What's the proper way to clean a hunting knife?

Question

I have a Buck knife that I use for hunting, it's a lock back. There's dried blood and dirt on the inside where I can't reach. How do I clean it, and overall restore the knife's look? It's two ends are gold color and look stained and have fingerprints on them. I just need to know how to clean it so I can use it again.

Answer 1

Open it up and put it in the washing machine along with the silver ware and dishes.

Answer 2

The knife you are refering to is a classic.  Its been around I know for at least 40 years.  WD-40 is a good cleaning, lubricator and preservitive for just about any thing.  It will work on your knife.  Lay your knife on a rag with the blade open and the opening facing upwards.  Spray the WD-40 inside and let it soak.  After it has soaked hit it again and this time turn it face downinto the rag so it drains.  If you want it took shine again, use a product called Brasso on the gold areas - they are brass. But, again the brass will tarnish shortly after, so I wouldn't bother cleaning it.  Now if you can find them, there is a leather case these originaly came with, or you can have one made. Make sure you wipe the knife down completely as you don't want it slipping in your hand.  The blade for most quality knives is a high grade carbon steel which will rust if not taken care of.

Good luck on your knife.

Answer 3

First, sharpen your knife .  Sharpening produces grit which can fall down in the hinge and creat friction, so lets get the sharpening out of the way.

Next..Use a bit of bleach to clean out the blood and such from inside.   The bleach will break down the blood.  There are other solvents that will do that too.  

Next wash it with soap and water or just drop it in the dishwasher

Follow that up by a penetrating oil to clear out any dirt stuck to previous grease.

Ok.. those bolsters are brass.. a little brass polish will make them shine, and then spray them with a bit of laquer to reduce the future tarnish

Now wash it gently to get rid of any leftover cr*p and then either oil it up or use wd40 on the hinges and the lock release.

WIpe it all down with a clean paper towel and you are done.

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Answer 4

Take it apart and then clean the WHOLE blade with some WD-40 or another household oil. And polish it real good.