by Jeff Andrews, Northern Tails Sharpening
Ultrasonic Cleaners (UC) have been used within the grooming trade for years. I used to combine chemical substances in beakers once I was an R&D chemist for GP years in the past, and it did very effectively. The UC works like a microwave oven utilizing ultrahigh frequency tones to maneuver molecules of water or liquid in a container.
The most effective use of the UC for blade care is cleansing blade plaque between the blade tooth. The plaque is breeding grounds for viruses and micro organism, and you can’t fully kill them with over-the-counter disinfectants alone.
Blade plaque consists of media from pet dander, hair and natural cleaning soap movie. It’s a good media for culturing micro organism and viruses. The UC does an exquisite job to this finish.
SET UP
I favor plain water within the UC bathtub. Why? There are two causes. First, I like doing a number of cleansing operations at one time. I take advantage of a number of completely different cleaners positioned in mason jars. You can not do this in case your bathtub holds just one cleaner. I take advantage of one cleaner for rust, one other one with WD-40 and a 3rd one utilizing a degreasing cleaner. I get the latter at Lowes for $12.00 a gallon. Second, once I take away the jars from the tub, drips are plain water and chemical substances.
CLEANING
My method is fairly distinctive in comparison with others, however I primarily based my technique on years of expertise discovering one of the best ways. When utilizing mason jars the cleansing waves of the UC go proper by way of glass. Cautious, don’t use plastic jars. The waves act in another way. Organize blades within the mason jars any method you need. I recommend you get as many as you’ll be able to inside.
Fill the jar with cleansing answer to a stage increased than the blades. The water stage of the tub should be on the similar stage because the liquid within the jar or increased.
Run the UC for 10 minutes until in any other case instructed. Don’t warmth the tub as a result of the UC will warmth the liquid contained in the jar. Don’t seal the jars tight. Depart somewhat crack permitting the liquid inside to develop somewhat as wanted.
POST CLEANING CYCLE
After the cleansing cycle attain within the bathtub and pull out your jar(s). Some UC models can match three mason jars. The jars are more likely to drip from the tub however you do not need to fret. It ought to simply be nonhazardous water. Had you handled the tub with an answer like WD-40, you would need to put on gloves if you take away the blades separately, and associated dangers to respiration fumes. There isn’t a cause to threat your security.
Take your jar(s) of fresh blades to a desk, or take away them from the jar(s) proper at your UC location. I recommend utilizing a magnet to take away blades after which laying them on a towel. You possibly can put a stick in your magnet for this objective. It’s also a helpful approach to put blades into jars as effectively with out making splashes. You should buy magnet extension arms at Harbor Freight, House Depot, Lowes or related shops.
Get the majority of the moisture off the blades by hand drying on the towel.
Subsequent, use your air hose, pressure dryer, or hair dryer and blow the remaining liquid off the blade. You’ll want to fully dry between the tooth in addition to beneath the spring with a purpose to forestall any rust.
SECONDS
When you discover remaining blade plaque repeat the complete process. Blade plaque could also be troublesome to take away the primary time and haven’t recurrently cleaned your blades. When you start common cleansing along with your UC a couple of instances every week you must efficiently keep away from blade plaque buildup.
COMPLETE KIT
Right here is the whole package I take advantage of to scrub blades. I’ve one jar with straight WD-40. It breaks away chunks of blade plaque from between the tooth when a cleaning soap answer alone is inadequate. I’ve one other jar with WD-40 Rust Dissolver. We use it when blades have rusty spots not eliminated by our radial wheel cleansing. I preserve three jars with a cleaning soap answer. I combine 1 half cleaning soap (Krud-Kutter, Easy Inexperienced, and so forth) to three components water. The extra water within the combine the higher for cleansing.
Your cleansing answer will look soiled even after the primary use, however I’ve discovered the used answer works effectively for a number of therapies. Grime falls to the underside of the jar. When the grime builds as much as ¼ inch deep change the answer.
FINISHED PRODUCT
Within the image you see cleaned blades from one jar. We eliminated them from the jar utilizing magnet proven. The cleansing jar answer appears to be like soiled however it may be used a couple of extra instances. You possibly can resolve if you wish to reuse or not. As soon as hand-wiped and blown fully dry, apply oil to the cleaned blades.
