How to Maintain Your Katana Swords
By Dremdsword
August 5th, 2024
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It would be a shame to own a beautiful object like a katana and not properly maintain it or apply inappropriate care. Proper maintenance ensures your Japanese katana stays in the best possible condition for you to enjoy for many years. In fact, purists believe that caring for a sword is an essential aspect of the warrior's philosophy. Its easy to worry that if you do it wrong, next time you draw your Katana from its sheathe you will see those dreaded black or red spots of doom. But when is it necessary to clean it? What mistakes should you avoid? What should and shouldn't you do? We will provide answers to all these questions.
Katana Sword Cleaning Kit
Uchiko Ball – This is a silk ball on a stick. This ball contains fine stone powder use for polishing the blade and blade scratch removal
Sheets of Nuguigami or soft cotton cleaning cloth.
Choji or Mineral oil – This will prevent the blade from getting rusty. Most of the time the use of choji or mineral oil with a small dash of camelia oil will do the trick. If in case these mineral oils are not available; the use of oils used in other weapons, sewing machine may act as substitution.
How Often Should You Maintain Your Katana?
The katana requires regular maintenance on several occasions. Just like preserving the beauty of leather or wood objects, the Japanese sword needs cleaning and maintenance to maintain its shine.
If you do tameshigiri with your blade, wipe off your blade immediately after each mat you just finish cutting. Apply some mineral oil before each noto/sheathing. Basically keep your blade oiled at all times. Wipe off blade and reoil in between each mat you cut. And after your cutting session is over, wipe down blade, apply Noxon (pick up at Home Depot) to entire blade surface (Noxon helps stop any rusting that may start happening from result of cutting soaked tatami), then wipe Noxon off of blade and reoil with choji oil before sheathing sword and putting sword away. If you accidentally touch the blade with your fingers when handling the sword, give it a quick wipe with some oil to prevent fingerprint stains.
Pleasse keep the sword on dry place. Most people are worried that it could get rust or stains on it while it's in its sheath over a longer period of time. If you don't use it at all, please oil the blades once 2-3 month weather you think they need it or not. However, if you live near the coast or in a damp area, it's advisable to do it more frequently, checking the blade every month, as moisture can damage it.
How To Preserve Your Katana?
First thing you should do when you purchase a brand new sword is to remove the oil from the blade. Swords that come out straight from factories often have a thick layer of oil or grease to make sure the blade doesn’t get damaged during transport. Lacquer thinner, mineral spirits or similar solvents are good at removing this layer of coating.
After you removed the protective oil you should re-oil it with Choji, clove, or even synthetic silicone oil; any of these will do. For this purpose, use a very soft cloth, either cotton or microfiber, which must be clean. Another option is to use traditional Japanese paper specifically designed for maintaining Japanese swords, called nuguigami. If you have the opportunity to go to Japan or have a friend visiting, consider getting it to experience being a true samurai! Otherwise, a very soft disposable tissue will suffice.
Fold your cloth or paper in half and grip it between your thumb and index finger to wrap it around the blade. Apply light pressure as you move it along the blade from the tsuba (guard) towards the point or kissaki. Next, use a ball of uchiko powder. Uchiko is a traditional powder resembling chalk, wrapped in a fabric ball. Gently tap this uchiko ball on both sides of the blade and its back, then use a new sheet of paper or a fresh clean cloth to wipe it in the same manner as before. This will remove the powder while slightly polishing the metal. Always perform this operation in the same direction, from the tsuba to the kissaki. Finally, apply a thin layer of new oil evenly using a very soft brush.
The care the Japanese put into developing the maintenance of katanas and other Japanese swords reflects their deep attachment to these symbols of the samurai and the values conveyed by the code of honor. It is a ritual, and we hope you'll put the same passion into preserving your katana.
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