Spyderco Forums

I got a Para Military 2 and immediately took a picture. First picture in link.

I then cleaned it with hand soap, warm water and a sponge. Second picture in link.

https://imgur.com/a/PI44kil

I was really bummed out. I asked around and was told oil would bring back the color. I tried HOPPE'S No. 9 Lubricating Oil. It did help but it's still much closer to the second picture.

1. Is it normal for coating to come out so easily like that ?
2. Is there anything I can do to help bring it back closer to original ?

Soak it in WD-40. Sal posted somewhere that was how they did it "back in the day". Your soap and water bath probably washed the oil off.

It's just dry, lube it with almost any kind of oil and it will darken back up.

Don't worry, it is just optical, you can't wash away DLC.

Just use some mineral oil, food safe as well if you use it to cut food. It will quickly bring back the darker color/shine.

Some hand soap will leave a residue. You can try to use dish soap or even something like Barkeeper's Friend. Just make sure to oil it after cleaning and drying.

Welcome aboard.

you'd have to use a very abrasive sponge and lots of pressure to remove dlc. just looks cloudy to me from soap residue. hot water rinse might be enough to clean it up, if mot the suggestion others had to apply some oil should do the trick. Or just carry it and over time it'll self correct.

Yeah I'm going to echo what other people have said here: this looks like residue stuck in the micro-texture of the DLC. I would maybe try rinsing it more under *very* hot water and then applying oil to the blade.

DLC worries apart, I hope you're enjoying your new knife

IMO, knives are supposed to be used and accumulate wear, scratches, and battle scars. It's not going to stay perfect forever unless you don't use it. Personally I think rugged knives like the PM2 look better when they've got some wear. It always stings when you use your brand-new high-dollar knife for the first time and you get a big ol' scratch on it or something, but that's what makes the knife yours. But like others have said, try using some oil and try rubbing it into the DLC. Good luck.

Salter wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 19, 2022 1:25 pm

IMO, knives are supposed to be used and accumulate wear, scratches, and battle scars. It's not going to stay perfect forever unless you don't use it. Personally I think rugged knives like the PM2 look better when they've got some wear. It always stings when you use your brand-new high-dollar knife for the first time and you get a big ol' scratch on it or something, but that's what makes the knife yours. But like others have said, try using some oil and try rubbing it into the DLC. Good luck.

I agree 100%, but spydies DLC isn't very prone to wear. I used and abused a PM2 for 5 years and the DLC looked great.

Mineral oil is your friend

Welcome PizzaParty! Just another FYI....DLC will also pick up marks from the material you're cutting. You might think it's scratched but it's not. Use a little Flitz or Blue Magic metal polish on the DLC and it'll remove those marks and even the finish out. Again a little oil helps but the DLC will soak it up

Enjoy that PM2. It should serve you well for a long time

Wenol, Simichrome polish, Mother's Mag Wheel polish will clean it right up.

I thought that my DLC PM2 20CV blade was scarred from some less than gentle use. and assumed that was that. A couple of weeks later I decided to do a little maintenance on it and a couple others that needed a touch up.

I ran it across the Sharpmaker, took it apart, cleaned and oiled it up along with the others. Before re-assembly I had used Wenol metal polish on the non-coated blades, they looked new maybe better than new. I figured the Wenol might buff part of the scuffing off the DLC blade so why not give it a shot? As it turned out there was no scuffing, it was material transferred to the blade. The metal polish removed the "scuff" and made the DLC have a smooth even satin like finish. It's not as glossy as an oil wipe finish which I like better anyway.

Let it drink some mineral oil.