Cleaning the Handle

fine same paper should work well

One TT shop owner has simple trick:  rub the handle with pencil eraser (rubber eraser, STAEDLER white pencil eraser).  I tried it myself with various degree of success.  For smooth handle, it wipes off dirt and grim >90%.  It looks like almost new.  For handle with visible grain / pores, it only removes up to 70 - 75% only.  One thing for sure, it does not affect the handle at all.  I once tried with soapy water, it wets handle and seems to make dirt stick more (plus, it's not good for your wood).  Alcohol will do it though but I don't know the effect if you are doing it in the long run.

Oh, forgot to tell you.  It will consume quite a large portion of your pencil eraser to clean the handle.

I just use some orange oil wood furniture cleaner to rub the handle, it does remove some of the sweat stain, brings out the grain of my Darker blade handle, and conditions the wood at the same time. 

aeoliah wrote: Using sandpaper will make the handle smaller if it is done many times. Lightly sealing it will prevent the dirt a bit.

what do u use to seal ur blades aeoliah? my blades look ugly with sweat and as u said they are getting thinner after sanding couple times, so i refrained from sanding again...i was always apprehensive of sealing the blade, wouldn't it make it slippery when there's sweat on a sealed handle?

I use water-based sanding sealer for my blades so sealing the handle is out of the question since sweat would make the sealer a sticky disgusting mess, but I'll try that eraser technique.