All About Pocket Knives

Hi There-

Does any have any technique to remove green staining from stag knives? Is there a safe way to reverse this or clean it once it has started?

Without pictures it's difficult to say what is causing it but from your description you may have some verdigris. If so it's likely coming from brass in liners, pins, or nickel silver bolsters. Verdigris formation is usually the result of exposure to acids, possibly from proximity to leather, or outgassing celluloid, and chemical reaction between brass (actually the copper in brass) and acids.

It's likely penetrated into the pores in the stag. If so I don’t know of any way to cure that. If it's just on the surface some elbow grease with a soft cotton rag might remove some or all of it.

Maybe someone else has a better recommendation.

Ken

Mumbleypeg

It’s most certainly from the brass liners and pins. It’s a slip joint and no leather exposure.

Just spit balling but because it color on essentially white stag, is there any logic to heavily diluting a bleach or tile cleaner with bleach and gently introducing to the stag in the light colored areas?

Just an idea not going through with it yet.

It might work. Let us know.

Cabphoto wrote: ↑Sun Sep 07, 2025 1:23 am Hi There-

Does any have any technique to remove green staining from stag knives? Is there a safe way to reverse this or clean it once it has started?

I’ve had success using mineral oil on stag that has turned green. From the stag that turned green that I have had, it was not near the brass pins, and seems to have been growing independent of the metal. Mostly seen this on Japanese knives made with stag. I did have one that was made in the USA, but mostly Japanese stag handled knives have done this. Hope this helps. Sorry I didn’t see this sooner.

If mineral oil removed anything green from your stag, it was green polishing compound.
Mineral oil will penetrate stag, and darken and soften it. It should not be used on stag.

Bill DeShivs wrote: ↑Thu Sep 11, 2025 5:56 am If mineral oil removed anything green from your stag, it was green polishing compound.
Mineral oil will penetrate stag, and darken and soften it. It should not be used on stag.

Thanks Bill, I remembered you saying that before. I only used it because nothing else was working and the stag looked pretty awful. Otherwise I would not use it, per your recommendation.