How to Clean a Sharpening Stone – Knives are among the most important tools in a kitchen. Therefore, keeping your knives in top shape is important. For that, you will need a sharpening stone.
Just like knives, sharpening stones need to be kept in top shape, too. That is why knowing how to clean a sharpening stone is indispensable.
Here’s the good news: cleaning a sharpening stone is easy. You can do it yourself and it will only take minutes to finish. Want to know how to? Just follow our guide below.
How to Clean a Sharpening Stone
Preparation
First and foremost, preparation. To clean a sharpening stone, you will need honing oil, a towel, paper towel, an old toothbrush, clean rags, steel wool, clean running water, and warm and soapy water.
If you don’t have an old toothbrush, a Scotch-Brite will suffice.
Place the Sharpening Stone on a Towel
The next thing to do is to place the sharpening stone on a towel. When you clean a sharpening stone, there will be particles falling.
How many particles there will depend on how dirty the stone is. The towel will catch these particles, keeping your kitchen surface clean.
Pour the Oil
To start the cleaning process, pour the oil all over the stone. Make sure that every inch of it is covered by oil.
To spread the oil, rub the stone in circular motions. The oil will help to lubricate as well as reduce friction during the cleaning process.
Scrubbing
Use the old toothbrush to scrub the sharpening stone in circular motions and wipe any flecks that rise with a rag.
If the stone is too dirty, use steel wool to clean it instead. Wash the sharpening stone in under lukewarm water and scrub it again if needed.
Rinsing
If you no longer see any debris from the sharpening stone, you can rinse it under clean running water.
Why running water? Because it will wash off any particles and soap from the sharpening stone. If you use standing water, the stone may retain or pick up some particles.
Drying
The last thing to do is to dry the stone. Use a clean rag or paper towel to pat the stone dry.
Alternatively, you can leave it out in the open air so any remaining water can evaporate. Either way, when you dry the stone, make sure that it is dried completely.
Read also:
- 5 Steps on How to Clean Concrete Floors Both Outdoor and Indoor
- A Natural Stone Countertop Comparison Guide
Alternatives: Warm Soapy Water and WD-40
If your sharpening stone doesn’t need aggressive scrubbing, using warm soapy water may be enough to clean it.
You can use warm soapy water in two ways: using it to replace honing oil or place the stone inside warm soapy water, let it sit for a while, then scrub, rinse, and thoroughly dry.
If aggressive rubbing is needed and you don’t have honing oil, you can use WD-40 in its place. Similar to honing oil, WD-40 also helps to remove dust, grime, and heavy debris from the stone.
Caring for your sharpening stone is important. Without it, you can’t keep your knives in top shape.
Now that you know how to clean a sharpening stone, keeping your knives in top shape shouldn’t be a difficult thing for you to do.