Thread: Best way to clean a hone

I am trying to clean a few stones and not sure the best way to go about it. Just want to get all of the grease off of some of the larger ones. I used dish soap water and a dmt diamond sharpening stone on what seems to be a washita stone and now looks dull and dry. Should I not clean with soap and water, and if not what should I use? Even a couple I cleaned a few weeks ago now look the same way. Dull and colorless. Like to bring back the natural luster and not ruin some of the nicer escher stones and coticules.. Also didn't want to put something on them once clean that will potentially harm them..

I haven't tried it myself but I have heard of many people using a bath of simple green to degrease hones. Hopefully someone with more experience will chime in soon.

Fume free oven cleaner also works for grease removal.

Will any of these things penetrate the stone?

It's going to depend on the porosity of the hone.

Originally Posted by Mikeinri

Will any of these things penetrate the stone?

Dunno, but as Utopian said, guys have used Easy Off oven cleaner to do oil stones. IIRC the one with the blue label is no odor ? Been years since that was posted by a guy who did it, so I may be (shudder) wrong about the color. Never done it myself.

I don't remember the color but I have used it on several non-porous carborundum barber hones.

Many stones are different in the way you clean them & with what. Post pictures of you hones & we can can your a more accurate reply to each. There are some hone that I would not dare use EZ-Off on & there are others that EZ-Off is the first step I use.

Originally Posted by MattCB

I haven't tried it myself but I have heard of many people using a bath of simple green to degrease hones. Hopefully someone with more experience will chime in soon.

I've used simple green to clean a lot of arks and it works wonders. Just let it soak a couple hours, or even over night and you'll be surprised how much better the stone will look

These are the pictures of the ones I want to clean and have cleaned. Is there something to treat them with to bring back the lustre