Got a set of spyderco stones, how do I clean the gooey residue off?

G

GarageBoy

Joined
May 23, 2003
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Sal warned me to clean them off with some comet, but this is taking forever. Is there a technique?
 
I never thought of it as gooey but I put some water and some comet in a bowl and dip a green scotchbrite pad in it and *ahem* stroke the rod until it's clean. Sorry. (Sometimes I clean them in front of an open window and hope to God no one is watching) It usually doesn't take that long.

later,

Oily
 
Hmmm... I use Comet and a Brawny paper towel and the rods come thru looking nearly like they just came outta the box in just about a whole minute of scrubbing.

I wonder what the prob is on your end. :confused: Mine have gotten so loaded up over time and use they reminded me of a dark grey crayon and still they cleaned right up.


The stuff is steel from the knife blade.
 
Nooo, these are BRAND NEW stones. They have a thin slimy coating to it that rubs off like glue
 
Err, I think I found what it is. My dead skin cells get rubbed off when I run my fingers hard against the stones
 
ewww, na, my keyboard gets some dead skin build up too.

Try scrubbing your hands with a brush or something if the gunky stuff keeps comming back.
 
BTW - I forgot. I love those stones and use them all the time..but you DO have to be careful. Even when you get good at using them (and it's not as easy as you think) they WILL round the point of your blades. You have to work hard to avoid it.

I have a couple knives that I won't sharpen on the spydie stones but they need special treatment anyway.


Steve-O
 
Boy, you need to wash your hands more often... get some good pumice soap and give yourself a thorough hand scrubbing with hot water, especially since you run around grabbing hold of them subway poles... Very nasty stuff them subway poles...
 
Organic dirt (oil, grease, wax, blood, dead skin cells...) is best removed by chemical action rather than just scrubbing. It has a way of just oozing around when you try and scrub it off. Have you ever tried to remove the residue from an adhesive label by scrubbing? Things like lacquer thinner will loosen up a lot of exceptionally tough materials, but usually you can get by with soaking (soaking means to leave things in the solution for at least 15 minutes--better yet leave them for hours) in a hot detergent solution with a little scrubbing. Your liquid dishpan detergent is designed to be gentle on hands. If you have a tough job it works better to soak things in a hands-unfriendly detergent. Soaking in a hot dishwasher detergent solution will loosen up some increadible gunk. That is what I use to get burnt-on residue off the inside of a ceramic crock pot liner. Of course you can try putting your problem item through a regular dishwasher cycle if you think it can take the extra heat. Anyway, be sure you allow time for your chemicals to work and get things hot.

Sink cleanser is a mix of a detergent, some abrasive grit, and a form of bleach. It is an expensive way to get detergent, but the grit digs into pores in your surface to let the detergent and bleach attack your problems. You are losing the advantage of the detergent and the bleach if you don't allow time for them to work. Scrub your surface with water and cleanser and then leave cleanser on the surface and wrap with a hot wet rag. After 15 minutes the chemicals will have worked on remaining dirt. Scrub once more and your done.

PS. If you cannot remove a stain on a white cloth item there is a witch's brew that takes out almost anything. Soak the item in a solution of hot water, dishwasher detergent, and bleach. After a few hours run it through the washing machine. This works on cotton tablecloths. Warning, items that were not white will end up being white, this will take out most dyes. This will also destroy some fabrics.
 
Cheapskate here :D
Try washing up liquid and sugar on your hands (any liquid soap) The sugar only partialy desolves and the slury gets rid of even the most ingrained crud. Works to get oil tar and even bitumastic off and it's a lot cheaper than a specialist product from a tin. :D
 
I clean mine with an ordinary SOS pad,for some reason the steel wool cleans the rods rather than "load" them.I also use an eraser to clean them during sharpening to keep them "fresh".
 
Jeff Clark said:
Sink cleanser is a mix of a detergent, some abrasive grit, and a form of bleach. It is an expensive way to get detergent, but the grit digs into pores in your surface to let the detergent and bleach attack your problems. You are losing the advantage of the detergent and the bleach if you don't allow time for them to work. Scrub your surface with water and cleanser and then leave cleanser on the surface and wrap with a hot wet rag. After 15 minutes the chemicals will have worked on remaining dirt. Scrub once more and your done.

PS. If you cannot remove a stain on a white cloth item there is a witch's brew that takes out almost anything. Soak the item in a solution of hot water, dishwasher detergent, and bleach. After a few hours run it through the washing machine. This works on cotton tablecloths. Warning, items that were not white will end up being white, this will take out most dyes. This will also destroy some fabrics.
Click to expand...


I am probably wrong but I thought that I had read that mixing detergent with bleach can cause toxic fumes. If I am wrong I apologize.
 
You don't want to mix an acid or ammonia with bleach. Liquid bleach is mostly used with detergent in washing machines. That is a normal household combination. If you mix acid with bleach you get chlorine gas which is really bad stuff.
 
Ok, well another point I should have considered is that you are using this cleaner with no ill effects. :footinmou Sorry about that.
 
GarageBoy,

You're holding you knife with the blade horizontal, blade at 90° to the base, to keep the blade at 90° you stiffen your wrist. As you push straight down the sticks push the blade inward (L or R, depending).

Because you need to stiffen your wrist to keep the blade at 90° your wrist is also resisting the lateral push of the stick. As the tip of the blade clears the stick, your forearm and hand spring outward slightly and the tip slides horizontally across the stick.

It's worse if you are using the 'corner' rather than the flat of the stone. Not much of a problem on a working knife and you can teach yourself to pull straight back at the end of the stroke, but it's not easy.

Ever done that old 'arms in the doorway trick'? You stand in a doorway, backs of your palms against the frame and push outward as hard as you can. Do it for 20 seconds and when you step forward...your arm raise, almost uncontrollably. It's the same effect.

I love Sal's stones and have been using them (among others) for 5 years, but you do have to be careful.


Hope this helps,


Steve-O
 
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