The Sharpest Blade: How to Clean Your Sharpening Stone

Cooking can be an excellent sort of way to find your zen. You’re in the kitchen with amazing smells all around you. You’re handling beautiful, fresh food and following a set of directions to create something unique.

But that zen can get interrupted if you have to fight to get your knife through the skin of a tomato. A sharp knife is crucial to happy cooking, and the best way to keep a sharp knife is to use a clean sharpening stone. Read on to learn how to keep your sharpening stone – and your knives – in cutting-edge condition.

Importance of a Sharpening Stone

It isn’t easy to understate the importance of having a good sharp knife when cooking. Dull knives mean rough cuts, less precision, and a greater risk that you’ll wind up with a severe amount. Sharp knives, counter to what many people might think, reduce your risk of injury and help you be more precise in the kitchen.

You can use a few different tools to sharpen your knives, but one of the most popular is a sharpening stone or whetstone. This allows you to hone and realign the edge of your blade to form a new, fine edge on your knife. It does take some skill to use a sharpening stone properly, so make sure you do your research and use care.

Why Clean a Stone

When you use a sharpening stone, you’re using the grit of the stone to shave away tiny filings from the blade of your knife. These filings can get embedded in the porous surface of the stone. As the stone’s surface gets filled in with filings, it can lose some of its ability to grind away your knife’s blade to a perfect, sharp edge.

When you clean your stone, you’re flushing away those tiny metal filings that have gathered on the surface. Think of it as a plate for grating garlic or ginger; when the plate becomes filled with ginger, it’s less effective at grinding more material off the root. When you brush the ginger out of it, you can grate more easily.

How to Know When to Clean Your Stone

Knowing when it’s time to clean out those filings can be challenging unless you’re keeping a close eye on your sharpening stone. In general, if you start seeing any metal dust on your sharpening stone, you should clean it. You may also notice glossy gray streaks showing up on your stone.

Even if your stone doesn’t show visual signs of wear, it’s a good rule of thumb to clean it every ten sharpenings or so. This will ensure it stays in good shape and keeps your knives sharp. When you wash it, place a rag under the stone to catch excess filings.

Cleaning with Honing Oil

One of the most common materials to clean sharpening stone is honing oil. This oil may be used as a lubricant during the sharpening process. It’s a specially formulated oil that carries away metal filings from the stone, keeping your stone clean and ensuring that every stroke of your knife across the stone is smooth.

To clean your stone with honing oil, pour an amount of oil the size of a quarter on your stone. Using circular motions, rub the oil across the face of the stone, coating the entire surface. As you work, you’ll see tiny metal flecks start to show up; wipe these away as you go, rinse your stone with water, and pat it dry.

Cleaning with Soap and Water

If you prefer, you can skip the honing oil part of the operation altogether. However, your lubricant may be water-based even if you regularly use honing oil to sharpen your knives. If this is the case, soap and water may be the best thing to clean your stone.

Mix up some warm soapy water and coat your stone with it. Then, using an old toothbrush or a scrubbing sponge, start using those same circular motions to gently scrub the surface of your stone. Rinse the stone as flecks appear, and dry your stone with a towel when no more emerge.

Cleaning with WD-40

You might be familiar with WD-40 as the tool to make anything that should move and isn’t moving again. The product works so well because it’s a penetrating oil; it worms its way into all sorts of nooks and crevices and flushes out metal particulates. This also makes it an excellent tool for cleaning and sharpening stones.

Start by coating your sharpening stone completely with WD-40, making multiple passes if needed. Then get some steel wool and start swiping it over the stone’s surface in short, focused strokes. Repeat this process as needed, and then rinse and dry your stone when you’re done.

Flatten Your Stone

Generally, you will primarily use the middle bit when using a sharpening stone. This is because the ends don’t get used as often in sharpening, and while the stone is grinding down your knife, your knife is also wearing down the stone. Over time, even if you’re using diamond sharpening stones, you can start to get a divot in the middle of your stone that can result in poorly sharpened knives.

It’s important to flatten your sharpening stone every so often to keep it working its best. If your stone doesn’t come with its flattening plate, use a piece of 100-grit wet-dry sandpaper. Wet your stone thoroughly and drag it over the plate or sandpaper until it looks flat and there are no metal filings.

Discover the Joy of a Sharp Knife

Having a sharp kitchen knife is one of the simple joys in life, and having a good sharpening stone is key to keeping a sharp knife. Learning to use it will take some practice, but it will become an essential ritual in your kitchen. Caring for your cooking implements and having the right tools will make you a better and happier cook.

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Yvan Lebrun
Yvan Lebrun

Yvan Lebrun is a trusted expert in the field of product & service reviews. With over a decade of experience analyzing and comparing services online, he shares his valuable experience with readers at GoodSitesLike so consumers can make educated decisions before making a purchase.

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