Vaseline for knife care?

P

Pietje010

Joined
Dec 30, 2005
Messages
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I heard that you can protect your carbon steel knife whit Vaseline from rust. The white petroleum jelly one. But is it any good? I like the idea of having one cheap thing for knife, leather all-round maintenance as well as using it for fire making and skin care. Or is there some other type of oil based stuff to do this. Let me know!
 
For storage, I routinely apply a light coat (just a smear) of vaseline on my carbon steel blades, That has worked very well for me in protecting the blade steel. As I recall, my grandfather did the same thing for his knives and axes, and I'm still using those same knives and axes.
 
My older brother ruined several older Case knives using vaseline, it left crud and rust all over his knives.

This topic came up over in the Bernard Levine collectors forum once, and B.L. has said that vaseline is not a good thing to use, plain old mineral oil is better.
 
If BRL said it,you can take it to the bank.:thumbup: :cool:
We are blessed to have him here.

Good Guy,glad to hear your grandfather's knives and axes are being used.

Yes.Mineral oil,it is also good for the stag.

Doug
 
I believe that vaseline does not cling totally, and can allow moisture under it. Then you've got a problem. Mineral oil always seems to work well.
 
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There is a website that tested various metal protectants and the best turned out to be Corrosion-X, Eezox, and Breakfree.

If I can find that site again I will post it here.
 
I don't recommend Vaseline on knives. It is white petrolatum which is whipped. Air and moisture is impregnated in the Vaseline and will rust your blades. In my opinion, Vaseline is ony good for one thing.
 
Hoppe's #9 has been used for "forever" to keep guns rust free and lubricated, and it doesn't stink like Breakfree and similar products. Hoppe's #9 doesn't hurt woodwork either. I tend to use Breakfree on my guns and Hoppe's #9 on my knives (because of the stink factor with Breakfree), but Breakfree is the better rust protectant of the two. To be honest, anything you buy at a gun store will work for your fixed blade knives.
 
Hello i'm new to the site the question I have is how can I remove light rust from a knife without damage.

tks.
 
dps2060: You'll probably get better replies if you post your question as a new thread, instead of tacking it on as a reply in an older, mostly-unrelated thread.

That said, I've always removed rust with 000 steel wool or 400 grit wet-and-dry sand paper. After the rust is gone, you can polish the metal with something like Flitz or Simichrome. Finish with a light coat of protective oil like Breakfree CLP or mineral oil. I prefer mineral oil because I sometimes do food prep with my knives and I dont like to eat CLP.
 
GarageBoy said:
Keep away from rubber..petrol based products dissolve it
Click to expand...

this can't be true can it? i've always been told to lube O-rings (which are rubber) with petroleum jelly.
 
I have been using Breakfree CLP on knives and guns for many years without any problems. It does not leave a greasy buildup and it seems to float off any crud adhering to the metal. And best of all it is cheap and you can get it at any gun store.

http://www.botac.com/breakfreeclp4.html

I wipe it on and wipe it off as thoroughly as possible. I don't try to coat anything with it and I don't have to put the knife in the oven to warm it up before using it (like Miltec). Did I mention it was also cheap?
 
naggalowmo said:
this can't be true can it? i've always been told to lube O-rings (which are rubber) with petroleum jelly.
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Why do you think its bad to use vaseline as a lube with condoms? :eek:
 
naggalowmo said:
this can't be true can it? i've always been told to lube O-rings (which are rubber) with petroleum jelly.
Click to expand...


I'd almost bet money to find that the O-rings in question (found in sprayers and the like) have a silicone base. The recomendation for P.J. use isprobably because it's cheap and readily available to the home market.

Jim L.
 
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