When your sharpening stone gets clogged and not giving the right output, it’s time to take care and clean it. Without regular and proper cleaning, a sharpening stone becomes out of order. However, you should know how to clean a sharpening stone and care it.
For example, you should have to hone oil to remove any metal fillings on your stone. If you’re using an old stone, it’s possible to get back its best functionality using WD-40 with steel wool. It’s the way to get rid of oil and dirt from the stone.
How To Clean A Sharpening Stone With 5 Steps
Also, you must flatten the stone in every ten sharpening sessions. It will help you keep the stone even, out of stubborn metal, and embedded fillings. Now, let’s know about some simple steps that will enable you to clean your sharpening stone effortlessly.
First Step: Use A Towel To Keep The Stone On It
At first, you have to keep a towel under your sharpening stone. It will help you to grab any elements that drop from your stone while cleaning up. Also, you will be able to keep the kitchen surface as clean as a better condition.
Second Step: Use The Honing Oil
Then, it is time to pour some honing oil over your sharpening stone to start its cleaning process. Ensure to wrap each inch of your stone. As honing oil facilitates to lubricate your stone, it reduces rubbing while going through the cleaning process.
It’s because excess rubbing can destroy your stone. Keeping them out from implanting, this oil also facilitates to glide the metallic specks from the holes of the stone. Rub your stone in horizontal or circular motions to widen the oil everywhere on it.
Third Step: Scrubbing
Use the old scotch Brite or the toothbrush to scrub your stone in rounded motions just after you have widened the oil on the stone. It will help you to dispose of dirt from your stone.
Also, you have the option to use a rag when you need to scrub your stone. You will find flecks are rising from the pores of the stone when you will be scrubbing the stone.
Wipe its fleck out with a rag. Use the steel-made wool to throw away the surplus debris if the stone is filthy. Now, wash your stone using lukewarm water, and you need to repeat this process if you are not satisfied with it.
Fourth Step: Rinsing
When you are enough satisfied with the stone, you will not find any more dirt and debris. So, it’s time to rinse your stone using clean water. It is better to use running water to clean the stone because running water is ideal for rinsing your stone.
It helps you to wash off all particles along with soap from your stone well. It would help if you used under-mount kitchen sink when you need to rinse your stone. The stone might be picking up or retaining some particles if you go through standing water, for example, water in the basin.
Fifth Step: Drying
Last but not should be least; drying is another vital step in this cleaning process. Wipe your rinsed stone using a clean rag or a paper towel. Also, you can keep the stone out to become dry in the open air that will vanish any residual water.
Alternative ways of cleaning a sharpening stone
You may have to search for other methods to clean your stone that depends on the stone’s type you have. As a result, let’s know about some more techniques that you can follow to clean the stone.
Use WD-40
Instead of using the honing oil, you can also use the WD-40 spraying oil to clean your stone. WD-40 has gained massive popularity on penetrating harsh surfaces. Also, you can use it for removing dirt from surfaces.
When it comes to the sharpening stone, WD-40 is beneficial in cleaning your sharpening stone. It’s because this oil can take out heavy grime and debris. Spray the oil all over your stone and ensure it has coated with the oil entirely.
You should allow the spray rest for several minutes to enable it to absorb and float the unwanted particles from the stone. If you are finished coating the stone with WD40, follow the steps explained above to clean your sharpening hammer.
Ensure the stone is rinsed very well, as this substance can leave a stinky smell. Utilize WD-40 in the open air or ventilated spot.
Utilize the Bar Keepers Friend
It’s not a friend working in a bar! Indeed, this is a product named the Bar Keeper friend that is great to clean your sharpening stone. It will give you better results if you use it as a replacement for the honing oil. In a small tub, you can even mix the dust into a thick paste with water.
To spread the paste all over the block, use an old toothbrush or a rag. You are taking steps 3-5 above to clean and dry the stone while you have the stone coated in mud. For stones which have collected a high number of dirt or fleck particles, this approach is very successful.
Use Hot Soapy Water
It is another excellent method of cleaning your stone hat doesn’t need aggressive scrubbing like the diamond and ceramic stones. You can use soapy water in two different ways to clean your stone. In the first method, take and put some warm water in a basin or a bowl.
Put some drops of dishwashing detergent in the water and mix it well. Now, place your stone under the water and keep it there for some time and you will be scrubbing it using a rag or soft brush. If the soapy water is clear, wipe it off and pat the stone dry.
Alternatively, in our stage guide above, use a dishwashing detergent such as Dawn as a cleaning agent in place of the honing oil. Then follow our method, and you’ll be squeaky clean with ceramic tile. For stones that are not so filled for garbage and gravel, this approach works well.
How Can You Clean Your Oil Sharpening Stone?
The grime and oil will grasp significantly faster on your stone’s surface if your oil sharpening stone remains unused for a long while. The methods explained above that will not be sufficient to clean such a sharpening stone.
Indeed, the simple way to take away the covered layers of greasy grime is to simmer it in water for a very oily grime sharpening stone. It is the most productive way to get rid of the residual dirt, grease, and filling layers.
You should have no more than 10 minutes to boil it. Sometimes, five minutes or less is necessary. This is because prolonged exposure to intense heat can be harmful to the ceramicware material’s molecular structure.
When the stone has boiled, take it with a pair of pincers or tongs and put it n a bowl of warm soapy water. It is to make sure that your sharpening stone becomes cold enough to hold by hand.
You should always avoid using cold water because it will not help you take out oily grime with ease. Keep it about 15 minutes in the soapy bath and then use a rigid brush and sink cleaner to pull it out and thoroughly scrub the dirt.
If it is not clean enough, you should replicate the process once or twice (from boiling to cooling and scrubbing). When done, keep the sharpening stone and clean off any substance remaining on the surface under a jet of cold running water.
The Bottom Line
That is all about how to clean a sharpening stone. Hopefully, you will be able to clean your sharpening stone with ease following the above-said steps and methods.
The trick to keeping your knives sharp and effective is sharpening stones. This valuable stone absorbs soil as it maintains the knives clean. In their pores, the metallic flecks that come off the knives during the sharpening process accumulate.
Eventually, aggregation of this dirt and flecks will make the stone useless. Using our step-by-step method for prolonged use, efficiently clean the sharpening stone.