My Moldy Mistake

I know that this was stupid, but hindsight is 20/20.

I was honing the other day when I got a call that sent me out of the house in a rush. I usually leave my hones out for a day or two after honing to reduce the moisture content a little before I pack them in my briefcase (yes they are literally locked away), this day I chose to put them away, I have no idea why. With a busy couple of days and a busy weekend I couldn't hone again until Sunday. I pulled out my japanese, my german, green shrimp and finally the SS. That's when I noticed damp boxes, my heart quickly sank. When I opened them I had mold on my 8k and 12k. I tried just lapping through them to no end. My shoulders were already sore from lapping my new super hard Oozuku so I had the wife scrub them with bleach water to kill the mold and I went ahead and lapped them again. I ran a cheap razor across them and could definitely feel the mold. It felt rougher than the rest of the hone and I was sure it hurt my edge. What was amazing is that the edge was perfect after a complete honing. No signs of edge damage and this razor shaved smooth as any other.
Should I worry about the fact that I can still feel the mold?
Is the Naniwa SS porous enough to allow deep mold growth?
And does anyone else want to slap me for doing something so stupid?

On the plus side after my arms fell off I got to learn what you japanese stone guys call a hard polisher, holy cow.

Keep them dry they should be ok.

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Originally Posted by deighaingeal

And does anyone else want to slap me for doing something so stupid?

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No, but I am willing to slap you if you have not repeatedly soaked the bleached hones in fresh water to remove all traces of the bleach from your hone. Do you recall what bleach does to steel?

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Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

Keep them dry they should be ok.

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Agreed. That's all it will take.

Gerrit, thank you.

You've probably saved me from another mistake. If there's one to be made, I'll find it. If its expensive, I'll probably do it twice.

'Sorry for your heartburn, but glad the edges came out alright.

One of my better ones was destroying a dmt 8E by trying to lap an Arkansas stone. Sigh. Hello SRD? do you have another in stock? Good.

Yes Ron I did leave the stones under running water for quite a while, but only because the smell of bleach drives me nuts. I really don't think the small amount of bleach my wife used would leave enough remaining in the hones to corrode the steel a noticeable amount before I oiled the blade. As I said the smell of bleach bothers me (great for a med student) in a response she dilutes it a bit before use.

Thank you Sham.

Pinklather, you are not the only one to make every possible mistake. I'm pretty good at realizing a newb mistake and making a whole set of new ones. Making a search of this topic I found a number of threads about norton soaking. That's what sent me to using bleach, Glen mentioned that he uses it in his hone soaking pond since his hones soak all of the time that they aren't on the road.

moldy hones = smooth shave, a stropping effect while honing, you could be onto something.

Just joking, I am glad it has worked out.

Hmm. Interesting concept. Maybe I should take one of my Oozuku (since I now have two) to my research lab and have a party with a fungi (sorry bad biology joke). Then I could perform some backhoning on it with a tomonagura slurry, or would I just rub some lichen to make the slurry. I could then try different assortments of fungal colonies to see what works and I'll sell "Biological stropping media".

:D

Just a random thought: Both vinegar and baking soda have some mold killing properties. Also, while each not being 100% efficient, they do overlap.

Note: This is NOT a recommendation to use neither baking soda nor vinegar on hones! On the other hand, it would seem a safer choice than bleach by a long shot.

Perhaps some of the chemically inclined could ponder the potential hazards of using said agents on hones?

If these are naturals, these are rocks. Molds and fungus grow on rocks. Rocks are mined in quarries. Quarries are wet and damp. Perfect place for mold and fungus. I would not worry about it if they hone well.

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Originally Posted by rjezuit

If these are naturals, these are rocks. Molds and fungus grow on rocks. Rocks are mined in quarries. Quarries are wet and damp. Perfect place for mold and fungus. I would not worry about it if they hone well.

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Quoth the raven, "Naniwa".

You do bring up an interesting thought though. The naturals are bound to have a mold spot on the from time to time, but I've never seen a "new" one with this, is there a chance that mold would break down the binders (could be aesthetics) and as such would the molds encountered here be able to break down what I assume are polymer binders in the naniwa?

Thanks for the Thread, and I very happy it all worked out for you, it's good to find the Right woman to spend eternity with!!! diluteing the bleach was a great idea on your wifes part, cudos!!
I always worried about just how long to leave my wetstones out before packing them away??!!
I've always thought mold might developed, and not I know that is a real possibility I will be extra careful.

Be Safe, Be well, Be Happy, Be Clean Shaven!

tinkersd or SRP

Direct sun light will kill mold. Molds require moisture and darkness to thrive. I would refrain from locking up your stones in a case for awhile because fresh air circulation will help them to recover. alx

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Originally Posted by alx

Direct sun light will kill mold. Molds require moisture and darkness to thrive. I would refrain from locking up your stones in a case for awhile because fresh air circulation will help them to recover. alx

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+1
I did a no-no with my Norton 220-1k a few years back and grew a nice culture...
I added a capful of bleach to the water (1 Gal) from then on, but after soaking the Norton for a day in a double tap of bleach water I set it out on the sunny porch for 2 days a never a green thing poked up it's nasty little head again :)

Glen, I think there is a chance that the combination of bleach and sun could even create a hypo photo chemical reaction that could really help to wipe out the spores and such. alx

I have read that bleach weakens the resin used to bond synthetic waterstones, so not recommended for soaking water or cleaning.

Probably the safest way to clean mould from them would be detergent, but when my stones used to get mouldy; I'd use a nagura stone to rub it out or re flatten the stone if it looks deep.

Vinegar is highly acidic and may do the job whereas there may be a negative reaction with bleach. Be sure to lap the stones to get the dead crap off of of them, maybe a soft bristled brush.

If I leave my Nortons in water too long and they get grimy, I bathe them in a solution of about 2% bleach. I only leave them in for about an hour, then flush with clean water. I've had no problems so far. Interestingly, this also brings back the color when the yellow of the 8k has started to fade.

As mentioned, so far I've seen no ill effects. I'll be sure to post if I do.
YMMV. :)

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Originally Posted by HNSB

If I leave my Nortons in water too long and they get grimy, I bathe them in a solution of about 2% bleach. I only leave them in for about an hour, then flush with clean water. I've had no problems so far. Interestingly, this also brings back the color when the yellow of the 8k has started to fade.

As mentioned, so far I've seen no ill effects. I'll be sure to post if I do.
YMMV. :)

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Glad to hear you don't leave them in 24/7! I tried cleaning my stones (including a very pricey natural stone) in a similar solution with success a few times.

I think it was referring more to soaking them indefinitely in bleach water, though if the resin broke down slightly i would imagine the stone would become less friable.
not necessarily a bad thing for coarser stones though..

-Neill

Sunlight > Bleach for such a purpose.