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Cleaning

A brief note on cleaning gear, in particular utility knives that get a lot of salt water on them.

First of all, everything should get a rinse with fresh water after every use – and use means “in contact with salt water”. That said, over time, cleaning may still be required.

Here, I have a small pocket knife that goes in my PFD boat repair kit. It had accumulated a lot of gunk and, while I was able to open and close the blade, it was challenging.

I left it in a cup of vinegar over a couple of nights. Actually, two different cups, to get different ends. I ran out of white vinegar and what you see here is red wine vinegar.

Pocket Tool soaking in Vinegar.
Vinegar Soak

And yeah, that’s a “Thanksgiving Blend” espresso shot cup from a certain well-known coffee corporation.

Two days of soaking worked really well. Another freshwater rinse afterwards, and the knife is right as rain.

Published in Kit Repairs

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