Getting moly out of G10

[Knutty]

I decided to try out molybdenum disulfide as a lube. The first thing I noticed was that it had an almost supernatural ability to get all over the place. Despite my best efforts, it's stained the G10 scales of several of my knives. Even on black G10, it leaves a noticeable stain.

I've tried soap and water, but that works about as well as spitting on a forest fire. I've damaged G10 in the past with rubbing alcohol (isopropanol).

Anyone know how to get moly out of G10 without damage?

[v8r]

have you tried WD-40?

[Knutty]

No, but it couldn't work any worse than soap and water...

[Stuart Ackerman]

What about clothes washing powder in hot water...?
Seems to remove most greases, so report back, please?

[VashHash]

Use something more aggressive like brake parts cleaner or electrical solvent Like CRC electrical cleaner. The G-10 will be fine it will just appear dry after. But it will get the Moly off the scales. I've cleaned several G-10 knives with electric parts cleaner with no issue.

[JD Spydo]

One new product I've found here that we use where I work at has done some incredible cleaning for us. It's one of the DAWN dishwashing liquid soaps. It's called "DAWN OVERNIGHT" and I'm here to tell you that it's even much better than the blue Dawn I've used for years. I've had that Dawn Overnight get out some really bad stains from clothing and I've soaked it overnight on stuff we burnt in the oven and it removed and broke down most of that.

Also I used to have a stainless steel cleaner here at work and I'll have to see if I can find it today but I've had incredible cleaning results with it as well. I'm sort of surprised the Isopropyl alcohol did your G-10 damage :confused: Because I've used rubbing alcohol getting tape residue and other substances that gum up knife blades and I've had great luck with isopropyl alcohol.

But with the thousands of cleaners, polishes and solvents out there on the market surely we can find a solution to this. One other product you might want to try would be "Bar Keeper's Friend" which is a powdered cleanser that I've used for years with great results on all kinds of metal surfaces as well as smooth top stoves and overall I've had great luck it. BKF also has a lot of new products you can check out on their website.

One last product and maybe it should be the first thing to try. I've had super good luck with a product that many firearms experts use called BALLISTOL. I've had BALLISTOL actually rejuvenate faded and weathered G-10 scales and it cleans them as well. OK do keep us posted I'm interested to see how this one turns out.

[JD Spydo]

Use something more aggressive like brake parts cleaner or electrical solvent Like CRC electrical cleaner. The G-10 will be fine it will just appear dry after. But it will get the Moly off the scales. I've cleaned several G-10 knives with electric parts cleaner with no issue.

Hey VASHHASH I would be reluctant to use those solvents on G-10 :eek: Because if he's had rubbing alcohol give him bad results then by no means would I use any solvents that powerful.

But BALLISTOL not only has cleaning properties, it also has properties of lubricity and seems to protect G-10 as well. It doesn't have the harsh effects of many hot solvents I've used.

The only solvent that I would dare to even try to use on G-10 and that's only if it's in really bad shape and that would be plain old "mineral spirits" which is just plain old paint thinner for oil based paints. Mineral Spirits has a lubricative type property to it as well. It's one of the few solvents that won't destroy paint brushes over a long period of time>> I know I used to do commercial painting for a living years ago.

But I would be extremely careful with powerful solvents like you've mentioned unless you yourself have tested them and had good luck with them.

[Knutty]

The rubbing alcohol issue was on a Tenacious. I'm not sure if the G10 on a Tenacious is different in a way that would make this an issue. But a long time ago, I put alcohol on a paper towel, rubbed the G10 on a Tenacious, and the towel turned black. The stained G10 I have is on a couple PM2s and a Karahawk.

Ballistol sounds promising. I checked a bunch of web sites, and it doesn't look like I'll find it locally. Just ordered some from Amazon. I haven't dismissed the other suggestions though. I appreciate them all.

[JD Spydo]

The rubbing alcohol issue was on a Tenacious. I'm not sure if the G10 on a Tenacious is different in a way that would make this an issue. But a long time ago, I put alcohol on a paper towel, rubbed the G10 on a Tenacious, and the towel turned black. The stained G10 I have is on a couple PM2s and a Karahawk.

Ballistol sounds promising. I checked a bunch of web sites, and it doesn't look like I'll find it locally. Just ordered some from Amazon. I haven't dismissed the other suggestions though. I appreciate them all.

Hey "Knutty" you can order the big cans (16 ounce) of BALLISTOL directly from SFO which is where I've gotten both cans of BALLISTOL that I have. Or I see you're here in the USA >> you can go to any good gun shop and I bet most of them at least have the little 2 ounce spray cans of BALLISTOL. Now I don't like the spray cans for two reasons>> one is that they are 10 times more expensive than getting it in bulk in the big cans. And the second reason being I've had bad luck storing spray cans in my footlocker or sharpening tool boxes over the years.

And that big can of Ballistol will literally last you for years. I still have about a third of the original one I got back in 05.

[Knutty]

Yeah I ordered the non-spray version. There's a gun shop not far from me (what a surprise!). I'll check it out. Thanks!

[VashHash]

Guess I just have some tough G10. Time to go to my car and grab my old Para 1 and a can of electrical cleaner.

[JD Spydo]

Guess I just have some tough G10. Time to go to my car and grab my old Para 1 and a can of electrical cleaner.

That's interesting because the more I read threads on G-10 handles the more I hear stories of some G-10 not being very durable at all :confused: .

I'm beginning to believe that not all G-10 material is created equal by any means. But for the most part all of the mainline Spyderco models I've owned over the years have all been extremely durable up till now. But since the mid 2000s I've pretty much only used Ballistol to clean and preserve them with really good success.

I remember one of the toughest and most durable G-10 handles I had was on my Gunting Trainer ( red G-10). It was incredibly tough and resistant to anything you put on it. I really love G-10 myself and even on my user C-46 Lum Tanto I've put it through all kinds of uses and it still looks as good as new. I do believe that the G-10 they use on the premium models must be a better grade of material IMO.

[Knutty]

I'm pretty much to a point where I will stop buying knives sporting G10 at all. There wasn't much I liked about it to begin with, and now there's one more item on the list of things I don't like about it.

Ah, who am I kidding? Too many knives come in only G10 for me to abstain from it.

But again, I appreciate all the advice and have not dismissed any of it. But I am really leery about messing with my G10, as none of these are cheap knives by any means. I'll try Ballistol first, and if it doesn't work out, I'll move on from there. I'm short on time and energy, so this may take awhile.

[PayneTrain]

G10 is resistant to a great deal of chemicals. Here is a chart I found while looking for its resistance to acetone.
http://www.g10fr4.com/g10_pdf/CHEMICAL% ... %20CNL.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I don't know who had the time or money to do all that testing, but I'm relieved to know it is very resistant to mayonnaise!

[delphidoc]

I would try something similar to Go-Jo, but not the kind with pumice in it. Probably need to take a nail brush to it. It has a decent chance of removing the moly, washes away completely with soap and water, and isn't going to discolor or otherwise damage the G10.

[VashHash]

Just use the electrical cleaner Trust me on this I've done a thing or 2 I even sprayed mine with electrical cleaner today. No issue. it just makes the G-10 dry then you breathe on it and it comes back to normal color.

[JD Spydo]

I would try something similar to Go-Jo, but not the kind with pumice in it. Probably need to take a nail brush to it. It has a decent chance of removing the moly, washes away completely with soap and water, and isn't going to discolor or otherwise damage the G10.

Hey that's a great idea >> I never even gave thought to using one of the premium hand cleaners. They do break down grease and many other things like paint but yet seem to be mild enough to not damage your skin. Yeah if the Ballistol doesn't do what you expect it to then by all means go try one of the premium brand hand cleaners.

Now one caviat to that would be to avoid any hand cleaner that has any abrasives in it like pumice or any other grit type abrasives. Just use the creme/liquid hand cleaners. Go-Jo is a great brand and we use it here at work all the time. There is another great hand cleaner made by the ZEP company. Both are excellent and I doubt seriously if either one would hurt your G-10 in the least. Because they are formulated to be easy on your hands.

[tvenuto]

I'm a fan of Goo Gone, which is basically orange scented kerosene. It's rather safe (on things that aren't clothing) but seems to work well for grease/adhesive based things. It will probably also "dry out" the G10 and give it a whitish look, but a wipe down with mineral oil or balistol or even some time in hand will probably bring the color back to normal.

I'm also pretty surprised you had trouble with isopropanol. I was told a long time ago that iso was the safest solvent to use if you weren't sure how chemical resistant the object was. That could be wrong but it was an old-timer engineering tech telling me this so I tend to believe it. Is it possible that you had something black on the knife to begin with and what you were seeing was the substance and not the dye from the G10?

I don't know who had the time or money to do all that testing, but I'm relieved to know it is very resistant to mayonnaise!

Also urine and chocolate sauce!

Yea from my experience G10 is pretty darn bombproof. It strikes a great balance between rigidity and durability, and as we can see it's resistant to the wildest Saturday night anyone could imagine.