How often do you clean your sharpmaker rods/sharpening stones?

[Johnnie1801]

Just wondering how often you guys clean your rods/stones? I notice my Sharpening gear can get loaded pretty quickly but I've been a bit lazy to clean them, just giving them a wipe with a cloth instead. Is it better to clean them after every other session or can you wait a bit?

[buccilli15]

Admittedly I haven't searched, but I'd be curious as to HOW people clean them.

[jalcon]

It seems to me that if I don't clean them alot, I get less than desired results. They work much better when clean.

As far as how - there are numerous ways. Some use a magic eraser....I have had great results with stuff called "bar keepers friend" and one of those none scratch scotch brite sponges...

[farnorthdan]

I tend to agree with Jalcon, the rods seem to cut better when not over loaded with metal. I usually clean mine after a few good sessions and they start looking loaded up. I just use some comet and a abrasive pad, seems to work fine. I do want to try some BKF but I keep forgetting to look when I'm at the store.

[Pinetreebbs]

I use Bar Keepers Friend or Bon Ami cleanser. They both use softer abrasives, feldspar and eggshells respectively, and make quick work of cleaning the Sharpmaker rods.

[ejames13]

I only use the brown rods and diamonds. Diamonds wipe off easily with just my fingers or a wet cloth. I clean the brown rods with Bar Keeper's Friend and a green Scotchbrite pad. Works like a charm.

I'm pretty meticulous about keeping them clean. As others have said, I find a considerable degradation in their ability to cut when they've become even a little loaded. Usually clean them every few sharpenings.

[JD Spydo]

I use Bar Keepers Friend or Bon Ami cleanser they both use softer abrasives, feldspar and eggshells.

I also use "Bar Keeper's Friend" cleanser like "pinetreeebbs" also does. I usually clean any of my Spyderco ceramic sharpening stones ( on the 204 Sharpmaker) after no more than two sharpenings. As the one Brother said>> the ceramic stones just cut better and more uniformly when they are clean. The only exception is with the 204 diamond rods>> which really don't need more than a good brushing with an old toothbrush at best.

If I ever find anything that works better than BKF I will immediately start using it. I've yet to find anything that cleans Spyderco's ceramic stones as efficiently as BKF does.

I pretty much do all my other Spyderco ceramic stones the same way. I might actually sharpen 3 knives on the 302 Benchstones but most of the time I do after two sharpenings. I've also found that if you use your 204 Sharpmaker a lot then you ought to change/replace the gray/medium stones about once every three years. The medium stones do seem to lose their abrasive properties over time has been my experience. But do keep in mind that I use my Sharpmaker at least 3 to 4 times a week on average so your replacement time might not be as frequent as mine.

[dplafoll]

Bar Keeper's Friend and a basic sponge. I use the soft yellow side, and I get the liquid BKF. I take the sponge and get it wet with warm water, then I squirt some BKF on there, then I rub the rod (Phrasing?) up and down the sponge on each side. I rinse off the sponge and re-up the BKF in between rods to get rid of the metal.
BKF is just perfect at this process. I do it on a fairly regular basis, as I tend to oversharpen like some of us do. :p

I actually haven't cleaned my diamond rods since I got them recently. I think I'll clean all of them tonight...

Also, this is a perfect example of how sharpening is a sub-hobby to knife collecting.

[mb1]

I've used baking soda with decent results, but I did finally pick up some BKF recently and it works.

I don't do that kind of cleaning until I'm done with a sharpening session tho. I constantly wipe the rods with my bare fingers during sharpening to keep them cutting. It works well enough to keep them from loading to the point of being useless.

[MacLaren]

I use Dawn.

[Bloke]

I clean after every use and often during. I also end for end them as they start to load up! :)

I've experimented with all sorts of abrasive cleansers on Spyderco Ceramics over the years and found 3M Scotch-Brite abrasive pads to clean best. It seems they abrade the metal build up on the ceramic without leaving there own residue and without abrading the ceramic which is obviously much harder.
I used to use Ajax Powder or an Aussie product called “Jif” which is simple a mildly abrasive liquid cleaning agent. I think Ajax, Borax, Jif and the like do little if anything and don’t use them anymore. The last few times I simply cleaned with whatever dishwashing liquid is in the cupboard and the Scotch-Brite. The rods are cleaner now than when I bought them.

I think the more build up you allow the less they cut and the harder they are to clean! :rolleyes:

[RunnersLunge]

I also use the Bar Keepers friend powder and use it as necessary. A basic sponge will work fine or perhaps a scotch pad if you've been lazy about cleaning them.

[VashHash]

I don't use a "sharpmaker" but i use a triangle stone made by another company, a spyderco pocket stone and dmt stones. I clean all of them as soon as I'm done sharpening and i use a white eraser. I think it was here that i picked up that trick and it works really well. Maybe not the cleanest stones in the world but I know it completely cleans the DMT stones and does a pretty good job on ceramic.

[MichaelScott]

Bon Ami. Every time they are used.

[Evil D]

Depends on what I'm doing. If I'm using the corners, I clean them pretty often, usually whenever the corners get black. I use the flats more often than not and they very rarely get dirty enough to need cleaned.

[bearfacedkiller]

I clean them when they start to cut less. I just hold them under warm running water and scrub them with the pad of my thumb using liberal amounts of elbow grease. They come clean pretty quick for me that way. I have never found them hard to clean. The diamond rods load up very slowly and I find that I seldom have to clean them out.

[PaleMoon]

For the Med, Fine and UF rods, I clean them whenever the Fine or UF become too black. I simply rub them with a scotchbrite pad and water.

Since the diamond rods are so easy to clean, I rinse them with water and dry them after every use. If I'm doing some heavy reprofiling on a thick stock blade, I might rinse then during use, too.

[JD Spydo]

I also use the Bar Keepers friend powder and use it as necessary. A basic sponge will work fine or perhaps a scotch pad if you've been lazy about cleaning them.

At one time I used a sponge with Bar Keeper's Friend cleanser but in the past two years I've discovered that some of the kitchen grade Scotch Brite pads work even better IMO. I've also had decent luck using toothbrushes with BKF.

The one Brother that mentioned using baking soda is somewhat interesting because I've got a friend that says he uses baking soda and white vinegar to clean all of his sharpening stones. I haven't tried it yet but I am interested to see how It works.

I've also had quicker results soaking the Spyderco ceramic stone overnight in DAWN dishwashing liquid ( the overnight variety). But again if someone can show me a quicker/better way to clean and rejuvenate Spyderco ceramic sharpening stones I'm all ears.

[sabb8pro2]

I use an old toothbrush and dish soap.

[Skaaphaas]

Would baking soda and vinegar not simply cancel out one another and cause a fairly neutral salt?