Sword & Armor Care

Most of our blades are made from high carbon steel (with exceptions to stainless steel blades). In order to keep your carbon steel sword or plate armor in pristine condition correct maintenance must be practiced. Your sword will arrive to you with a coat of oil or grease. You will need to re-coat your sword or armor every 3-6 months depending on the humidity. A humid climate will require more oiling. If the oil is removed you will need to re-oil it.

To oil your sword, first wipe down the blade with a paper towel. Avoid touching the blade as even the acid in the sweat from your finger tips can rust the carbon steel. Then apply a thin coat of oil. There are many different oils to choose from. For example, mineral, camellia and clove oil, or you can use Vaseline, WD40 or silicone spray* (recommended). The last three of these can be obtained from hardware stores for around $10 each. Do not use cooking oils as they will go rancid.

High quality weaponry such as ‘Windlass Steelcrafts’ swords often have solid steel hilt and scabbard fittings. These also need to be maintained in the same manor. Other common sword fittings are made from, brass, bronze, stainless steel, plated steel, plated alloy or alloy. These materials  require little or no maintenance.

It is crucial to store your sword correctly. If you have a plain leather scabbard do not leave your sword in it. The leather can retain water and also the chemicals used in tanning the leather will rust your blade. Of course it is ok to use your leather scabbard but do not store your sword it in it for a long period of time. If you have a steel (which also needs to be maintained), wooden or other type of scabbard it is ok to store your sword in it for a long period of time, as long as you coat your sword in a thick layer of one of the above oils. Please note that leather bound scabbards often have leather trim at the mouth of the scabbard. This part of the scabbard is prone to rusting the blade so make sure you have plenty of oil around the base of the blade. It pays to keep katanas in their wooden scabbards (saya) to keep them from warping as they are quite thin. Bound wooden scabbards tend to be more durable but the key factor is to keep all wooden scabbards out of direct sunlight!

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