How to clean pine sap off knife?

D

DocDean

Joined
Aug 13, 2001
Messages
22
I was hoping somebody could help me with this one. I was using two of my knives this weekend to cut some tree limbs with and got them covered in maple sap and pine sap. So far I haven't been able to clean them off very well. Dawn dish detergent and WD-40 hasn't loosened it up at all. Anyone know of anything short of working on them with a scouring pad that might clean them up. One of the blades is a Randall high carbon and the other a Sebenza BG-42.

Thanks,

DocDean
Green Bay
 
When I get pine tar on myself while mowing, I use De-Solv-It to get it off my skin. Should be o.k. on knife as it is all organic. You can get this at most hardware stores.
 
I second goo-gone. Get it at walmart or whatever supersotre you have. Small clear bottle, orangy-yellow liquid, black cap. Smells of citrus.

Gets almost any adhesive off just about anything. really good for getting those pricetags off of boxes and such too.
 
An easy way is to use a little turpentine. But, if you can't find that, the goo-gone and some elbow grease will probably do the job.
 
Zippo lighter fluid and a cotton towel. Works on paint great and I use it instead of goo Gone. I need to get in the practice of trying both tho.
 
Ronsonol works on tape residue that gets on the blade when using it to open parcels. I imagine that it will also work on tree sap.
 
Try some mayonnaise (no kidding). It works, I have used it for cleaning sap covered hands.

Remember like dissolves like. Sap is made of long chain non-polar compounds (among other things). So to dissolve it, use a long chain non-polar compound, like a fat (mayonnaise) or perhaps even peanut butter (never tried it), as was mentioned above, although you might get better reults from plain peanut oil, or any oil, for that matter.
 
I second mayonnaise (seriously) and Goo-Gone. As an aside, be careful when you use Goo-Gone in your car or truck - I "melted" almost a square inch of plastic dashboard in my Suburban when I tried Goo-Gone to remove an adhesive sticker!
 
Send me both knives and I'll remove the sap for you.
Then you won't have to soil your hands.

Burton
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. I haven't had time to try any yet but will let you know what worked best.
 
First off I would like to say that all of the replies have been well thought out proven methods for removing pine sap. My recommendation is you go out to the garage and fire up the oxygen/ acetylene torch. Then heat area of the blade with the pine sap on it until it burns and flakes off. Normally the blade will turn a nice red color as the sap comes off. Now if you want to remove the offending pine sap the easy way then go with one of the previous suggestions. :D :p

I have used this method with great sucess in the past. The only problem I have encountered has been a slight discoloring of the blade and it doesn't want to hold an edge anymore. :rolleyes:
 
Wow. Lot's of bizzzzarrrre suggestions.

I'd go with something designed for the job rather than a food product, like a good solvent... available in quart or gallon cans at Home Depot, Lowe's, Hardware stores, etc...

Finger nail polish remover is Acetone, a very light, very clean, very potent solvent that will whip off most sticky things in a jiffy. Moderately pricey at around $7-$8 a gallon (but that's a LOT of solvent that will last a long time).

MEK is like Acetone, contains an extra Carbon, and is a bit heavier (evaporates slower, but not much), and is also a clean solvent. Pricey, but good, at $8-$10 a gallon.

Paint Thinner is mineral spirits, a mediocre, heavier, slower to evaporate, hydrocarbon solvent. It would probably work "ok", and is cheap ($2 to $3 a gallon). WD-40 is about 74% mineral spirits, 25% mineral oil, and some other junk like fragrance, propellant, etc ... that's why it is both a poor lubricant (leaves varnishes over long periods of time) and a poor solvent... a truly miraculous and brilliant example of marketing, however.

Lacquer Thinner is generally a very good batch of potent solvents, kind pricey, $8-$10+ a gallon. A little goes a long way.

Brake Cleaner's, i.e. spray aerosol cans at auto parts store, are also solvent based, contain a variety of solvents, but don't evaporate quite as cleanly, but a quick wipe after they are gone and all is clean. Avoid the chlorinated solvents variety, as they add only a small amount of extra power in simple cases like this, and are generally mildly carcinogenic. Stuff sold as "brake cleaner" is generally notably cheaper than the identical stuff sold in the gun cleaning sections of some stores. $2 to $3 per spray can.

Check the label on "Goo Gone" ... it is almost assuredly a bunch of solvents, especially if it melted a chunk of dashboard.
 
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