Special Care Instructions


I have had a lot of people ask about taking care of their swords, so here are a few tips and some instructions. Remember that I do not recommend actually using the swords for anything other than decoration or costuming. If you actually use the sword for something, then you will in all likelihood ruin it.

All the Marto and Martespa blades are made with stainless steel, so they are about as easy to care for as you can get. After handling your sword, take a soft, dry cloth and wipe off any grease from your hands or any type of smudges. If you get it really dirty, take some windex and wipe it onto the blade with a soft cloth, and then take another dry cloth and wipe it off. You don't need to put any preservatives (gun oil, WD-40, whatever) on these blades. They are designed to stay beautiful hanging on your wall for long periods of time. NEVER use water or soap, it will leave nasty spots on the blade.

The Iberia, Generation 2, and Windlass blades are made from High Carbon Spring Steel, so they require quite a bit more care. Any time you handle the blade, it will leave your natural oils and sweat on they blade, and if you don't treat them immediately, they will rust and make horrible stains on your beautiful sword. After you have handled your blade, take a green Scotch Brite (NEVER use steel wool) pad and some WD-40, and lightly rub the entire blade (and any other metal parts that are made of High Carbon Spring Steel). Be careful not to rub too hard and scratch the blade. After you've done this take a soft cloth and wipe off the residue from the prior cleaning. Finally, take another soft cloth with more WD-40 and wipe down the metal parts. When you are done, the blade should have a light protective sheen of oil on it.

If you plan on storing the blade for a long time, you may want to take some clear grease and cover the metal parts to protect it for extended periods of time. Vaseline works good for this purpose. You can also wrap the whole sword in plastic to protect it from moisture and other elements. If you want to get fancy, and really put some effort into the cleaning, you can substitute gun oil for the WD-40 and gun packing grease for the Vaseline. This should help you keep your blade beautiful for a long time. Remember that you MUST clean it after every time you touch it! Also, NEVER use water, it will just make the blade rust that much faster! One other VERY IMPORTANT thing to remember is; never store the blade in a leather scabbard. The leather retains moisture, and that will cause nasty rust spots on the blade.

If your blade has already suffered from the ravages of time, you can take the Scotch Brite pad and try to rub the discolorations out by using more force to get the stains out. This will leave some marks in the metal, so use a rubbing pattern that won't look bad, and try to accomplish this cleaning on the entire blade, so it look uniform. If for some reason the rust has gone really deep, you may need to actually take the blade to a metal smith and actually grind down the metal to remove the stains.

Well, that's the basics on taking care of your swords. As long as you are careful and don't get too rough with them, they should be beautiful pieces for you, your family, and friends to enjoy for years to come.

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