Whats your EDC blade care regimen for carbon steel folding knives?

Every once in a while I oil the joints and wipe down the blades, that's about it. If it's going to be a while before you'll carry a knife definitely go a bit overboard with the oil, casually wiping things down isn't good enough if you don't expect to casually wipe it down relatively often. I unfortunately have the pepper spots to prove it!

I used to use mineral oil but recently I've been using Super Lube, a PTFE-containing oil. Food safe, basically no taste or smell, and it seems to stay in place a bit better than mineral oil.
 
Drop of mineral oil in the joints every so often. I use Norton honing oil since it comes in a can with a spout. Some of that seeps out onto the blades. Rub that in with my fingers on the blades themselves, leaving a very light film of oil. Close the blades, wipe off any excess with a paper towel or piece of cloth.

Every once in while, if they need it, I polish the blades with a little metal polish (Wenol, Simichrome). But that is very infrequent. Depends on how often I carry the knife and what I have been doing with it.

Both of those are on a strict schedule of "when they need it and/or I remember to do it" which can be any time from every day to once a year.
 
I find Victorinox oil is the best by far on the joints its also food safe.

I wash or wipe of the blade as soon as I can I dont oil the blade even on stored knives.
 
Wipe off after use and before closure. If I cut something acidic I rinse off. End of the I polish with Flitz and one drop of oil is used to wipe the blade and spring. Patina is ugly :)
 
Wipe down after use, oil the joints as needed (possibly a bit more often than that) and let it patina.

Stain less blades the same, sans a patina.
 
JohnDF said:
I wipe it off on my pant leg and throw it back in my pocket.
If it's really dirty, I'll wipe it off with a damp rag, and then wipe it on my pant leg.
I don't oil or wax the blade, ever. But I live in a pretty dry environment, so I don't have much of a problem with rust.
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That was me when we lived in Arizona. The first summer after moving to MN, I had some rust show up a couple knives I’d been carrying. The issue was more with the steel liners (GEC #15s, #71s, etc.) than the blades themselves. So now I pay a bit more attention to it.

I have a cigar box without a top sitting on top of my knife cabinet. When I’m done carrying a knife, it goes in the cigar box. When the box fills up, I’ll sit down and wipe those knives down, put drop of oil in the pivot, rub some of that on the blade, wipe it dry. If it has steel liners I’ll run a gun-cleaning patch with a drop of oil through the blade well, followed by a dry one. Then I put the knives away in their drawers.
 
I've been known to take a brand-new carbon blade and stab it into a potato overnight or even a day or two to develop a patina. Then scrub the blade free of loose oxides and oil and sharpen it. I live in the south so sweat is a constant in the spring summer months so a scotch bright scrubby pad will be used to remove any red rust, then some mineral oil. All of my carbon steel knives which I regular carried have deep pepper spots on the blades and springs. It is, what it is when dealing with carbon steel tools...
 
JohnDF said:
If it's really dirty, I'll wipe it off with a damp rag, and then wipe it on my pant leg.
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I believe the preferred method is to spit on it, then wipe it on your pants leg :thumbsup::cool:.

I do occasionally wash the blade though, and put a drop of mineral oil in the joint from time to time. Since I will sometimes use it to make lunch, or slice something thin in the kitchen when the cheap knives I have there aren’t up to the task, I try to keep it reasonably clean.

I had a few rust spots appear once during a sweaty summer bike-camping trip, and I removed those with 2000-grit wet/dry sandpaper.
 
I LOVE and prefer carbon blades to stainless on my EDC blades as I enjoy the story the patina tells along the way. I oil joints and wipe it after use but otherwise let it grey and darken as it pleases. I strop the edge as well from time to time when needed.

Matt
 
Pretty much the same as sitflyer sitflyer here.

I carry them, when they start to rust, I scotchbright’em and oil a bit. It’s humid and hot in summer here and I sweat in summer. I carry stainless Almost exclusively in summer. In winter I’ll carry carbon and I much prefer it.
 
Oil the joints and wipe down the blades every few days. If not using a sleeve, I’ll hit it with some compressed air every now and then to keep the lint out.
 
Mineral oil all the way for me. It's cheap and it works in this southern humidity. Cover the blades, springs, and joints then gently wipe excess off.
 
Johnnythefox said:
in England
We say maths teacher
We also say driving licence

You do the maths on that statement 🤣 🤣 🤣
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Yeah... you guys over there talk funny.... when you gonna learn to speak English? Oh... wait.... 😂 Reminds me of the old elevator/lift joke...
Personally, I speak fluent redneck, occasionally getting close to English...
 
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