Thread: Moldy Norton

This is probably nothing new and easy to deal with. How long do you soak the hone in the water/bleach mixture before attempting to hone?

Um, mold needs food to prosper; what are you feeding your stones? I don't want to seem too flippant here with my above comment, but were you to allow the stones to dry when not in use, there should be no way mold can grow on them. If you want to keep them continually wetted and are having trouble with mold growth, the water you store them in has a bunch of organics in it. A capful of bleach to a gallon of water should stanch the bloom.

Are you sure that whatever black you see on the stones is not swarf from the razors rather than mold? If that's the case, lapping should cure that.

good luck, Bruce

I made a solution of at least 10% bleach and water and let the the waterstone sit in it for a few hours. I’d checked after about 90 minutes, but the stone was still showing some discoloration from the mold so I let it sit much longer and then soaked and rinsed it well in water only. That seemed to do the trick for me.

X

This happened to me too. I even had the hone lying out to dry on chopsticks in an air conditioned room and it still grew mold. I basically did what X said as far as the bleach. Allowing the stone to dry while standing on its edge seemed to do the trick.

Jordan

I always lay my nortons on a sheet of kitchen paper for half an hour which sucks out the water enough that mold is not an issue for me.

If this is a chronic propblem for Norton stones, it would appear that Norton may be using some type of organic material to adhere or help with the process of binding the abrasive particles together, or there is a signiicant contamination occuring when the stones are manufactured or stored waiting shipment. Do we know where they are made? Did the stone molder wash his hands? Aha, and there we may have all the Clouseau we need, Inspector!!!

Bruce

I seem to have some black spots on my 4K side and nothing on my 8K side. I don't know what it is either, but I might try the bleach idea out.

Thanks for the advice. I will try soaking my hone in a 10% bleach solution. And from what I've read on the other threads, I could probably leave it in the solution, taking it out when I need to hone my razor(s).

Originally Posted by dshave

Thanks for the advice. I will try soaking my hone in a 10% bleach solution. And from what I've read on the other threads, I could probably leave it in the solution, taking it out when I need to hone my razor(s).

I don't know about that though.. I some places I have read it is not good to have the waterstones always immersed in water. This is because it will separate the bonding agent between the combo stones. If someone can back me up that would be greatly appreciated. (wow, that was work kicking in there for the end of my emails..)

I guess im lucky, i live in a dry climate so my stones dry very fast so this isnt a problem for me