Cleaning Sharpening stones

[JD Spydo]

I've been doing some experimenting here lately while cleaning some of my Sharpening stones>> and keep in mind that I do have a wide array of Sharpening stones>> everything from Natural Stones like Novaculite ( Arkansas Stones), Coticules ( Belgium Razor stones) and several other straight razor stones as well. I also have other ceramic stones other than the huge assortment of Spyderco stones I've gathered over the years.

Now at this time one of my favorite cleaners for any kind of sharpening stone are the "Bar Keeper's Friend" line up of products. Their mainline cleanser that comes in a sprinkle can similar to that of Ajax and Comet>> it really blew me away when by accident I stumbled onto to BKF about 10 years ago when having trouble getting my Spyderco ceramic stones clean. But BKF worked like a miracle cleaning Spyderco's ceramic stones and it's mainly what I've used since then. But since that time I've experimented with a lot of different types of cleaning compounds on many types of sharpening stones with some mixed results.

Just yesterday I had two stones that were really clogged up and of all things I used an oven cleaner which worked great on two stones I was having trouble with. But I still had to finish it up with BKF to get it completely clean but the oven cleaner got 90% of the stubborn stuff out of the stone. At this time I'm just wanting to pick your brains to see what you all might have stumbled onto as far as cleaning and restoring sharpening stones to their original state. I love to experiment>> for example I made a solution of bleach and TSP (tri-sodium phosphate) and soaked some stones in it overnight and it did help to loosen up some really impregnated material. The bleach and TSP by the way is a great cleaner for a lot of cleaning jobs.

OK let's chat about cleaning sharpening stones?

[Evil D]

I really like the Magic Eraser, but I'm getting tired of how quickly those things wear out especially when you start cleaning Sharpmaker rods, the corners seem to cut through the Eraser like a knife. Lately I've just been using a Scotchbrite pad and some Dawn, but I imagine something like Ajax/Barkeeper's Friend will work well since they're abrasive. For any of my other stones that aren't for the Sharpmaker, I just lap them when they get dirty, since that also keeps them flat and the surface fresh.

[valenciamanu]

For cleaner or ceramic Vim, ajax type.
For others and usually a pencil eraser. Never use water with stones who are oil. they spoil

[awa54]

all my natural stones and synthetic water stones get "cleaned" by lightly refacing them on a coarse diamond plate, comet seems to work well on ceramics and diamond hones usually just rinse clean, sometimes with a little help from an old toothbrush.

[farnorthdan]

I use comet and green 3M scrubby pad but would really like to try out the BKF, keep hearing this stuff works good.

[paladin]

I use comet and green 3M scrubby pad but would really like to try out the BKF, keep hearing this stuff works good.

BKF is the best brother, plus if you got a Harbor Fright nearby, I think it's like a $1 per can, or at least that's what it was last time I bought some-- it lasts awhile!

[El Gato]

I use comet and green 3M scrubby pad but would really like to try out the BKF, keep hearing this stuff works good.

Yes indeed, Bar Keepers Friend works very well and is what I have long used on all my Edge Pro stones with great results. I clean my stones with BKF and a common fingernail brush, and if I need to flatten a stone I use a DMT diamond plate. For my EP diamond stones a good rinse and brushing cleans them up nicely. :)

[JD Spydo]

I really like the Magic Eraser, but I'm getting tired of how quickly those things wear out especially when you start cleaning Sharpmaker rods, the corners seem to cut through the Eraser like a knife. Lately I've just been using a Scotchbrite pad and some Dawn, but I imagine something like Ajax/Barkeeper's Friend will work well since they're abrasive. For any of my other stones that aren't for the Sharpmaker, I just lap them when they get dirty, since that also keeps them flat and the surface fresh.

Yeah we got a lot of those Magic Erasers here where I'm working and they do good on certain applications but up till now I've still had the best of luck using the "Bar Keeper's Friend" line up of products. What I really like about the BKF cleanser especially is how it makes those stones really abrade evenly>> they have a very consistent bite to them after giving them a thorough cleaning with BKF.

Now I do use BKF with ScotchBrite pads and those two do work well together. I also have been soaking my stones overnight in various types of cleaning mixtures with some success. I've also been doing some experimenting with "Tri-Sodium Phosphate (TSP) and finding it to be a good cleaner on really stubborn and hard to remove type jobs. I will advise however to use gloves when using any of these cleaning compounds I'm speaking of because the TSP will literally eat your flesh if not careful :eek: .

I'm wondering if any of you soak your stones before cleaning them? If so what do you use?

[EDC Honeybee]

I had been using lighter fluid to clean stones (no clue if this is a good practice). I always keep BKF on hand, and never thought to use it. What an awesome idea. thanks

[JD Spydo]

I had been using lighter fluid to clean stones (no clue if this is a good practice). I always keep BKF on hand, and never thought to use it. What an awesome idea. thanks

Interesting!! Because my late favorite Uncle always used Kerosene to clean most of his whetstones and sharpening stones. Not sure if petroleum products do any harm to most sharpening stones but I've never heard that petro products are bad for them either :confused:

I also had a friend about a year ago said that he used paint and laquer thinners to clean his stones. Hey if it works then why not

[Evil D]

I'm curious about using some of these chemicals on porous stones, specifically anything I would use water with when sharpening. For example, once you use oil on a stone, you're pretty much stuck using oil on that stone forever because it penetrates the stone. I wonder if chemicals can do the same or if they rinse away well enough not to contaminate the stone? It's probably not an issue with Sharpmaker rods since they're so hard and dense but on my Moldmasters I would be hesitant to use anything that isn't water based or at least that rinses out with water (like dish soap).

[OldHoosier62]

When Grandad was teaching me "way back when" how to sharpen, we always used kerosene. He wanted a light cutting fluid not something heavy to clog the stone. I adhered to that for many years but started using 409/Fantastic/Simple Green (depends on which bottle I'm closer to at the time) sometime in the 90's. Smooth cutting and stone cleanup is much easier also. BKF is my go-to heavy duty cleaner if I really get one clogged up.

[Bigman]

For the crock stick I use a little ajax and a rough plastic pot scrubber and it works great cleaning them up. I just use soapy water and nylon bush for my diamonds hones. As I do with my natural stones if they show any signs of getting clogged up a bit.

[farnorthdan]

Used my edge pro leveling kit to resurface all my stones last night, I really need to do this more often, its amazing how much better they cut after resurfacing.

[palonej]

I have a SM with UF rods and 2 Spydie bench stones. One is shaped like a triangle, forget the model number, it has a groove in it, fish hook sharpener??? It's fine grit. I also have a rectangular ultra fine Spydie stone and I love them!! I feel sharpening and refining edges is pretty therapeutic! Also have a couple of strips from Stropman.
I use Ajax and a finger nail cleaning brush. Tried Scotch pads, but they get cut up quickly! Amazing how quickly the stones get black!!
Joe

[JD Spydo]

I have a SM with UF rods and 2 Spydie bench stones. One is shaped like a triangle, forget the model number, it has a groove in it, fish hook sharpener??? It's fine grit. I also have a rectangular ultra fine Spydie stone and I love them!! I feel sharpening and refining edges is pretty therapeutic! Also have a couple of strips from Stropman.
I use Ajax and a finger nail cleaning brush. Tried Scotch pads, but they get cut up quickly! Amazing how quickly the stones get black!!
Joe

That's the only negative aspect of my Spyderco ceramic stones I can mention >> they do load up quickly and they also lose their abrasive bite easy as well. But Bar Keeper's Friend cleaner when used properly does indeed restore them quickly. So I guess I'm just going to resign myself to the fact that if I'm going to use Spyderco ceramic stones I need to be ready to clean them after about every two to three uses. But I still want to keep this thread wide open for cleaning methods for various other types of stones and what's best to clean them with.

Also I'm finding that discarded toothbrushes seem to be a nice cleaning tool. I have access to dozens of "once used" toothbrushes and I do find them very handy for using with all types of chemicals. I also find "ScotchBrite" pads ( the more abrasive ones) to also be a big time saver when faced with a difficult stone cleaning job.

So I would also be interested to know what types of brushes and cleaning tools you all use. Any cleaning compounds, solvents or anything you might pre-soak the stones with would also be helpful. When I started using Bar Keeper's Friend cleanser is was purely by accident about 12 years ago so don't think that any suggestion would be useless because you just don't know how anything is going to work on a sharpening stone until you actually use it.

[skypirate]

I'd like to suggest a couple of 'crazy' ways to clean up the ceramic sharpening stones.

• Scotch Magic Tape - Just lay down a strip of tape on the surface of the stone, press firmly, then 'lift' the debris off.
• Kneaded eraser - Sort of like a firm Silly Putty, again just press the kneaded eraser on the surface of the stone and lift the metal off.

Minimal abrasion to the stone. No washing metal particles down the drain.

[Echo63]

i clean my sharp maker stones with a scotchbrite pad and a common aussie cleanser known as "JIF"
diamond stones get scrubbed with dishwashing liquid and a scrubbing brush
edge pro stones just get flattened - but i haven't clogged one yet either.

[MacLaren]

For my SharpMaker rods I use a scotchbrite pad and Dawn. It does the job imo.

[JD Spydo]

i clean my sharp maker stones with a scotchbrite pad and a common aussie cleanser known as "JIF"
diamond stones get scrubbed with dishwashing liquid and a scrubbing brush
edge pro stones just get flattened - but i haven't clogged one yet either.

Interesting!!! I always like to experiment with new stuff for cleaning. I'm wondering if this "JIF" product you speak of is available here in the USA?

I've yet to find any cleaner that surpasses "Bar Keeper's Friend" powdered cleanser for my Spyderco ceramic sharpening stones. But I'm always willing to check out new products. IF the stones are really clogged up I'll sometimes use either Comet or Ajax to get the worst of the filings and then finish it with the BKF.

I've heard of serious woodworkers using a solution to soak stones overnight before attempting to clean them. The heavy duty Scotch Brite pads seem to be the best cleaning tool you can get for getting stones as clean as they came from the factory IMO>