Sticky on cleaning?

[Werkzeug]

Hi everyone.

I just bought a dozen used SAK classics to give away at Christmas. They may be a bit grimy, so I was reading up on how best to clean them.

I went through the forum and have tried to distil all the cleaning advice I came across. If we put our heads together, I was wondering if we might come up with a sticky on the subject...

• Try using wooden toothpicks to remove nasties that have accumulated inside the SAK.
• Unwaxed dental floss can clean crud out of the joints.
• If you have access to it, compressed air is a good way to blow out debris.
• To clean a nail file, try brushing it a few times with a small, steel wire bristle brush
• To wash the SAK, start with just warm water and an old toothbrush, use a little dish detergent if necessary, and then dry with a hair dryer.
• Opinions appear to vary on the subject, but if you're paranoid you should not put the SAK through the dishwasher, as detergents and high heat could damage cellidor scales.
• Don't use acetone or alcohol as they could melt or weaken cellidor scales.
• Don't use WD-40 as a lubricant as it acts as a gunk magnet - use a small amount of Victorinox tool oil or mineral oil instead.
• For polishing the scales, toothpaste and Brasso seem to be popular choices.

This is most in-depth thread I could find on the subject of cleaning:
http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,37114.0.html

The official Victorinox list of care tips is here (PDF):
http://www.victorinox.com/medias/sys_master/swissarmyknives/8824109891614/Qd-00070.pdf

Note that there were a number of links to www.sosakonline.com on the subject of cleaning, but they are all broken.

Any thoughts, further suggestions?

[Etherealicer]

I'm lazy, I use the dishwasher.

I think for the oil there are several factors:
- Non-poisonous please
- Cheap
- Does not sully your pants

Mineral oil seems to be the most popular choice. Personally, I use graphene spray.

[Higgins617]

I'm lazy, I use the dishwasher.

I think for the oil there are several factors:
- Non-poisonous please
- Cheap
- Does not sully your pants

Mineral oil seems to be the most popular choice. Personally, I use graphene spray.

How the dishwasher work buddy?

[hiraethus]

How the dishwasher work buddy?

Ask your wife.

[hiraethus]

There's lots of good info on cleaning your tool in the Mod Squad, already stickied: http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,1559.0.html

[Etherealicer]

How the dishwasher work buddy?

Ask your wife.

Fold all the tools out, impale it on a spike or put it in the cutlery tray. Run!

[Higgins617]

Wouldn't know, too busy enjoying college to be married!

[Fattsgalore]

Scales normally don't survive a run in the dishwasher. Did you remove the scales? I've seen the out comes of dishwasher and washer machine, normally it's not pretty.

[Higgins617]

That was my concern

[Werkzeug]

There's lots of good info on cleaning your tool in the Mod Squad, already stickied: http://forum.multitool.org/index.php/topic,1559.0.html

Ah, many thanks -- I only searched the SAK forum, so I missed it.

[enki_ck]

BTW, all the posts from sosakonline are still there, we just moved them to http://www.swissarmyknights.com/articles and there's also a copy on our main page at http://www.multitool.org/sosakonline.html

One day we'll fix the links and formatting on those. One day.

I find that the best way to find something in the archives is to google you search string wile limiting it to the site, like this:

clean site:.swissarmyknights.com

[Etherealicer]

Scales normally don't survive a run in the dishwasher. Did you remove the scales? I've seen the out comes of dishwasher and washer machine, normally it's not pretty.

I never had problems, just go with low temperature (30°C).