Cleaning Your Carbon Steel

[Overproof]

I'm pretty inexperienced with carbon steel knives but it's to my understanding there is a lack of certain alloys (nickel etc) that you find in stainless steel knives that aren't present in these knives. 

Ive used this maybe 3 times.

Should I wd40 it!? Help me get it back!!

 

 

[Pixa]

It's rust. You might be able to clean the majority off but will be left with pitting. Just need to dry a carbon steel blade well after use. Could use a vegetable oil on it too protect it. Would not put wd40 on something your going to use with food

[Fuzz]

Always wipe the blood off your knives before you put them away...

On a serious note, you can remove the rust stains with a wine cork and some baking soda/vinegar paste. If the stains are really stubborn, try the paste with a Scotchbrite pad. Or you can use a knife/rust eraser. Once done, wash the knife and dry by folding a towel and pulling the knife through. Then coat with a bit of vegetable/olive/canola oil.

[BrightonCorgi]

Make sure they're totally dry when putting away.  I use cooking spray on my carbon steel paella pans.

[TheLiquidGator]

http://www.loctiteproducts.com/p/s_trmt_naval/overview/Loctite-Naval-Jelly-Rust-Dissolver.htm

[Fuzz]

I wouldn't use Loctite on something that would be coming into contact with food. Good for your tools, but I wouldn't recommended it for kitchen knives. Plus, it is corrosive, so you gotta be extra careful with it.

[Phinz]

I love this stuff: http://www.flitz.com/flitz-polish-paste/

The only places I've ever seen Flitz products are old-school hardware stores and West Marine, but it's available online.

It is non-toxic, but be sure to wash your knife well with dish soap after polishing, then dry well and apply a tiny amount of oil. I use coconut oil on my knives, as it doesn't go rancid if it gets into a little nook you can't reach, and it's supposed to be anti microbial. 

[zeedubbya]

I have a guy near me who is a knife magician.  I've taken knives to him that looked absolutely awful and they came back looking pristine.  One day my stepson and his friends decided to use a Randall knife I have in my collection as a throwing knife.  If you don't know about Randall's look them up.  I recommend calling around and see if you can find someone to fix it up.  It's worth it to make your knife great again.  

[AndrewNR]

Chef and hobby restorer here..

You've got options,

non scratch scourer with lemon juice, Salt and Bi-carb

Orange oil and 000 Fine Steel wool

Always clean and dry knives thoroughly. I'd recommend a quality olive oil for coating your knife with a clean dry piece of paper towel before and after each use.

I don't use my carbon knives any more due to the maintenance. I've still got my early Chefs knives waiting to be restored.

You could potentially re-polish if you wanted too using a fine sand paper and perhaps some Auto-Sol lastly. I'd just recommend a thorough soap wash followed by cleaning with cider vinegar and bi-carb to eliminate any odours and be entirely clean and sanitized.

Goodluck

[AndrewNR]

I should also mention often manufacturers of Japanese knives offer oils specifically for high carbon knives.

[Spanishcedar]

When cleaning, be mindful of the amount of time some of the above cleaning methods are performed and the solutions used are left on the blade. Acidic items like vinegar and citrus can etch a high carbon steel. Don't worry too much about it, just keep using it and from now on remember to clean and dry it soon after. I will just become part of it's character.

[MrGTO]

Honestly, I'd knock the high spots off, oil it up and keep using it the way it is.