How to clean a sharpening stone. Sharpening stones play a vital role in any knife set. A sharpening stone keeps your knives sharp and ready for use. To protect your sharpening stone, you must clean it adequately after each use.
Following the instructions that come with your sharpening stones will help you keep them in good condition even after continued use, so they can continue to do their job properly and conveniently.
How to clean a sharpening stone
To clean your Sharpening stone, apply a small amount of oil, and rub it in a circular motion down the length of the stone. You’ll see metal flecks rise up from the pores and as this happens, wipe the stone with a rag or paper towel. Then rinse until water runs clear and dry it with a paper towel.
You can clean your sharpening stone using some of these alternatives.
Use a Towel to Protect the Sharpening Stone
A build-up of debris on your sharpening stone means it is time to clean the stone.
There are ways to refresh and clean a sharpening stone depending on its type and what you use while maintaining your knife’s edge.
You need to put a towel down under your sharpening stone while you clean it so as not to lose any fine particles in the air or spill them on yourself.
Apply Honing Oil
Although the most effective way for cleaning your sharpening stone is by using a honing oil, there will be instances when you won’t have one on hand or you may need to save some money in order to work with a limited budget.
A Toothbrush should be Affective
If you use a water-based honing oil, make sure to clean the sharpening stone with warm, soapy water.
You can even use an old toothbrush or a green scrubbing sponge to scrub the stone clean. Scrub in long strokes lengthwise, then continue circularly.
You can use Water
If you’d rather not clean your sharpening stone with oil, water is a viable alternative.
For this reason, you should ensure that water doesn’t come into contact with your stone’s surface as much as and at regular intervals because doing so may cause discoloration over time.
It should also be noted that sharpeners that have previously been cleaned by oil cannot use water for their cleaning process for the same reason water will slip right off of the surface of the stone instead of helping to lift away all of the grime and dirt.
Use WD-40
This is a kerosene-based solution ideal for removing dirt and grime from any surface. Be sure to work carefully with it, however, because it can leave a foul odor on any sharpening stone.
It also creates a dry skin texture on the surface of any stone that will block pores. For this reason, avoid using pump bottles if you can when working with this alternative product because they do not contain fluorocarbons.
Minerals Oils
Mineral oils are a good alternative to honing oil but diluted with a little spirit. Mineral oils work well because they pull the swarf right away, but sometimes they can get a little thick if you’re working in cold conditions or in humid areas.
I’ve found that if you keep them thinned down some by adding alcohol or mineral spirits and add a little more of that each week when it gets past the consistency of water it should be fine to use.
How to clean a sharpening stone
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