Removing stains from white liners

[ShelterMe]

Hello all,

Long story short, I forced a patina on my TOPS Dragonfly fixed blade (1095 steel) with apple cider vinegar and I didn't like the look, left the vinegar on too long at it blackened the blade more than I liked so I removed it months later with dishwashing detergent and some scrubbing. The problem is that the vinegar stained the white liners a rusty brown. In retrospect, while the white liners make the knife pretty, they are an awful choice in situations like these. I tried cleaner with bleach to remove the stain and in the 5 minutes I left the knife sit the blade rusted immediately from the bleach. I quickly scrubbed the rust off, dried and oiled the knife. How can i remove the brown vinegar stains from the liners without ruining the blade? The coloration is a stain from the apple cider vinegar and not due to rust. Short of using ablaundry dye like RIT to change the color of the white liners, I don't know what else to do (or if the dying process itself will adversely affect the steel or micarta scales. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

If the stain wasn't too deeply absorbed into the liners, sanding them with some high-grit wet/dry sandpaper might do the job. Something like 600-1000 grit is what I'd try. Another possibility, again if the stain isn't too deep, is to use some metal-polishing paste like Flitz or Simichrome to polish the stain away from the surface. I've done this to remove verdigris stains from stag, for instance, and it worked well.

You could also try some white vinegar, instead of the apple cider vineger. Since the stain is vinegar-caused, vinegar may also be the cure, so long as it doesn't carry any new color into the material (hence the recommended white vinegar).

I'd probably try the metal polish first, then the vinegar, then the sanding, in that order. And if you sand it out, you may want to follow with the polishing paste again, to bring the finish back up. A lot depends on how deeply the stain went into the liner material. If it went too deep, it may never come out completely.


David

 

[ShelterMe]

Thanks David for the advice. The handle scales are micarta, so I am a little leery with sanding them. I could always try the white vinegar and then hit it with steel wool if it creates another patina. Needless to say I am never using anything colored again to force a patina. I may try whitening toothpaste, I'll let you know how that turns out, and also if I come up short with that idea I'll certainly try your suggestions so I am not an Askhole. Thanks again.