How do you clean bamboo knitting needles?

Question

I'm using my bamboo needles to knit a sweater with some cheap yarn (Caron One Pound) and the dye is staining the needles a bit. Is there a way to clean them without damaging them?

Answer 1

I saw on Knitty Gritty, her method for cleaning bamboo needles. I've tried and and it works.

Fill a tall jar with rice. I used a tall narrow vase. And slide your needles

up and down. The long grain rice is rough but not abrasive. And your needles are like new.

Answer 2

I would brush lightly with a piece of fine grain sandpaper, don't add any pressure though. Then I would take the advice of Knitting Haven;

Take a piece of wax paper and rub the waxed side up and down your needles. It will help clean them, give them a glow and generally just improve their day.

Answer 3

You could try a bit of wood soap, but in general once the fibers are stained by dye it would need to be sanded out, which removes the finish and leaves the needle vulnerable to splintering and snagging the yarn.  Usually crocking dye is not transferred from the needle onto other yarns, though, so you probably don't need to worry.  It will wear off eventually.

BTW, if you use wood soap (something like Murphy's Oil Soap) make absolutely sure that you use more than enough toweling to remove all residue from the needles when you are drying them.  The oil in the soap will do more to stain your yarn than the dye that has penetrated the needles.  And this happens with all types of yarn if the dye comes off, although it is unusual for it to happen with even the cheapest of acryllic yarns, since acryllic is dyed when still in liquid form before the fibers are extruded.