rubber handles tacky

[WILLIAM BOTTS]

I bought some Cabela's fixed blade knives with sandvic steel a few years ago, I oiled them with rem oil and put them away wrapped in plastic. I took them out yesterday as I had forgotten about having them in storage. The steel is fine with no signs of rust and they still look new except the orange handles. They are very tacky feeling to the point of being sticky, they are two piece handles, what can I do to clean them up and what can I do to prevent this from happening again? Thanks for any help.

 

[navasky]

Try cleaning it with a magic eraser. Sometimes helps remove tackiness depending on the specific material.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

Armor All.

 

[JoeBusic]

Synthetic rubber stuff is not a long term thing. It deteriorates with time. Moisture, oils and acids speed things a lot. Tackiness is the beginning then it just crumbles. If it's just tacky, one thing to try is to dry it up. Leave it in the oven for a few hours at some not dangerous temp, like 60°C. Maybe clean with acetone a little before. Idea is to evaporate the moisture and possibly the oils and retemper the material. I had a similar problem with another tool. I thought it was for garbage but I left it in the summer to bake out for several days and it got good again. But it was moisture only.