Microfiber vs Uchiko

[DoTanuki yokai]

Just another opinion on microfiber vs uchiko 

http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/uchiko.html

 

 

[dschumann]

Thank you for posting that. As a beginner, I was not very familiar with this subject, and the article appears to be as much a comparison between sashikomi versus hadori polishing, something I had heard but did not know much about.

 

Now another rabbit hole of research to travel down....

 

 

[Gakusee]

Even that polisher admits that uchiko effectively polishes and abrades the surface over time. That will of course affect the finishing polish.
And all the blades I have seen cleaned with uchiko so far have had scratches from the application. Including my own when I did it :)

[Alex A]

For what its worth, i wont use micro fibre either as i consider it abrasive.

 

Horses for courses

[Gakusee]

Alex - what do you use? I am curious to learn new practices.

 

In my cleaning regime, if I receive a blade that is coated with very old and viscous (likely choji) dried up oil, I clean it with PecPads and Cleanex like tissues, then isopropyl and look at the blade. After enjoying it, I apply mineral-only oil I bought from Fujishiro sensei and put it away. For the next time I look at it, I clean the mineral oil firstly with Cleanex and then with Japanese microfibre cloth (very delicate and soft) and then view the blade. Occasionally I clean with Pec Pads. I tend to hold it with a microfibre cloth (the Etsumi brand). 

 

But I have never viewed microfibre as abrasive to metal. At the end of the day it is a blend of polyester and polyamide, both soft and pliable substances vis-a-vis iron. 

[PNSSHOGUN]

Microfibre could cause scratches if not cleaned regularly, but to call it abrasive to steel is a little confusing.

[Alex A]

Hi Michael, just 100% cotton 

 

Old white rags, nothing special

 

 

 

[Dave R]

1 hour ago, Alex A said:

For what its worth, i wont use micro fibre either as i consider it abrasive.

 

Horses for courses

 There is micro fibre, and there is micro fibre. There is the stuff sold in the hardware shop for general cleaning, and then there is the very fine stuff sold for cleaning lenses. Face it guys the lens cleaning fabric is going to be top of the line and the manufacturers won't give a second thought to the possibility that their product is used for cleaning nihonto.....

 

 For the rest, the uchiko v other ways of cleaning convo' has been going on for years on this site.

[DoTanuki yokai]

But for the first time the Uchiko opinion got some reasonable arguments from an expert.

To be honest in most of the threads on microfiber and Uchiko I felt alone with my Opinion without any information to support it. 

But now this shows that Uchiko still got a place in the modern Nihonto world and is not only used on old polish.

 

[Alex A]

4 hours ago, Dave R said:

 There is micro fibre, and there is micro fibre. There is the stuff sold in the hardware shop for general cleaning, and then there is the very fine stuff sold for cleaning lenses. Face it guys the lens cleaning fabric is going to be top of the line and the manufacturers won't give a second thought to the possibility that their product is used for cleaning nihonto.....

 

 For the rest, the uchiko v other ways of cleaning convo' has been going on for years on this site.

Hi Dave, if my misses lens are anything to go off il stick with the cotton

 

I get what saying but not for me, some contain nylon

 

I tried them once, decent ones and compared to how cotton material felt on the blade it put me right off, stopped immediately. Its not natural but plastic, not as soft and gentle as cotton.

 

Im a bit picky, got a blade here with a small mark caused by the saya rubbing on the blade, it dont take much.

 

Hence, i dont see the need to change to something i dont like and to be honest, feel that repeated use over time might effect the blade, the wy kitchen sinks go from shiny to dull over years.

 

Micro fibre great for windows, cleaning the car etc but for me i wont use it on an antique blade of value.

 

Anyways, thats just me, not intended to put it in the same league as uchiko or anything.

 

For anyone interested, clean your blade and then try an old clean cotton t shirt or something and compare it with micro fibre wiping over the blade, some might see my point maybe.

 

Cheers.

[Franco D]

NMB's search feature is excellent https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/search/?q=microdear&quick=1 

[FZ1]

Does anyone know of a Microdear supplier in the UK?  (I would use Alex's cotton shirt idea, but I'm a cheap-skate so all mine are poly-cotton! )

 

Jon

 

[Dave R]

 I got mine from a high end spectacle shop, any good camera shop or opticians should also be worth a try/

 

[Okan]

I was also a bit obsessed about this some time ago. Tried different microfiber and different white shirts on different blades..Ended up using a quality Vinyl cleaning cloth..And bought a couple meters of Flannel cloth from a fabric shop..made little pieces for oiling the blade..

 

So my cleaning routine is: Using %97 alcohol with face cleaning cotton patch..microfiber to clean leftover %3 water..very light choji with flannel cotton..and 3 times kleenex..

 

Samurai is leaving the castle and heading back to his house under a heavy rain..all his cloths and his daisho are soaking wet..When he's home, he gives his swords to his wife..she dries the saya with a (probably dirty) cloth..They eat dinner...Then he decides to clean his blades....according to some old documents, what he actually did was to clean the blades with cotton cloth patch, one round of Uchiko, and same cotton cloth again.next to a gas lamp so it was pretty dark...(I'm sure they would only use microfiber instead of uchiko if they had one)  and of course, no oiling as they were literally using these blades..choji was used by swordsmiths on summer times and only for the blades in shirasaya..and of course, after polish..

 

These are antiques now and some of us have four-five figure blades..but why do we have to clean them so often..You can oil the blades in shirasaya once a year(maybe 2 if you live in India or some very humid place)...

and use a piece of kleenex after appreciation..We are doing more harm than good if we clean/oil them too often..Just leave them in peace..they won't get rusted..