Cleaning slate pot

[bowbird87]

Like a dumb a** I got ketchup on my slate that rides in my truck. I've sanded it with scotch brite and it's still oily. Any cleaning recommendations would be great.

[mountainhunter1]

I don't know if it works well for ketchup, but it does wonders for a slate surface that has gotten a lot of sweat on it. Try this: take your slate pot and turn it upside down and take a lighter and hold a flame an inch or two off the surface in the middle of the calling surface. You should see the moisture/foreign substance head towards the edge of the pot almost immediately if it is working. Just don't keep the heat there too long as you can break down the bond of the slate surface below to the pot itself. I usually hold it there for two to four seconds and then back off and repeat as necessary. It works wonders for sweat and moisture, and I am curious if it might burn the ketchup off. You probably have nothing to lose, because it is not going to play with ketchup on it. But I have taken pots that were going to be thrown out by buddies and put them back into working order with this very technique.

[mountainhunter1]

If that does not work, you can reach out to almost any quality call maker and they will put a new slate surface on it for a very fair price. At worst, that would be much cheaper than a completely brand new pot. Most call builders will charge somewhere between 12-25 dollars to do that.

[870BkWht]

I know it sounds counter productive, but try an alcohol wipe like youd use for diabetic supplies or cleaning the surface of an aluminum pot.  The alcohol might cut the ketchup residue then you can dry it totally out by using the aforementioned lighter trick. 

[letinmfly]

Not sure if it'll work but here's what I would try.  Use some Dawn dish soap and clean the area and then rinse with a wet/damp cloth.   Put the call aside and allow to dry and if needed repeat the process. 
The Dawn shouldn't leave a slick residue.  After it's dry scuff the surface with scotch brite and see if that works out for you. 

Good luck!!

[Greg Massey]

Keep us informed, with how this turns out... I sure hope it's not ruined from the acid / oil from the ketchup... Good luck

[RH1]

I'd try a combination of whats posted. Dawn and the lighter trick...repeatedly

[vt35mag]

I would try the dawn or alcohol wipe suggestions before putting a lighter to it.
A lighter might not do it unless it was sitting in one spot for awhile, but I used to work for a slate company (the same slates used in call making) and we would produce a textured (flamed) surface to the slate by putting a torch to it and it would cause the top layer of slate to pop off leaving a textured finish.
I have heard a lot of people doing it without issue, but I am not putting any open flame to my slate calls that are of value. Would hate to have the slate pop or a blind joint in the slate open up.

[outdoors]

I've used acetone  be really careful , very careful
Don't get any on the call it'll mess the finish ip

[owego]

I do not know what slate you have but Enticer Power Slate you just wash it off with a damp cloth, hit it with a dry towel. Enticer Power Slate never needs to be conditioned. Watch this YouTube & see for yourself.     http://www.enticerturkeycalls.com/shop/turkey-calls/power-slate/

[mountainhunter1]

I would try the dawn or alcohol wipe suggestions before putting a lighter to it.
A lighter might not do it unless it was sitting in one spot for awhile, but I used to work for a slate company (the same slates used in call making) and we would produce a textured (flamed) surface to the slate by putting a torch to it and it would cause the top layer of slate to pop off leaving a textured finish.
I have heard a lot of people doing it without issue, but I am not putting any open flame to my slate calls that are of value. Would hate to have the slate pop or a blind joint in the slate open up.

I never put the flame directly on the surface. I keep it a couple of inches off and do not keep it there long. Just a couple of seconds and move it back away for a few seconds and then you can try again if it is working. Keep the slight heat of the flame in the very middle of the pot surface. But do not let the flame touch the surface and a couple of seconds goes a long ways as you are just forcing moisture out of the surface. If you have ever done it, it is pretty cool to see excess moisture roll off and it always rolls back towards the edge of the surface. It happens really fast. There is no way that it is going to make part of the surface turn loose and separate. I actually learned that trick from two of the most well known call builders among us today. I won't call their names in case someone does not listen to what I described, and they actually do mess a call up. I don't want them later trying to blame it on someone else because they did not do it correctly.

I did have a friend try it and he did not listen to what I told him to do. He let the flame actually touch the surface and left it there for a good bit and he wound up with a couple of dark spots (but no texture change), - but even then his call too was returned to perfection sound wise. And his slate pot even sounds good in those couple of darkened spots. But had he kept the flame off the surface and did it in very short bursts of only 2 to maybe 3 seconds with pauses in between, that would not have happened.

[mountainhunter1]

I don't think it will hurt to try the alcohol wipe to get the main grime of the ketchup off before going any further. I don't really see the alcohol hurting the surface long term to the nature of how fast it evaporates.

While I find many uses for Dawn, I am not familiar with using Dawn on a pot surface, and it may work great. But, I have not tried the dawn so I cannot speak to success of that option. But if all else described on here fails, I would try the Dawn as well before sending the Pot back to the builder to be resurfaced.

I do know that a lighter will take out sweat and excess moisture, but not sure how it is going to work with the somewhat greasy texty of Ketchup. The more I ponder this, if I was going to use a lighter to remove Ketchup residue, I would use the alcohol wipe first and really try to scrub off all the ketchup possible, and then let it sit a while to dry, and then try the lighter.

[wchadw]

Rubbing alcohol and let it dry real good and then you can condition again


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[silvestris]

First, keep it simple.  Alcohol wipes.  Then 350-400 grit sandpaper with the "grain" however you hold your caller.  You want to call across the direction that you sanded, not with the direction. A late friend used to use his pocketknife to create small grooves for the striker to jump across when clucking and to get vibration when yelping.  I would attempt the pocketknife method on a caller you really don't care about messing up.  And if you mess up, you can then sand the surface down to smooth the surface, with the risk of making the thickness too thin which could change the tone to a degree, might improve the sound.  Me, I would just use the alcohol wipes and be happy.

[Ctate94]

Any luck?


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