Natural Knife Cleaning, Oiling, and Rust Removal

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gt69

Joined
Jan 8, 2011
Messages
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I am trying to take a natural approach to knife maintenance, especially in regard to vintage folding knives. Does anyone have a good, natural oil to recommend for lubrication or for, perhaps, preserving the blade? Is linseed oil good?

How about natural cleaning and polishing products? How well does Flitz paste work?

I will also need a good natural rust remover. Any suggestions? I just picked up some fine grade bronze wool.
 
You could always go for Choji oil, it's been used in japan for over a thousand years for maintaining knives and swords.
 
Define "natural." Where does bronze wool come from? A copper sheep? Water and soap is all that is required to clean a knife. Dry thoroughly after. Mineral oil is food safe and will not go rancid like vegetable oil. A couple drops on the blade rubbed to an even coat is all that is necessary to prevent rust. Oils will discolor natural handle materials like stag and ivory. Don't oil them. Ask this question in Bernard Levine's forum for more info about "vintage" knife care.
 
Folks have differing interpretations of "natural." I cannot see anything unnatural in bronze, as it is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, a naturally occuring metal.

To be brief and to the point, and to avoid any confusion, I am looking to avoid harsh chemicals and such. I think all should know what I mean here. Thus, I want to use non-toxic, biodegradable substances.

I thank you, Freedoom, for your recommendation of Choji oil, and hoopster for your suggestion. You have understood my aim here. For the most part, the other comments are rather derrogatory and not very helpful, either.
 
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Food grade mineral oil is, as mentioned, safe to eat- and is sold as a laxative. It is naturally occurring, as it is a petroleum distillate. At least, petroleum is naturally occurring, unlike bronze, which is an alloy of tin and copper. From wikipedia..."Copper and tin ores are rarely found together (exceptions include one ancient site in Thailand and one in Iran), so serious bronze work has always involved trade."

Gasoline is also "natural" as it is a petroleum distillate, however, it may fall into the "harsh chemicals and such" category.

If our constraints on "natural" is that it contains at least one naturally occurring material (From your post above..."I cannot see anything unnatural in bronze, as it is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, a naturally occuring metal.") then there is very good news- everything that you are likely to come in contact with is "natural."
 
Petroleum is toxic. I stated in my second post that my aim is to avoid toxins.
 
gt69, although food grade mineral oil is a petroleum distillate, it is highly refined, and is not toxic.
From Sword Forum International:
The ancient Japanese have been using choji oil. This is made of 99% mineral oil and only 1% of clove oil for fragrance. This is incorrectly referred to as "clove oil", however, and the mistake has caused some to purchase clove oil from a pharmacy and the result is that their swords have suffered from oxidation (rusting).

Japanese choji has literally worked for centuries and is completely time-proven: just examine some Japanese swords today - swords hundreds of years old look as they did the day they were made!

An alternative to Japanese choji oil is just pure mineral oil. A common theory is that a drop of clove oil was added for fragrance because mineral oil is a laxative. Without the distinguishing smell of cloves, the Samurai's wife might have accidentally used it for cooking oil and, consequently ruined dinner for the poor Samurai!

Mineral oil can be purchased from any pharmacy quite inexpensively, again would be marked as a laxative on the bottle. Traditional Japanese choji is more expensive and is available in most Japanese woodworking stores or online stores that deal with Japanese sword supplies.
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