Cleaning Wooden Grips

[mi2600]

I have a set of old wood grips that I'd like to "restore". They're dirty and apparently over oiled. I'm looking for ideas on how to make them more presentable. I'm not trying to make them new. More like used but in good condition.

Anyone have any solutions?

[capstan]

There are wood workers here and some who restore stocks like "swamprat" who can offer suggestions.

What i do is take offthe stocks and clean them with "simple green" I scrub them with a toothbrush around the checkering. I then get water hot and quickly rinse them off and immediately cover them with a cotton cloth or papertowels and soak up any surface water from the stocks I make sure they are dry. then I take a special wood oil (i have to look up the name) its from wisconsin - and i put some on my fingers and rub into the wood It does not take much I use another toothbrush to go over the checkering with the oil to make sure it is uniformly distibuted. The I use a soft cotton cloth to rub in down good. They always turm out great.

[Truman]

Capstans ideas are good. My personal method is to use a small jelly jar and soak the grips in Lacquer thinner to remove the oil. Take them out and scrub with a tooth brush to remove any residue. Then you can use a little stain or I like to use a Oil finish like Watco Danish oil in different shades. If you dont like the results just soak them again until you get the desired results. Truman

[rhmc24]

Like apple pie, every cook has a favorite recipe. Mine for old wood grips is a brush and acetone. I avoid water which tends to cause wood to swell and dull the checkering. After clean enough, I use paste floor wax. Be aware that acetone can dissolve some tooth brush bristles - do a test first or use the little acid brushes you can get at hardware stores. I usually have to cut the bristles back to about 3/8" to get stiffness needed.

[MtnSpur]

Like apple pie, every cook has a favorite recipe. Mine for old wood grips is a brush and acetone. I avoid water which tends to cause wood to swell and dull the checkering. After clean enough, I use paste floor wax. Be aware that acetone can dissolve some tooth brush bristles - do a test first or use the little acid brushes you can get at hardware stores. I usually have to cut the bristles back to about 3/8" to get stiffness needed.

I'm with you Mr. McCrory...water and wood aren't a good pair unless one is a boat.

[Collects]

I wash stocks in hot water using lots of Murphy's Oil Soap and a brush with soft plastic bristles, immediately dry with a paper or cotton towel, then fully air dry the stocks. Next, I saturate the wood with Pledge Rejuvinating Oil, wiping all over with my fingers, then wipe off the excess and permit to fully air dry. Finally, I put one or more coats of Renaissance Wax on the stocks, polish and reinstall the stocks.

While I do not like to use water, it flushes away lots of gunk and the stocks look great when I am finished with the entire process.

Ordinarily, I only do this when I purchase a used gun, so this is a once-in-the-gun's-life procedure.

[swamprat]

Capstan's Simple Green process and Truman's Watco Danish Oil is what I use.

[elliotf]

Plus 1 on the watco danish oil, however I have been using dawn dishwashing detergent and a toothbrush for years. Heck, they have been using it to clean oil off of wildlife since 1971 for oil spills. :-)

[Charlie]

Tung oil works great also for a finish.

[mi2600]

I experimented with acetone, water, even a little bleach to get down to bare wood. My first attempt didn't turn out as I wanted so I redid them again. This time I tried the Watco Danish Oil (medium walnut) and they turned out more like I wanted.