How often do you oil your knives?

mctrinket

mctrinket

Joined
Feb 26, 2012
Messages
616
Hi all!

I am just wondering: How often do you all oil your knives? Once a month? Once a year? After each use? What is the standard most people adhere to in terms of how often? And do you oil the exposed tang as well or just the blade? Will oiling the handle damage micarta or other handle materials?

I apologize if this has been covered extensively in the past. I did several searches and came up empty.

Thank you.
 
Almost never. Maybe if I long term store but I just keep the users clean and dry.
 
Same. Clean and dry. Occasionally WD40 or really clean well if something has been used in a fashion that I deem risky. Such as cutting fruit with a nonstainless knife. (I clean the stainless too, just less intensively).
 
Once a week between my edc rotation. I think WD-40 helps rinse out pocket lint and junk...even though some claim it attracts dust.
I also keep my slipjoints lubed frequently...especially those with high carbon blades.
 
For the knives I use, almost never, if I believe the knife is in danger of developing rust then I will clean it up and all is well. My collectors pieces get oiled about every two weeks to make sure they are as close to mint condition as possible.
 
I'll echo earlier comments and say 'clean and dry' is most important. Most of the time, I'll only use some WD-40 after I've just finished washing & drying the knife completely. It helps to flush out any remaining moisture, and then leaves just a little bit of mineral oil behind. That's all I've ever needed.

The most consistent downside I've seen to frequent oiling, is that it'll just gum up the knife if any dirt gets mixed in. This is why it's better to focus on keeping it clean. The cleaner it is, the less oil it'll need.
 
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