Cleaning your Buck 184

[rebhelms]

I was hoping someone could provide some advice on how best to clean the your Buck 184 knife. Is it best to just clean with soap and water or do you need a special cleaning solution? I don't want to do anything that would damage the finish where it would lose it's value.
rlh

[mikeythebull]

I'm not sure if you're still looking for an answer rebhelms, but I have a little experience that you might find helpful. The later Buckmasters with the shinier bead blasted finish are much more forgiving. I find just some dish soap and a good sponge cleans them up nicely. WD-40 and a toothbrush works good for the more stubborn stains and grime such as tree sap. Now the earlier Buckmasters are a different story. They have the duller sand blasted finish which seems to absorb much more. I had one once that was very heavily oiled by the previous owner, and I decided to use some mineral spirits to clean it off. Bad idea, it gave the finish a weird dryed out look. I'd stick to dish soap and a soft sponge on the old ones, that finish even seems to show scratches from scotch bright pads easier than the shinier ones. If it's a knife you are making part of a collection, I guess just be careful. Hope this helps, have a good one all.

[rebhelms]

Thanks. Much appreciated! Soap and water it is.
rlh