soap does not help.
It is like the plastic is degrading.

Is there any way to clean and stabilize it?

Thanks in advance,
Rob

 

[Robbedoes70]

I have found a solution, i have cleaned the knife with baking soda.
It found the solution online on how to clean plastic containers.
The print on the knife is gone, but it is usable again.

 

[dkb45]

It sounds like there was some residue on the handle that soap wasn't removing. If that is the case, then simply using WD-40 and rubbing it down real well would have worked. I have never heard of plastic deteriorating, so I don't think that is the case.

What the baking soda did was act as a mild abrasive and removed whatever was on the surface of the plastic. Most polishing compounds rated for plastic would have also worked, or just plain old plastic cleaner or even something like Windex would have worked.

 

[Robbedoes70]

Thank you for your reply.
I have wd40 standing next to me and did never think to use it for cleaning.

There was a military style print on the handle, that became sticky. The handle is clean now, does not stick, but the print is gone.
My wife is missing the print, but is happy she can use her knife again (to open boxes of stuff she bought online)

 

[dkb45]

Thank you for your reply.
I have wd40 standing next to me and did never think to use it for cleaning.

There was a military style print on the handle, that became sticky. The handle is clean now, does not stick, but the print is gone.
My wife is missing the print, but is happy she can use her knife again (to open boxes of stuff she bought online)

Yup that was definitely the handle coating wearing out. Always remember that WD-40 is a solvent, and works awesomely for removing adhesive residue. Just don't use WD-40 as a lubricant, because it was not designed to do that.