ANR Pitch Remover

I highly recommend the pitch remover because it works safely indoors with no concern for fire, fumes, or skin irritation. (Gasoline or Kerosene can be a great fire hazard and are hard on the hands!) (I use about one gallon for all my knife cleaning in a shearing season.)

ANR Tree Farm experience with cleaning shearing knives:
"I fill a 5 gallon pail with solution and just put the knives in it after shearing (1 part solvent and 4 parts water). I let it sit about 1 hour and just wipe off the knives. No scrapping or chiseling! They come out sparkling clean. I use a sharp chisel to first scrape off the excess pitch from my shearing knives. I then soak the knives at least ten seconds in a solution made up of 1 part solvent and 4 parts water. I use a 5 inch PVC pipe that is 26 inches long and capped at one end to soak the knives. I then use some coarse steel wool to quickly remove the pitch deposits, and wipe off the blade. It's now ready to be sharpened. A clean knife will keep the sharpening stones cleaner."