Caring for a wallhanger is going to be different than caring for a real sword. Real swords are of a tougher and purer high carbon steel which are more prone to rust than swords made out of the chromium-laced but more brittle stainless steel.

The difference is the steel. Today's wallhangers typically say, "440 STAINLESS STEEL - MADE IN TAIWAN". All Highlander sword fakes say this, pretty much. (Incidentally, the Marto, Spain swords which the TV series uses are made of 420 Stainless and do not have any blade markings).

Cleaning Your Sword

Stainless steel is "stainless" in normal conditions due to the chromium content, which makes it molecularly weaker and brittle as a sword steel. So swords thus are typically made thicker to compensate. Real Japanese swords are made of a purer high carbon steel which may have some very slight trace amounts of silicon. This latter steel rusts far easier, so it requires clove oil to coat it.

How do you care for stainless steel? First off, when showing your friends your new sword, ask them not to touch the blade. Fingerprint oils from your skin can oxidize the best of Japanese swords. Stainless steel is less effected, but if you leave those acidic oils on there, it will still affect stainless steel.

One mail order company suggested Windex. While Windex does remove the finger print oils, I'm not sure it's best for the blade, so wipe it dry. After all, you wash your kitchen knives and they're fine, right?

Do's and Don'ts for Stainless Steel Swords

There are a number of things you should not do to stainless steel "wall-hanger" swords. Firstly, don't go into a make-believe sword fight with a friend. Stainless steel is molecularly weak, and especially in the case of replica swords, your blades will scratch deeply and the edge will be destroyed in any form of mock-combat. The damage is irreparable.

If you are interested in investing a little more money, see the section Real Swords and Combat. Practicing in Japanese-style sword arts is best with wodden bokken. The Bugei Company sells some very fine quality hickory wood bokken imported from Japan. They are balanced like real Japanese swords. These imports are some of the finest I've seen.

Questions about Common Cleaners WD40 - Stay away from any all-purpose lubricants, etc. WD40 may be great for many purposes, but not for real authentic swords. It contains kerosene and fish oil, which evaporates quickly and leaves your sword unprotected to rust!

Flitz - It's essentially a metal polish and polishes most metals to a gleam. But use it only once for those harder-to-remove stains on your stainless steel blade. Contrary to public opinion, Flitz contains a mild abbrasive, and thus should never be used on a real Japanese sword!

Flitz International Ltd. (Worldwide)
414-534-5898
Customer Service: 1-800-558-8611

Japanese Choji Clove Oil - This is by far the best. After all, the Japanese have used it for centuries. The clove oil's primary purpose is to prevent rusting, as low alloy plain carbon steel can rust from water, moisture, blood, etc. If there is rusting or damage to a traditional Japanese katana, you should find a Japanese polisher's opinion. See here for more information.

Windex - This is good for stainless steel to get those fingerprints off. But then again, why are those fingerprints on the blade in the first place? When I show friends my swords, they have a tendency to touch the blade and test their fingers on the edge to see if its sharp. This is an unprofessional way of determining the quality of a blade's edge, by the way. So I say, "please don't tough the blade when you hold it" and they're usually pretty good about it. Some people's skin oils are more acidic than others, and in the long run, can even stain a stainless steel blade! So in that case, maybe use some Flitz to get it off.

Gun Oil - Get some Remmington Gun Oil, since it's been around for a while. If you really want to go hi-tech, you could try a silicone-based oil, but stay away from anything that claims to be an all-purpose agent, e.g. WD-40 (see commentary above).