cleaning/rejuvenating G10?

B

bdmicarta

Joined
Feb 16, 2012
Messages
6,173
1. I've got this old EDI Genesis II that was my EDC for awhile. It started with black G10 but now the G10 looks like it has oxidized or something like that, it's more gray than black. I was wondering if it is possible to clean it. I also read somewhere here that "WD40 does wonders for G10".

DSC_6667b.jpg



2. I see lots of the special runs of different knives with other colors of G10 such as gray, brown, blue, orange. I was wondering if these colors of G10 are prone to discoloring either from dirt or oils from your skin and if so can they be cleaned easily?
 
WD-40 might do as well as anything. The light solvent in it can definitely help clean up old dirty oils or greases that may be there, and the mineral oil left behind should help darken it up again. It certainly won't harm the G10, which is virtually impervious to most chemicals & solvents, by design. You might test it on a small spot first, with a Q-tip or something similar.

You might also have some luck with products designed to clean & darken up rubber (tire blackener, perhaps?) or for plastic/vinyl trim on automobiles. I used something along those lines years ago, to darken up some faded-looking G10 on a couple of older Spyderco knives; they looked just like yours. It worked pretty well, though at the moment, the name of the product escapes me. I'll see if I can dig that up again.
 
Last edited:
I believe I was the one who said that WD40 does wonders on G10. What I like to do is scrub the handles with a toothbrush, some dish detergent and warm water to loosen any dirt or grime. This step may, in and of itself, clean the G10 to a very noticeable degree. Then I'll spray the handles with the WD40 and let it soak for a minute or so. Wipe it off and you're good to go. The WD40 will take it to the next level and remove any remaining grime and darken the G10 a bit.
 
Here's a video on this subject:
[video=youtube;u68LPvS2OmQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u68LPvS2OmQ&feature=plcp&context=C4bb6dddVDvjVQa1PpcFNtaLwxCO0bGHQ5mCFIPZOa g6K78MYsPA0%3D[/video]

Check out the rest of his videos too, they have a lot of info on sharpening and other things.

Erd
 
Erdbeereis said:
Here's a video on this subject:
[video=youtube;u68LPvS2OmQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u68LPvS2OmQ&feature=plcp&context=C4bb6dddVDvjVQa1PpcFNtaLwxCO0bGHQ5mCFIPZOa g6K78MYsPA0%3D[/video]

Check out the rest of his videos too, they have a lot of info on sharpening and other things.

Erd
Click to expand...

John Davis is awesome. He is so knowledgeable about blades and such.
 
Good video. the only thing I'd add is to use canned air (the kind you blow out computer keyboards with) to blow out the joint and insides. no matter how careful I am, I always get a little moisture in there somewhere.

~Chris
 
I've always used Windex & a soft cloth. Not as dramatic as CTS's method though. Did that anodized Strider have those scratches and dark spots before cleaning? Hope so......:p :D
 
Chris "Anagarika";10692305 said:
The tire shine is called Black Magic down here. Not sure how it'll affect the blade.
Click to expand...

The stuff I used is something akin to Armor-All, in terms of how it applies and the finish left. Nothing there to do any harm to the blade at all, and if applied with rag to the G10 only, no reason to even get any on the blade. If it were to get on the blade itself, at worst it might waterproof it a little bit.
 
When I've used armorall in the past it seemed to make plastic slick feeling, I didn't want to risk that with a knife handle. Yesterday I scrubbed that G10 with toothpaste and an old toothbrush. After cleaning it and drying it, the G10 didn't look much different. I sprayed on some WD40, let it set a few minutes then wiped it off. It seemed to be much darker. I don't really want my EDC knife to smell like oil so I washed it off with spray detergent. The G10 still looks much darker than it did and I can't tell that the grip has been affected any.
 
bdmicarta said:
When I've used armorall in the past it seemed to make plastic slick feeling, I didn't want to risk that with a knife handle. Yesterday I scrubbed that G10 with toothpaste and an old toothbrush. After cleaning it and drying it, the G10 didn't look much different. I sprayed on some WD40, let it set a few minutes then wiped it off. It seemed to be much darker. I don't really want my EDC knife to smell like oil so I washed it off with spray detergent. The G10 still looks much darker than it did and I can't tell that the grip has been affected any.
Click to expand...

The 'armor-all' comparison I mentioned, didn't really imply a slick finish on the G10. On smooth surfaces, definitely slick. On the G10, it darkened it up, but the G10 retained it's grippy texture.
 
Erdbeereis said:
Here's a video on this subject:

Check out the rest of his videos too, they have a lot of info on sharpening and other things.
Click to expand...


I watched the video and it was interesting. I've never heard of the Mr. Clean Eraser, or maybe never paid any attention to it. Seems that it is some sort of plastic scrub pad.

Watching the video though was somewhat of a mistake because then I got into watching all of the people responding to jdavis with videos of why they prefer tip-up carry. This was the mistake because most of these guys employ some sort of slight of hand when opening their knives, something that is disguised by the slow framerate of youtube. I finally gave up before I wasted too much of my afternoon. Later on I'll have to go back and search for more videos by jdavis himself.
 
First thing, scalding hot water, a toothbrush, and some dish soap. Give it a good scrub down and shoot it with some compressed air to dry it off, and a bit of WD40 to displace any extra water and darken the scales a bit and see what you get. If you want to keep it as a nice bit of history leave it be after that. If you want to carry it and want some real grip to the scales again, hit them at low pressure with an abrasive blaster. Baking soda is a great media to rough up plastic. Sharp enough to etch plastic without being overly agressive. You could even blast the knife fully assembled and it won't put a mark on the metal parts on that knife.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top