Cleaning Knives

[RICK day]

I'm sure this has been covered before....but I am new to forum and have not seen them all.
question:Does it hurt the value to clean a knife?
Thanks!!!!!
Rick

[reddirtknives]

It could hurt the value of your health if you eat with it... That aside I think general upkeep doesn't hurt at all and is actually a benefit. If your talking about taking the knife apart and sanding and buffing etc. Some prefer it shiny new looking and some prefer naturally aged and time earned patina. But I think most folk lean towards naturally aged but well taken care of as with any antiques like silver and such when you shine it and use the wrong cleaning techniques you are shining away the value of the piece. But a rusty hinge needs oil and wood needs a certain amount of humidity but not too much (guitars) and so forth and so on... a toothpick,cotton swab and some good oil and a clean cloth is about all you need if the knife has been handled properly and stored properly but that's just my rambling opinion... Welcome to AAPK Rick, most of he peeps here will lead you in the right direction. You might try asking in the repair and restoration forum............ DJ ................

[Old Hunter]

Welcome to AAPK. Cleaning out the junk/trash inside an old knife, cleaning off foreign stuff on the outside, oiling the joints, and removing surface rust from the blades will not hurt the value. Polishing an old knife to look new will hurt the resale value to many collectors, but not to some. Clear enough - or clear as mud, eh?

[vieu101]

If its an older knife i think it would hurt value but others may say otherwise. I always put ren wax on them litlle flitz on bolsters On pearl i put a dab of olive oil

By the way welcome to aapk the best knife forum out there

[Reid]

The way that I understand it is:

Flitz on a rag is knife maintenance.

Older knves:
Sanding down the blades and polishing them on a buffer is cleaning a knife. A cleaned knife is not a mint knife. There is a difference between a mint knife and a knife that is cleaned to look mint. We are talking about antique knives (20+ years old).

Newer knives:
Newer knives must be cleaned regularly. You can use ren wax on the entire knife. Most of the time that will be all that is necessary on a newer knife. If the bolster get tarnished a very little amout of flitz will clean it up. THis is normal.

[orvet]

Since I collect older knives, I tend to buy knives that had been used and need to be clean. Sometimes the cleaning is minimal, a little Walker Wax and it is good to go; but many require a deep cleaning to remove accumulated oil, grease, lint, blood (for knives that have been used for hunting), plaster, paint and all other sorts of unimaginable crud.

The first thing I do is to blow the knife out with compressed air; this removes loose chunks of "stuff." The next thing I do is wash the knife. For this I use Dawn dish soap and warm to hot water. A short soak in the warm soapy water removes a lot of oil, grease, some paints and the things like pocket lint trapped in the grease & oil. I use a stiff bristle brush with non-metallic bristles to scrub out the inside of the knife.

Then I blow the water thoroughly out of the knife with compressed air. If I feel I have not gotten all water out, I will spray inside, especially the joints, it with WD40 (WD stands for water displacement), but then I will blow out the WD40 with compressed air and lubricate the joints with Quick Release oil. If I need to polish the bolsters I will do it before I oil the joints. The last step is to polish the knife with Walker Wax, (or Renaissance Wax if you prefer).

[Elvis]

All great advice up to this point! With that in mind, a few general rules applies.....Some collectors like their knives bright and shiney and will pay more for them that way. Your collectors that are on a more professional level and know the values the best will much prefer an unpolished knife. Oiling the joints will never hurt the value of a knife and the same is true about cleaning out the area that houses the blades while it is in the closed position. Personally I like to remove the red rust with 4-0 steel wool before oiling or waxing it.

In short, your experienced collectors prefer an unmolested knife while the inexperienced are like small children and will go for the shiney object every time.

[Reid]

Elvis,
The point that I was trying to make was that there is a difference between newer and older knives and there is a difference between knife maintenance and cleaning.

Knife maintenance on newer knives is to keep them looking new. I use ren wax. These are mint, never used knives.

In older used knives, cleaning generally means sanding blades to remove spots and pits. This is not maintenance and affects the value of a knife.

This is a fine line in knife collecting. There is much discussion on this topic and not many people will agree, even experienced collectors. I feel there is a difference between the modern knives made as collectibles and a 1940's knife that is used.

Reid

[reddirtknives]

Yeah, How they said it... lol ...And I too am a fan of Flitz, You can polish errr ummmm clean your whole knife with it and it will leave a protective coating And the Flitz Co. claims to have the only product of its kind that the FDA deems food safe but I must confess, I tried it once and it kinda had a wang to it So if you are going to use Flitz on a knife you are going to prepare food with I suggest trying to wipe that protective coating off as best as you can

[chetr1200c]

any true blue gung-ho jarhead would use brasso..

[Rookie]

My opinion on an older knife (70's and before) is to only clean it with a cloth, cotton swab, toothpick, compressed air, and light oil. Anything more such as a grinder, buffer, sander, dremmel you will be better off leaving that to the buyer. Many collectors of older knives want to see a little patina on the blades. An old unused knife can still be near mint even without a mirror finish, it's just the way the steel looks after 80+ years.

[tongueriver]

Here is an old 1925-1932 Remington with an eight inch blade, and factory file work on the spine. It is heavily stained, with some micro pitting. I wouldn't dream of touching it with anything at all harsh. But I have working knives that I would use a file on, if necessary. There is a continuum from "Don't Tread on Me!" to "anything goes, big boy" , which is largely a matter of age and value as a collectible. Incidently, this is one of the many knives I am preparing to sell to raise money to help a person in need that I know.

[bonehead]

My opinion is we all have them like we do our business with... Do whatever pleases you its your knife, very few feel the exact same way. Today's day and age has us all doing our own stuff the way we see it fit. Could be wrong could be right by the masses; However, weather you decide to or not clean a knife its all good if your happy. BH

All good suggestions Though

[edgy46]

My opinion is we all have them like we do our business with... Do whatever pleases you its your knife, very few feel the exact same way. Today's day and age has us all doing our own stuff the way we see it fit. Could be wrong could be right by the masses; However, weather you decide to or not clean a knife its all good if your happy. BH

All good suggestions Though

What B H said.
Remember you can clean it later, but you can't unclean it.

[tongueriver]

My opinion is we all have them like we do our business with... Do whatever pleases you its your knife, very few feel the exact same way. Today's day and age has us all doing our own stuff the way we see it fit. Could be wrong could be right by the masses; However, weather you decide to or not clean a knife its all good if your happy. BH

All good suggestions Though

What B H said.
Remember you can clean it later, but you can't unclean it.

I agree. So we all have a valid opinion, depending on where we are at. Works for me.

[RICK day]

Thanks everyone for your advise a little polish on the blades and bolsters is as far as I go, I am also a coin collector and if you clean one of those it cuts the value in half....Again thank you for your advice!
Rick