I started out using Norton honing oil on Arkansas stones and switched to baby oil as mentioned on here and other places as the Norton oil is so expensive. The baby oil is pretty gummy and messy. I tried Marvel Mystery oil per Tony Zaffuto's recommendation. I definitely like that better than the former two mentioned. But as winter was approaching i was concerned that the Marvel oil would thicken and would perform like the baby oil so i have been looking for something else.
I came across this thread which I'll post as there seems to be others here interested in a good honing fluid.
mineral oil as a substitute for: tool oil, sharpening stone oil
I was particularly interested in what Forrest Addy wrote. So i tried something similar to one of the things he likes to use, cleaners like Fantastik and 409. I used something called Bio-Green clean and it was outstanding. It woke up the two soft Arks i tried it on. I also tried Dawn which worked well but not as well. I guess there was no or little lubrication and the stone got cleaned as i honed. It was just infinitely more pleasant than using bay oil. There is always some particle/s stuck to stone when oil is used no matter how often i wipe it.
When i first got some Arkansaseses and lapped them with water and tried them out as i lapped; they worked like they do with the cleaning solvent and stayed clean but i just assumed there was a reason to use oil as that was tradition. I had also read that using no oil makes the stones wear faster. Yuhdoi. That's what lubrication does, prevent wear but it also prevents wear of the tool.
So i want to try and clean out my stones and reboot. I was wondering if the boiling water method often prescribed can soften or damage the stones in anyway? I would not think so considering the temps and pressure they are formed at but i wanted to makes no one has ruined a stone.
With winter coming i wont be able to use the cleaner (actually i think i'll just use water in warm months if i get the stones clean) as it is water based and was looking for something really thin that won't freeze. Kerosene and mineral spirits are out as i can not handle the smells. Any ideas?
And if there is a reason i am not seeing why oil should be used please let me know. I can see maybe wanting a little buffer on final polishing but i think you could back off pressure. These stones actually seem to polish more the harder i push down.