How do you guys clean your "hard use" folders?

W

WalkTheEdge

Joined
Dec 14, 2019
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46
I use a boker hawkbill pruning folder that I use to harvest mushrooms. Nothing fancy, jigged bone handles, 440c. Not a bad little tool. However it gets very dirty digging down into dirt to lift out a mushrooms and doing similar cutting tasks. How would you recommend I flush-out, clean, and lubricate this knife?

Thanks!
 
Get a dish pan or bowl of some sort. Fill with as hot of water as your hands can handle. Using dish soap clean it externally as best you can with a brush and rinse in hot water. After water is soapy, open and close the blades numerous times underwater to flush out grit. Do a final rinse under running water and open/ close blades. Shake in sink & dry with paper towel as best you can. Use air to blow it out the rest of the way. Use MINIMAL oil of your choice (I use mineral oil) and open/ close blades. Wipe off excess. Oil collects dust (I sometimes don't use any depending on how well finished the parts of the knife are). Then if it needs a sharpen go for it...
 
SuzukiGS750EZ said:
Get a dish pan or bowl of some sort. Fill with as hot of water as your hands can handle.
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Thats helpful, thank you. I might bust out the hair dryer to make sure it's good and dry. I know I've got some mineral oil around here somewhere... I'm going to give it a try.
 
I normally just wipe my "hard use" blades on my pant leg, and add a bit of oil to the joint when needed.
A toothpick (or the pen blade of another knife) can be used to remove any crud, lint, and dirt in the blade well.

Note: I don't waste time trying to get any of my knives (or anything else, come to that) "steril". Even if I could manage such a thing, nothing remains "steril" the moment it is exposed to the atmosphere, anyway.
 
afishhunter said:
I normally just wipe my "hard use" blades on my pant leg, and add a bit of oil to the joint when needed.
A toothpick (or the pen blade of another knife) can be used to remove any crud, lint, and dirt in the blade well.

Note: I don't waste time trying to get any of my knives (or anything else, come to that) "steril". Even if I could manage such a thing, nothing remains "steril" the moment it is exposed to the atmosphere, anyway.
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I don't clean them like that to make them sterile, I do so because hot water evaporates easier on metal. Plus, dish soap breaks down dirt and grime and pulls dirt out of natural handle scales.
 
WalkTheEdge said:
Sometimes there's a beer involved.
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Beer should be involved in everything if you ask me... Aside from that, I usually use toothpicks, q-tips, wadded up paper towels and an occasional hose down with brakleen on my work knife. I'd avoid the heavy solvent with natural handle materials. I've also found hoppes no9 to be effective at de-gunking pivot points and whatnot. I suppose to be health conscious hot water and soap is the way to go, but it hasn't killed me yet even if I cut an occasional pepperoni stick or piece of cheese with it. I just wipe the blade off before I do it.
 
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An air compressor works well to get all the moisture (and gunk) out of tight places. Hair dryer should help to dry it out too, if that's whats available.:thumbsup:
 
I work at a hospital.
Not exactly hard use, but hand sanitizer makes for a good cleaner after eating with your knife. No sink necessary, just wipe it down with a napkin soaked with it. It'll evaporate and be ready for next time. I carry a small bottle of the stuff in my car too which makes for a handy clean up on the fly sometimes.
 
Running under hot water and moving the blade to different points and such to really flush the pivot and then WD40 will likely take care of most of it.

Maybe too get a dedicated mushroom knife?
 
I use an old toothbrush and dish soap. I leave patina for protection on my pruners. This works 100% of the time 100%, so I’ve never done anything else. I do dry them well, but I don’t fuss.
 
SuzukiGS750EZ said:
Get a dish pan or bowl of some sort. Fill with as hot of water as your hands can handle. Using dish soap clean it externally as best you can with a brush and rinse in hot water. After water is soapy, open and close the blades numerous times underwater to flush out grit. Do a final rinse under running water and open/ close blades. Shake in sink & dry with paper towel as best you can. Use air to blow it out the rest of the way. Use MINIMAL oil of your choice (I use mineral oil) and open/ close blades. Wipe off excess. Oil collects dust (I sometimes don't use any depending on how well finished the parts of the knife are). Then if it needs a sharpen go for it...
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That's almost exactly what I do when I first get a knife or when a knife needs a good cleaning. But I usually don't bother with compressed air.

I use many of my knives for food prep in the kitchen, and after such use I usually wash the blade with a soapy nylon scrubber we use on our other dishes, rinse under running water, and dry with dish towel. Sometimes, if the entire knife has been under the water, I'll also use a folded paper towel to get into the blade well to dry it.

- GT
 
Eli Chaps said:
Running under hot water and moving the blade to different points and such to really flush the pivot and then WD40 will likely take care of most of it.

Maybe too get a dedicated mushroom knife?
Click to expand...
That sounds about right. I used Remoil last time.

I have been meaning to get a discussion going on mushroom knives. They seem like a good idea, but in actual practice they're not very useful. I usually carry 3 knives and a machete when I forage for mushrooms, and I typically use them all. The pruner is a general purpose knife that gets put into service by default. In addition I carry a dedicated digger and a dedicated slicer (a puukko).
 
To get water out of volumetric flask in the lab, you rinse with water followed by alcohol to absorb the water followed by ether to absorb the alcohol. The ether evaporates readily.
 
I don't have any hard-use folders, only hard-use fixies. :) I've noticed from cleaning my pruning shears that pretty much any liquid will clean the blade of plant sap. Smearing the blade with the oil I lube with and wiping it off works surprisingly well. I sharpen pruning shears on a carborundum stone under running water, wipe them dry, reassemble, and oil. They look like new. If a folder gets stuff in the pivot, I flush it with water, WD-40, CLP, gasoline, diesel oil, beer, whatever liquid is handy. OK, not beer. It dries sticky. I don't tend to use water on my carbon steel knives because I then feel like I have to hose the joints with WD-40 anyway to drive out the water, so I just start with something oil-based. If the knife has a blade that might get used on food, a quick wash with soap and water cleans the blade itself. Since your knife is stainless, I'd just use water. Maybe some soap if it's really dirty. And then oil the pivot. Stainless steel will rust, not as well as carbon, but it's not immune.
 
HST said:
I use an old toothbrush and dish soap. I leave patina for protection on my pruners. This works 100% of the time 100%, so I’ve never done anything else. I do dry them well, but I don’t fuss.
Click to expand...
Yep toothbrush and dish soap works for me.
 
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