Mildew on a 4/8 K

So, I was honing Friday night and when I was done, I left my Norton 4/8 and my Chinese 12 soaking on a towel in a Pyrex baking dish. Our cats like to drink out of the dish so I covered it in saran wrap. My girlfriend was cleaning house today and she uncovered the dish and she said it smelled horrible. I lapped the hell out of all six flat surfaces of the stone and let it dry. The 8k does not smell. The 4k however still does. I have lapped the 4k three times now and after it dries each time, it still smells. The 12k is also fine so this leads me to believe that the 4k is just a lot more absorbent hence, the smell is in deeper. Will it affect the stone or razors honed on it if I soaked it in bleach water? Should I just keep lapping until either the smell or the 4k side of the stone are gone? I know from his video that Lynn stores his hones in water and when I met Ken Rupp, hee said the same thing. Do their stones not rot because they use them daily and probably change the water frequently? Does keeping the container covered have anything to do with it?

Thanks for your help guys,

Put a tablespoon of clorox in a pan of water and soak it for a couple hours it happen to me the first time I used my 4k/8k and it cleared it up.

Yup, bleach, that's the ticket.

X

Thanks guys, I lapped it once more before bed last night and this morning the smell is almost gone. I think I will give it a light bleach treatment and that should take care of it.

Thanks again,

The reason they tell you to soak the 4K in water for 20 minutes or so is because it is highly absorbent as is the 1K and 220. The 8K and higher stones don't really absorb much so they are less likely to grow mildew but it can still happen if left in water. So, if that's what your going to do just put some chlorox in. The mildew will not harm the stones by the way just make em look terrible and smelly.

I haven't had that problem yet, but I always leave my nortons to dry out for a day or more before I put them back in the box.

Yep, right as rain! I let the 4k side sit in a light bleach/water mix for a few hours, lapped it once more for good measure and let it dry. It's as white as the day I got it and no more smell:y

congrats, I was curious to see how quick you'd see a difference!