Yep, Hydrochloric Acid (HCL) could do the job a little faster than vinegar, as it will dissolve the iron off the ceramics, is easier to get hold of and way safer than H2SO4.

Wiki Same acid as in our stomachs and used in pickling steel.

Safety glasses and rubber/latex gloves to be safe.

Just thought about it ... Coca-cola has phosphoric acid in it and that could also work as the metal in the ceramics is very fine.

mark76 wrote:


It's Barkeepers friend... www.barkeepersfriend.com I use it... works really well.

BTW, I don't think anyone's mentioned leather... a waterless non abrasive hand cleaner with a conditioner like lanolin or aloe vera does a great job of cleaning and revitalizing leather. Haven't done the WE strops yet... but have done some full size strops, and they come out as good as new. Just make sure it's non abrasive.

cbw

Monk69bl wrote:


Sure, it'll definitely be the safest. However, most knives I sharpen are made of stainless steel. And these knives withstand vinegar quite nicely.

As BLD said Vinegar takes forever at elevated temperatures.

Below are a couple of Youtube videos where you can see the effect on different grades.

Thought I might add M0DiFiEDZ recent video here.

"How To Clean Your Stones With A Cheap $50 Ultrasonic Cleaner"



Does it look to be the best option out there?

I was under the impression Clay said NOT to use an ultrasonic on the diamond stones... or was it the ceramics he said that about...

It wasn't me, it was BassLakeDan in this post: Diamond Stone and Strop Care - www.wickededgeusa.com/index.php?option=c...&Itemid=63#3102. Suddenly my edit toolbar is missing which I'll have to investigate. For now, you can copy and paste the link into your address bar.

ah ha, I knew I had seen it somewhere!

Clay, you've been using your same diamond stones for years and many hundreds of knives, right? They still work just fine? See any need for H2SO4?

You may well have entered your stone cleaning routine in the WIKI already, if not, would you enter it under something like "Clay's preferred cleaning method"?

Are you unsatisfied with the performance of any of your stone cleaning methods?

Looking forward to your reply. Would rather leave strong chemicals out of my cleaning arsenal.

Thanks,
Mike

Mikedoh wrote:


Hey Mike,

Thank you for the suggestion. I have been using my stones for a long time and I haven't felt any need to use acidic cleaners on them. I'll try to write something up and post it to the Wiki and FAQ.