Swords, Weapons & Movie Prop Replicas from Replica Dungeon

Movie Collectibles - Movie Props - Movie Replicas

Monday, June 18

Sword care is a very important part of your swords especially if you purchased a carbon steel blade. Always remember, carbon steel which is very strong is also prone to rust. This means that you must take special care of your swords to make sure they last a long time in your home or office.
The best thing to do when you get your new sword is immediately pull it out the box and wipe it down. Most new swords have been coated with oil or grease to protect the blade during shipping and stocking. The easiest way to remove the grease is with something like lacquer thinner.

You should now have a clean blade that you can wield around the backyard like a true
sword smith. If you have a samurai sword then instead of a sword smith, go get ninja outfit and you can pretend you are a Japanese warrior ;-p

Every sword needs to be cleaned when done handling but this is critical with a carbon steel or "battle ready" weapon. The acid from your skin can cause the blade to rust or pit. Pitting occurs when you oxygen gets trapped in oils or even dust that accumulates on the blade.

I personally use a sword cloth to wipe down my swords but you could also use a light coat of oil or even a silicone spray. Even a light coat of cooking oil is better than nothing at all.

If your blade came with a leather scabbard, I would also recommend that you
NOT store the blade in the leather protector. The leather can trap moisture which can produce rust spots on the blade.
If you do happen to have some rust on your sword or weapon, there is always a few ways to remove it. The first is a chemical cleaning. My only suggestion is that from a real sword cleaning kit. These cleaning kits are specifically designed to handle such problems and therefore is the only method that I use. With that said, you can always try acid cleaning. I don't mean the stuff that eats the skin off your fingers but something like lemon juice or vinegar. This may take a few days of working but usually it does the trick. You can also try a Diet Coke. It must be diet because of the extra phosphonic acid is has. Anything beyond these are out of my area of expertise.

The other option of removing rust from your sword is abrasives. Oil and steel wool is the method I prescribe because its the easiest. Just remember to go easy because if you are not careful you could damage the blade.
Things I DO NOT suggest you try...

Sandpaper
Polishing Stones
Wire Brushes
Grinding wheels

Never use any of the above to attempt to remove rust or sharpen your weapon. It takes 5 years to learn how to forge a sword and 10 years to learn how to polish one. That should put it into perspective enough.

If you are storing your swords and weapons for a long period of time then you need to have a sword bag and a few desiccant packages to keep the moisture out. The desiccant packages are those little square things you tend to find almost everything you buy these days. Should be easy enough to get a few of those. If you have a gun or wall safe, that is even better for storing your swords.

The leather scabbards I mentioned above can also be cleaned. To do this, just simply use a nice paste wax or lemon oil. This will protect it from moisture and from cracking. The same stuff you use for a baseball glove will also work quite well.

This should be enough information to get you on your way. If you have some specific questions or problems, don't hesitate to check this website or contact us.