Flushing a knife.. best method?

[Ron4774]

I'm mainly focusing here on general maintenance of dirt/grime etc in pivot point and liners. This would be for brand new knifes to remove production grunge at the pivot as well as after use care. In my view actual rust removal is a wholly different topic..

So I've searched and seen threads on using simple soap & water flushing and some using WD-40 which I detest for many reasons but maybe the best for flushing despite my quirks, I dunno..

I'm wondering if just a good alcohol flush with a strong sprayer would be the trick as it dries all of its own pretty dang quick, then follow up with whatever oil lubricant. What think? Perhaps other astringents?

I prefer not to learn 'the hard way' about what to use and what not to use. I could of course use a guinea pig low-end knife for testing stuff but those usually don't have good steels to judge by.. Just wondering what you all have to say on the subject. Thanks.

 

[rje58]

Great question! I'm hoping to learn something in this thread, myself. I've read many different suggestions, but like you, I would love to know which ones are tried and true, and which are not as useful.

 

[Danketch]

If you need to clean your knife as soon as you buy it you are buying the wrong kind of knives.

What is production grunge?

Sorry I can't be that helpful as I have owned folding knives for over 30 years, and never once taken apart or oiled pivot area of one. I do clean out the liner/inside area of knife with a cotton swab and use a air gun as well.

If you were going to try to flush out the pivot- I don't think you are going to be able to accomplish that without disassembling the knife, then cleaning with cleaner of your choice, then re-lubing and re-assembly. It's steel, you really aren't going to hurt anything by using any cleaner you want as long as it isn't an acid.

 

[David45]

Polymer-safe Gun Scrubber followed by a drop or two of lube seems to work for me if really dirty. I then try to blow out the pivot to get rid of excess lube.

 

[Ron4774]

If you need to clean your knife as soon as you buy it you are buying the wrong kind of knives.

What is production grunge?

Sorry I can't be that helpful as I have owned folding knives for over 30 years, and never once taken apart or oiled pivot area of one. I do clean out the liner/inside area of knife with a cotton swab and use a air gun as well.

If you were going to try to flush out the pivot- I don't think you are going to be able to accomplish that without disassembling the knife, then cleaning with cleaner of your choice, then re-lubing and re-assembly. It's steel, you really aren't going to hurt anything by using any cleaner you want as long as it isn't an acid.

Thanks for the input. Well 'production grunge' is a term I coined.. It's the soot left over from grinding the tang before final assembly to get the knife to sit correctly at close. Sometimes there's more of this 'dust' or material leftover others not so much. To my mind GEC doesn't seem to think it big deal or they'd address it, more probably (to me) it's just one more thing they can save $ with which is fine, I don't pay more and I'll address it myself.

I've been using mineral oil or LubriKit FMO 350AW Oil (expensive stuff) to do this flushing thing. I have heard others using Nano Oil (also expensive) that's why I'm seeking something little more less costly. Not much oil is 'lost' really in this, it's just I'm a thrifty dude. In my experience definitely with every new knife there is residue/dust that gets released out in the flushing, it goes down mostly through the liners, again some knifes have more, some less. Then I just wipe away with paper towel. After this flush there is noticeable less grind, granted I'm talking very minute 'grind', maybe I'm just hyper-sensitive to it, but all the same the knife always pivots ever so more gracefully. I'm not worried about injuring the steel allowing the 'dust' to remain I'm just really into graceful groovy pulls.

 

[Ron4774]

Polymer-safe Gun Scrubber followed by a drop or two of lube seems to work for me if really dirty. I then try to blow out the pivot to get rid of excess lube.

Ahh, so something you get only gun suppliers or ?

 

[jc57]

Ahh, so something you get only gun suppliers or ?

Google for "Birchwood Casey Gun Scrubber Synthetic Safe Cleaner" and you will find places to order it other than gun suppliers.

Most of my knives are slipjoints so when I need to flush out a joint, I use hot soapy water, rinse, dry, blow with compressed air, a little WD-40 for water displacement, drop of mineral oil, done.

 

[Ron4774]

Google for "Birchwood Casey Gun Scrubber Synthetic Safe Cleaner" and you will find places to order it other than gun suppliers.

Thanks for the ref. Yeh I guess seems most do the 'soapy water-wd-oil-done' thing. I was just wonderin' mostly about alcohol or windex/ammonia or somethin' with like a spray bottle nozzle to kinda blast it more actively. Well gee duh, load the bottle sprayer with hot soapy water!

 

[ecallahan]

I’m a fan of flushing pivots and liners with WD40 then compressed air. Most knives have a good bit of ‘grunge’ in those places. Most of my new GECs had a good bit. I then lube with a drop or 2 of Tri Flow.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

Brake parts cleaner works well-as long as there is no plastic on the knife. It will remove all lubricant, also.
Mineral spirits is a good soak/flush-especially if you can blow it out with compressed air.
WD 40 is the safest, most convenient method.
Don't get ANY of this stuff in your eyes.

 

[maximus83]

+1 on these suggestions. The reason I like WD40 over the others in the case where you're not disassembling the knife, is that it's milder and less likely to damage the OTHER materials likely to be in a folding knife aside from the steel.

Also, I did a post a while back, I've been using my non-toxic gun cleaner, Mpro-7, which has the same advantages as WD40 except it is non-toxic, lets you completely immerse the knife without needing to use water, and is equally mild/safe on knife materials. I've used it on guns with all types of different stock materials (polymer, kevlar, laminated wood, etc.) and it has caused less problems than even solutions like "Synth Safe Gun Scrubber", which damaged some of my stocks in the past. This approach is basically a way to safely deep clean a folder without disassembling it or getting water in the internals.

Brake parts cleaner works well-as long as there is no plastic on the knife. It will remove all lubricant, also.
Mineral spirits is a good soak/flush-especially if you can blow it out with compressed air.
WD 40 is the safest, most convenient method.
Don't get ANY of this stuff in your eyes.

 

[Sonnydaze]

Brake parts cleaner works well-as long as there is no plastic on the knife. It will remove all lubricant, also.
Mineral spirits is a good soak/flush-especially if you can blow it out with compressed air.
WD 40 is the safest, most convenient method.
Don't get ANY of this stuff in your eyes.

I have used Brake drum cleaner with various handguns for yrs. It dries quickly with NO residue and is cheap at auto stores. Gun parts cleaners, OTOH, are generally more expensive, although they work fine.

 

[Mo2]

Take apart the knife and clean it out. You could use whatever you want. I generally use 99% rubbing alcohol, zippo lighter fluid and or acetone. If you have g10 or plastic you may just want to use rubbing alcohol on them because the other stuff will stain it. Clean it up with q tips etc. Then use very very light oil or light grease application and good to go. Any rust can be removed with various cleaners like bar keepers friend etc (Google cleaning rust from metal).

Not taking them apart isn't idea. But can be done, I generally just use zippo lighter fluid a few times in the pivot.

 

[Ron4774]

Thanks Bill. See that's what I meant, using something stronger than soap like a solvent to break up the oil better. Prob quicker too. Then the grunge/soot/funky stuff is loose and flows out more complete. Anyway, thnx for reminder about the eyes! I like my eyes.. NEED my eyes.. wow shudder just to think..

 

[Ron4774]

I have used Brake drum cleaner with various handguns for yrs. It dries quickly with NO residue and is cheap at auto stores. Gun parts cleaners, OTOH, are generally more expensive, although they work fine.

Yeh brake cleaner is useful all kinds o' stuff, have used it mostly any auto part. Great stuff. I just wonder about it on FRN/G10 etc.. Well better safe then sorry a good motto. Wondering even ANY kind o solvent for that matter. Again, could use a guinea-pig beater edc to try on first I reckon.

 

[Ron4774]

I've been using my non-toxic gun cleaner, Mpro-7, which has the same advantages as WD40 except it is non-toxic..

K, I'll search up Mpro-7. Nice to know, I like the more 'green' approach. Especially if somehow gets in your eyes! omg

 

[Ron4774]

I’m a fan of flushing pivots and liners with WD40 then compressed air. Most knives have a good bit of ‘grunge’ in those places. Most of my new GECs had a good bit. I then lube with a drop or 2 of Tri Flow.

Never heard of Tri-Flow. Anyone hear of what I'm using for oiling after cleaning? Lubrikit FMO 350AW Oil.

I did an exhaustive search online. It came out tops in most tests, lots n lots of knive dudes rave on it. It is def different characteristics than others. You can feel it between fingers and it's not heavy not light, it's just right. Now long run use I still have yet to experience enough to say is it more durable, but the tests said so. It's just both Nano & Lubrikit are pretty dang pricey so using it to flush takes $ away from buying more knives. lol

 

[sharkattacksw]

If you need to clean your knife as soon as you buy it you are buying the wrong kind of knives.

What is production grunge?

Sorry I can't be that helpful as I have owned folding knives for over 30 years, and never once taken apart or oiled pivot area of one. I do clean out the liner/inside area of knife with a cotton swab and use a air gun as well.

If you were going to try to flush out the pivot- I don't think you are going to be able to accomplish that without disassembling the knife, then cleaning with cleaner of your choice, then re-lubing and re-assembly. It's steel, you really aren't going to hurt anything by using any cleaner you want as long as it isn't an acid.

Same here. Never had the need to take any knives apart. Blow it out with the airgun now and then and put a drop of lube on the pivot. You're good to go.