Cleaning & Maintenance of Spyderco Ceramic Sharpening Stones?

[JD Spydo]

I've been using SOS pads and they work very well and the soap rinses without leaving a residue. The all-in-one nature of steel wool and soap make them really convenient. They work as well or better than BKF/Scotchbrite pads.

That's interesting because I actually gave up on SOS pads way back in the 80s. I'm wondering if they didn't significantly improve the product over time or if some other company bought them out and improved them somehow. Because years ago when I used them for a variety of jobs I always thought that they fell apart too easily and made a mess a lot of times too. But it is possible that they might have just really re-invented and improved them which is cool if they did.

Bar Keeper's Friend has also launched several new products in the past 3 to 4 years. Some of their new liquid cleaners and polishes really do a great job. It's refreshing to see a company here in the USA really take pride in the quality of their product. Because there are so many cleaning products in the grocery stores, hardware stores and big box stores like Rip-Mart that are just a total waste of your money. So when I see BKF come out with a new product to their growing line I always try it out.

Also there is a professional/commercial line of products made by a company called "ZEP" and I must say I've had great luck with many of their great products. But I've yet to use anything of theirs that surpasses the performance of the BKF products for cleaning sharpening stones ( and especially ceramic stones). But keep the suggestions coming because I'm always on the look out for great cleaning products.

[fanglekai]

I use BKF and a sponge or rag. Make a paste, scrub lightly, wash it off.

Bar Keeper's Friend is an amazing product for cleaning a polishing metal. If they ever come up with a product that beats BKF I will switch to it immediately. I'm always looking for something better. But it's been well over 15 years when I discovered how good BKF is for cleaning all kinds of sharpening stones.

BKF has some new liquid products I haven't tried yet but I plan on it. If anyone has tried them please let us know how they do.

I tried one of the liquid ones a few years ago and I didn't think it was as good as the powder for cleaning ceramic stones. With the powder you can adjust the consistency and make a paste. The liquid product was too watery so it's less effective for this task IMO.

[nope]

All right I'm aware that we've discussed this in the past but it has been a while since I've seen it talked about at length. Speaking of cleaning and maintaining the ceramic Spyderco stones>> and I'm not only talking about the stones in the Spyderco 204 Sharpmaker but the 302 Benchstones, Slipstone, GOLDENSTONE and/or the older 701 Profile stones. Or you can talk about how you clean and maintain your Spyderco diamond or CBN stones too if you've got something interesting to contribute. Or any other ceramic sharpening stone on the market as well. Because there are a lot more ceramic type stones on the market in the past 4 years especially

Now for a long time I've mainly used Bar Keeper's Friend cleanser which seems like the best product I've found for really getting the stones factory clean. But in the past 2 to 3 years I've seen several other new cleaning products on the market so I just thought I would run this again to see if any of you have found anything that might even work better than Bar Keeper's Friend. One good friend of mine recently told me that he switched to the BKF's "Cookware & Polish" cleanser type product that has hit the store shelves in the past year. He told me that you don't have to scrub them nearly as hard with that product made by the Bar Keeper's Friend company. Now BKF has also introduced some new liquid cleaning/polishing products in the past 2 to 3 years as well. Personally I've tried one of the liquid BKF products but I didn't see it work any better myself. But I recently had a good friend swear that it works much better and he swears by it.

Also we might discuss the different types of scrubbing pads ( like Scotch Brite) or types of sponges that you use as well. I've heard a lot of bragging about those Mr. Clean Magic Erasers but personally I haven't had that great of luck with them myself but again I've talked to some folks that swear by those Mr. Clear Erasers as well. In the past year I got ahold of another type of Scotch Brite pad that is used on industrial floor cleaners that seems to work much better and quicker than the regular Scotch Brite pads. But there are so many scrubbing pads out there now and it would be interesting to hear what you all are now using. Or any other new or different cleaning products you might have stumbled onto recently that you've had good results with that would be nice to discuss as well. Also I've been soaking my stones overnight in the DAWN PLatinum, Overnight dish soap before I scrub them with BKF and it's really made the scrubbing a lot easier and the final results better. I would be interested to know what you all might soak your ceramic sharpening stones in if you use that method. OK let's talk stone cleaning and maintaining.

You'll never get all of the clogged steel out of the stone by merely washing it away with a solvent or such, you have to lap the stone. Get a cheapo coarse diamond pocket sharpener of w/e brand and cut away the clogged steel and the worn out abrasive.

Now some say this damages the stone. These are the people that buy knives to fondle and take selfies with, and gossip about on the internet. They don't actually use anything.

[JD Spydo]

I beg to differ with you on that one. Because I've done extensive scrubbing with Bar Keeper's Friend cleanser and I've gotten those stones just like they came from the factory. Oh there might be some microscopic particles but I'm very doubtful if that affects the performance of the stone after a thorough cleaning with BKF.

The hardest Spyderco stone I've had to clean has always been the gray/medium stone. I usually have to scrub it with Ajax and rinse it thoroughly before a final scrub with BKF. Some of your more coarse stones do seem like they are a bit more difficult depending on how clogged up you get them before cleaning them.

I never sharpen more than two blades ( three at the very most) before giving them a thorough cleaning with BKF. And there are solutions you can soak them in which make the final cleaning easier.

[kodai78]

What solutions do you use? I have tried running them through the dishwasher (ceramic stones) but it doesn’t seem to clean as well as scrubbing with BKF or Comet or generic paste scrub stuff.

[TkoK83Spy]

I just cleaned my sharpmaker stones last night using warm water, SOS pad and some Dawn soap. Look clean to me!

[PStone]

Now some say this damages the stone. These are the people that buy knives to fondle and take selfies with, and gossip about on the internet. They don't actually use anything.

That does damage the stone. So does sharpening. Hence the need for lapping. You’re basically removing part of the stone. Resurfacing. It can only be done a finite number of times before you run out of material.

[Savageshooter]

Quick question, do the Spyderco bench stones require dressing or lapping to bring up fresh abrasive? So far all I've done is clean mine with comet but was told I needed dress them. They seem to be work just fine after cleaning and I would be concerned with changing the grit if I lapped them.