How to clean pine sap off knife?

"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... "

Yeah, why use a freely available, benign, biodegradable, and above all, highly effective household item when you can go pay good money for a poisonous industrial solvent that may or may not work as well?
:rolleyes:

sorry no flame intended, but it's bizarre not to use the simple solution that's right in front of you...
 
I would agree with Nifrand...nail polish remover will also remove almost anything and everything else...I have used it on 440C, 52100, ATS-34, A2 and L-6 to remove packing tape residue with no discoloration problems.
 
I had to resurrect this thread after using an Entrek Desroyer over the weekend. The blade was badly stained with-oak\maple\pine\sassafras\dogwood\misc. sap. Nothing even touched it-WD-40, Bug & Tar remover, 'Goof-Off', butter, etc.; did not even look like I had tried.

Citrus was brought up in the thread and the only thing I had with citrus in it was "GOJO Natural Orange with Pumice" hand cleaner. So...why not?

IT WORKED! Took it all off with hardly any effort at all. The pumice acted as a mild abrasive and the blade was clean in a flash.

NOTE: The Destroyer has a grey coated blade, similar to John Greco's 'crib-safe, non-toxic G1 coating' in appearance. I was hesitant to use too heavy of a solvent on it as I was concerned with removing\damaging it. The Goof-Off and Bug and Tar removers did not seem to bother it though, nor did the hand cleaner.

Just a small warning-I do not know how the pumice would effect a polished blade:

SO BE CAREFUL AND PLEASE DON'T BLAME ME IF YOU SCRATCH UP A 'PRETTY BLADE'! :)

Mongrel
 
I have tried many of the items listed and not had much sucsess with them. The best thing I have found is plain old Tide laundry power. The pumice stuff sounds good also.
 
When I got my new Extrema Ratio Harpoon F, the edge was covered in a gummy substance from the sheath.

What worked like a charm is a Pencil eraser!!! Ha!

Drjones
 
numberthree said:

"sorry no flame intended, but it's bizarre not to use the simple solution that's right in front of you..."

I agree. I'd lick my knife clean of any non-poisonous sap. (In fact, I often do.) It may be too late for that if you've been fooling around with acetone, WD-40, etc. But next time, try your tongue.
 
Mayonnaise really worked very well in removing pine tar from my carbon steel Mora Companion.

I expect oils which are semi-solid at room temperature (butter, peanut butter, Crisco shortening) will also work well.

--Sam
 
ThreadNecromancy.jpg


10 years, really?
 
An old thread, but still worth discussion.

Pitch is oil soluble. Any oil will work, but I usually use peanut butter since it doesn't run all over the place and make a mess. Use peanut butter to get the sap off, then soap and water to get the peanut butter off. :p
 
I second the gasoline, but I also use kerosene a lot. Kerosene is slightly weaker imo (usually i use it for paint brushes). Both worked extremely well for removing roofing tar from my hands.
 
A 10-year old resurrection to give an answer that was already given. :)

upnorth said:
Originally Posted by bae
rubbing alcohol works like a champ.
Click to expand...
Yup..... And it also removed about half the black coating on my Cold Steel machete. Not really an issue, just a surprise.
Click to expand...

I try alcohol on lots of things. I had a wallet with an insert that looked scruffy. I rubbed it with an alcohol pad and the scruffy coating came off the leather! Opened those pores up and wax finished the job nicely.
 
I must agree, the majority of knife lovers are going to have lighter fluid easily accessible, and it works like magic. Also great for that paper sticker goo
 
Random-ish comments on solvents:

Ronsonol and most lighter fluids are basically naphtha, which is a slightly more volatile version of mineral spirits (paint thinner). Both naphtha and mineral spirits are used to thin and clean oil and varnish finishes, among other things. They do well at cleaning off gunk, but IMO they are outclassed for this purpose by acetone. It not only is more effective at removing the gunk, but it has a less noxious odor and flashes off faster.

I have read that acetone is less of a health hazard than petroleum distillates (naphtha, mineral spirits), though it is still an organic solvent and should be treated with caution. Alcohol is probably the safest, depending on what additives are used (as in the case of denatured alcohol). Oddly, turpentine seems to be the most hazardous of the common solvents, despite being "natural" instead of petroleum based. It also has the most powerful odor (intense pine tree fragrance) and dries the slowest, in my experience. Also it is significantly more expensive than the other solvents.

I typically have all of these solvents on hand (for my projects), but I usually reach for acetone to clean up gunk.

Note: I am not a chemist. My comments regarding hazards of solvents are worth what you paid for them :) I recommend you treat all of these chemicals with respect and use proper safety precautions.
 
I just came in from outside with a dirty Mora Companion (carbon blade), Googled "remove pine sap knife", and was directed here. After reading all of the suggestions (and not wanting to get solvent near my Mora handle) I tried the mayonnaise trick. During my first attempt it appeared that I'd need to devote more elbow grease than I had time for, so I reapplied a second coat of mayo and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. When I returned, the pine sap literally wiped off. No rubbing or scrubbing needed.

So yes, mayo does indeed remove pine sap with ease if you allow it to sit for a few minutes (at least on the carbon steel blades Mora puts on their Companions). I used this trick about 20 minutes ago.

Thanks to whomever first asked this question... almost 14 years ago.
 
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