Cleaning Sharpeners

[JNieporte]

I'm using ceramic rod sharpeners. Crock sticks. My problem is, they're covered with black and grey metal from use. I've tried cleaning them with Comet, but it only gets a small amount off. I've even made a paste of it and left the stick in overnight, with not-much-better results. I've tried Hoppe's gun cleaning solvent, Tuff Glide, Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, dishwashing liquid, and a Birchwood-Casey cleaning kit for guns, but there's still a lot of metal on the stick. I realize that it'll never look how it did when it was new, but I was expecting a little better than this. Any suggestions before I retire the stick?
I don't imagine it would be too effective if it's got metal all over it.

 

[scale6]

comet, bartenders friend, a rag and a little water you won't belive it, like new!!

 

[C Ben Susrool]

A little SoftScrub spread on and rubbed in with my thumb, rinsing under the kitchen faucet does wonders for my Spyderco rods. :thumbup:

 

[gunmike1]

AG Russell rust eraser. No water, no mess, gets the ceramics really clean.

 

[StretchNM]

I use simple green on a blue shop towel. Gets roughly 85 percent off (I'm guesstimating). Every so often, I go to the kitchen sink with comet and water. No complaints.

I used to use Hoppe's #9 but it left a residue and odor.

 

[Harry White]

try a "rust eraser" or a plain pink eraser, or over-cleaner. use a scouring pad with comet and/or barkeepers friend (a rag is not abrasive enough).

 

[StretchNM]

Yes, I forgot to say I use a nylon scrub pad to rub the Comet in on the stones. Get's them about 97% clean (again - guesstimating)

 

[colima]

I've tried most of these things - except for the Mr. Clean Magic stone.

Barkeepers friend has been the easiest for me.

It based on an acidic formulation that makes the metal on the ceramic disappear with very little effort.

The result is like new - only smoother from use.

 

[JNieporte]

I'll try Barkeeper's Friend. Thanks all.

 

[Jeff Clark]

PS It doesn't need to look good to work.

 

[kgd]

CLR and nylon scrubby gets my 80% white again

 

[Jeff Clark]

Another thing to be sure of is to remove all traces of cleaning solvents from your rods before you use them. The solvents will cause the rods to gum much worse than if used clean. Clean off solvent with hot detergent and/or sink cleanser. You might try puting your rods in the silverware basket of your dishwasher and running it on a pot cleaning cycle with plenty of dishwasher detergent.

 

[Roadrunner]

Get yourself some Rust Erasers, you'll be glad you did. They work better than anything I've tried by a wide margin.