Thread: Getting Oil off of a Barber Hone

Originally Posted by Tony Miller

Ivo,
I had read that Joe Lerch used to do this and was curious. Mainly I was thinning out some of my stuff but did want to keep some of the best hones... a Swaty being a keeper.

Tony

Sure, Tony - I meant get another unoiled Swaty.

I wasn't aware Joe does it in mid-shave, I only read he maintained his razors with just few swipes for over 1 yr without other honing...

Cheers
Ivo

Michael brought up steam cleaning, I have a small $50.00 steam cleaning machine, a Scuncii. It took the oil out of an old knife hone I have like nobody's business. I don't know how a swati would react to it.

Glen F

Originally Posted by izlat

I wasn't aware Joe does it in mid-shave, I only read he maintained his razors with just few swipes for over 1 yr without other honing...

Of course Joe's not here to speak for himself, but as I recall he would give his razors 3 or 4 swipes on the swaty ever couple of weeks, and that had kept them running without a trip to the norton for over a year. I think he mentioned that he did this as soon as he noticed any drop in sharpness, and that this could involve a mid-shave refresh.

Not that I have any experiance degreasing hones, but I use Simple Green for almost everything, and it works great. Removing oil stains from concrete, degreasing an engine- even diluted washing windows.
I started useing it when a gunsmith tipped me off- it works great for getting off old gun oil and powder residue.... it's also non toxic. Real stubborn stuff has needed a soak for a while, but never more than 20 minutes or so at maximum. I think the orange box store sells it, as well as walmarx.