Need good cleaning /lubric advice

[Treasure Trawler]

I know this topic must come up alot but I am new to this and don't want to screw my knives up. Can anyone tell me exactly how much cleaning, what to use and should I lubricate...what kind? I've got some decent knives now and want to tuck them in and put to bed.

[Beechtree]

Greetings Treasure Trawler, welcome!
This is a very good question and it has multiple different answers depending on what type of knives you collect and what you would like from your knives. As my interest in knives is of the historical kind I will proceed with how to deal with these type of knives. As I am interested in historical knives, I am simply looking to clean them of debris and preserve them for posterity, not buff or brush them to a mirror finish. While knives that have been buffed to be shiny do seem to demand higher prices at an average auction, I believe that knives with their original finish and patina are more preferable to most knowledgeable collectors and thus will demand a higher price to a specific collector looking for that certain knife. This aspect seems to be true of any antique. If the above mentioned goal is not one you share, say you want to make a knife shiny and bright to carry in your pocket or to make others eyes pop when they see your collection then the following instructions need to be modified to fit your goal, but I will leave that for someone else to discuss. This is by no means a be all end all instruction on how to deal with knife cleaning but it will give you a place to start.

1) Using a q-tip clean debris from blades, back spring and interior of knife (liners, inner back spring, joints, ect) using a human consumption grade mineral oil (or other other oil if you prefer, gun oil, camellia oil ect). this will enable you to see what rust (if any) needs to be dealt with. Try to clean debris away from the joints so as not to push particulates into them. Wipe oil/depris residue off with a paper towel.
2) Using a hard wooden object such as a toothpick (I have heard of others using a pencil) rub off any active rust (flaking or powdery) or caked on grime. (Note: The tool that I use for steps 1 and 2 in conjunction with the q-tip is a spine from an orange/citrus tree. They are much stronger and more resilient than any man made toothpick.) The goal here is to remove rust without damaging the finish of the knife. Sometime #00 steel wool (fine sandpaper, emery paper, ect.) or another knife blade to remove difficult areas of rust is useful. Care needs to be taken to only remove rust and as little of the original finish and patina as possible, carful, a knife blade or coarse steal wool or sandpaper can scratch. Wipe away rust residue using oiled paper towel/q-tip ect.
3) Give one final clean wipe down of metal parts with oil, and oil joints. Remove excess with paper towel (you are trying to leave an oil coating, not leaving it dripping with oil)
4) With a soft cloth wipe the whole knife down with a paste wax such as Renaissance wax. It is used by many museums to preserve metal, wood, ivory, bone, ect. It is like a floor polish and leaves a protective matrix which oxygen and water should not penetrate. Some people oil the scales (Wood, bone, ect.) of their knife, but from what I have read, it seems that this is not done in museum curation but simply using the past wax. This is to prevent any type of potential long term discoloration due to oil being absorbed. This discoloration might not happen, but I prefer to err on the side of caution and use oil only for joints and cleaning of metal parts and then wiping everything with a past wax as a protective. Wipe off residual wax and buff with a soft cloth.

There are many effective methods of cleaning and polishing depending on what your goals are. Just remember, if you are dealing with historical knives, their patina and finish are a part of their history and construction, removing them is like removing a bolster or other component. Therefore, unless you are looking to do knife mechanics, I would say leave them intact.

One last tidbit. Take time to enjoy the cleaning of your knife. For me it a time when I really get to admire it's beauty.

[Elvis]

Very good advice and I agree that antique knives should be left to look antique. That said, I've recently come to the conclusion that gun lubricants (Rem Oil and such) seem to do a fine job of oiling knives as well and tend to adhere well so that they leave a light film of oil where needed.

[Cutty]

A drop of oil in the blade joint and renwax or a similar product is a good idea on new knives that you plan to keep in the collection for a long period of time, especially if you live in an area with high humidity.

After cleaning and old knife or handling a new knife that I have no plans to use. I always wipe it down (blades, handles etc) with a clean, soft microfiber cloth without touching it further with my bare skin, before putting it up. The salt on your skin will cause rust/patina, especially on carbon steel.

[Elvis]

A drop of oil in the blade joint and renwax or a similar product is a good idea on new knives that you plan to keep in the collection for a long period of time, especially if you live in an area with high humidity.

After cleaning and old knife or handling a new knife that I have no plans to use. I always wipe it down (blades, handles etc) with a clean, soft microfiber cloth without touching it further with my bare skin, before putting it up. The salt on your skin will cause rust/patina, especially on carbon steel.

I simply cannot say enough good things about Ren Wax. Maybe I'm just lucky, but so far it's kept my celluloid knives from having ANY problems. (Sign for "knock on wood" goes here.)

[Treasure Trawler]

Have you guys heard of cleaning knife with "never dull"? Is that to much shine?

[Mr Rick]

Have you guys heard of cleaning knife with "never dull"? Is that to much shine?

On my vintage knives I take a small amount of 'nevr-dull" and place it between the bolster linings with the blades open. I move it back and forth from bolster to bolster along the springs. It's amazing the debris that is removed.

[big monk]

I use "Mother's"" to clean with--a drop or two of mineral oil on the joints,after cleaning--then Ren-Wax,the entire knife,for protection,before storage or display***

[orvet]

I clean and recondition a lot of used, dirty old knives.
This the method I generally use:
1- Soak the knife in hot water with Dawn dish soap. I sometimes soak it over night unless the handles are wood or old bone.
2- Brush the knife inside the blade pocket (with blades open) with a long stiff bristle nylon brush.
3- Rinse in clear warm to hot water.
4- Blow the water out with compressed air.
5- If there is still water in there I spray it with WD-40 (Water Displacement formula 40).
6- Blow the WD-40 out with compressed air.
7- If there is still gunk in there I spray inside with Burch Wood Casey gun cleaner.
8- Blow out again.
9- Oil the joints with Quick Release Oil.
10- Wipe down the knife with Walker Wax, I prefer it 5 to 1 to Ren wax.
I will wipe down bone & stag with Formby’s lemon oil or mineral oil to restore moisture to them.

[Treasure Trawler]

Dale, I heard that using wd40 was bad? Sounds like a good method though.

[jerryd6818]

WD-40 is fine as long as it's used for the purpose it was invented for, displacing moisture and not as a lubricant. (Smell it. It smells like Kerosene) I pretty much follow Dale's regime only I use Dawn liquid dishwashing soap in an ultra-sonic cleaner and am a real cheer leader for the device.

[orvet]

Dale, I heard that using wd40 was bad? Sounds like a good method though.

WD-40 is excellent for removing the water, but as a lubricant it is an abysmal failure, IMHO.
The name tells the purpose for which it was invented; Water Displacement formula 40.
Apparently they had 39 formulas that were not as effective.

I always blow the WD-40 out with compressed air, then I lube the knife.
The small amount of remaining WD-40 won't hurt the lube, nor the knife.
WD-40 alone is not heavy enough to be a good lubricant for knives.

[Mr Rick]

An example of what you can accomplish with a little Mothers Mag Polish and a Q-tip.

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