Should I clean my Fittings ( Seppa’s )

[Anfoz]

I decided to remove the Fittings ( Seppa’s ) on my “New to me” Gunto. They have obviously not been removed for quite some time, stuck together with grime. I also noticed all the fittings were marked with a number ( 8T ) which I now know from this forum that they are assembling numbers. My question is do I clean them and if so with what? ( hot soapy water? ) or leave as is?  I don’t want to make them shiny and want to keep the old aged patina look. 
 I’m sure this has probably been asked before, but I thank you for any help. 
This is a Showato made by Fujii Kanefuji ( thanks to other forum members for the name ) 

[Bruce Pennington]

Andy,

The stamped number is "18".  It's read with the cutting edge of the opening at the bottom, number at top.

 

Cleaning - I treat all my gunto as if they were my own equipment.  "Take care of your equipment, and it will take care of you." Right!?  So yes, I clean mine.  You have to be a bit careful as you don't want to remove the original coloration, and even the patination of years.  Warm soapy water is a good start.  An oiled rag next.  I've used a hard plastic sprinkler tool (it has a standard screwdriver tip) to scrape hard to remove grime. 

[Anfoz]

 ok so 18, Thankyou Bruce. I will give the soapy water a go with maybe a soft toothbrush then a bit of oil on a rag. Would you stay away from using an oil with solvents in them such as some gun cleaning spray oils? I have oils with solvents for cleaning/protection and oil with no solvents. 

[b.hennick]

I found that an old toothbrush (clean) and foamy soap work well. The soap bottle has a plunger that when pushed causes a stream of soap foam to exit the bottle. 

[Anfoz]

Thanks Barry, good to hear I will give it a go