I have been using a knife with stage handle surrounded by fiber spacers in the kitchen.

Periodically, I apply mineral oil to the stag as routine maintenance. I notice that the fiber spacers appear dry and very slightly textured. I am uncertain if this has occurred because of sloppy application of mineral oil, or because of frequent washing of the knife using dishwater detergent.

This is a high-quality outdoorsman's knife that I do not want to just sit for ten months of the year.

Should I be concerned about the fiber spacers? If I should, please suggest a treatment or application agent I would use to halt the problem.

I hope you're not washing the knives IN a dishwasher .That practice has damaged many good knives.No dishwasher, no soaking .Just a quick wash and dry immediately after use.I don't know what to treat the fiber with.

I hope some of our maker members chime in, but detergent and wet/dry cycles can be bad for both materials, but ESPECIALLY for Stag! I would be more inclined to think the stag was shrinking away from the spacers, but your description seems to point to the spacers as your post title indicates. It might be worth taking a pic and posting it if you can......

I never use a dishwasher. Knife is hand washed in running warm water and sponge with detergent within. After washing, I always hand dry with fluffy towel. Procedure takes longer to read about than to do.

Would anyone be able to identify what fiber spacer material is generally made from? The spacers' color is dark brown.

There appears to be no gaps developing, nothing I can see that is amiss -- except for the change in appearance with very slight change in texture. I have a similar knife in storage that I used as my "control" for this query. In the graphic below bottom is my kitchen knife; top is my control.

I can`t really tell, but the spacers appear to be leather, a common spacer material with some knife brands..

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Originally posted by Ol` Joe:
I can`t really tell, but the spacers appear to be leather, a common spacer material with some knife brands..

I, too, cannot tell whether the fiber spacers I'm concerned about are leather. Having written that, I think you might be correct, though. Should I be concerned about the spacers if they are leather? And if I should, what do I do to either arrest any deterioration or reverse it?
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Why does the entire graphic show correctly some of the time in my browser window and cut off, on the right side, other times?

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Should I be concerned about the spacers if they are leather? And if I should, what do I do to either arrest any deterioration or reverse it?

I wish I could help. I replied because the spacers looked very similar to the ones on a old (1960s)Case hunting knife that I know are leather. Blood, rain, ect seem to have worked on them over the years.

As a maker, I'd use Johnson's floor wax on the spacers and avoid any soaking in water at all (which is what you seem to be doing).

Waxes seem to provide good preservation of leather. On sheaths I use a mix of Neat's Foot Oil and Bee's Wax. I dropped on while cleaning a deer some years ago, and could not find it. After three weeks in the rain and snow I did recover it. Was fine and is still in use.

Clean the leather real well with acetone to remove all the old finish you can.

Then warm the leather with a blow hair dryer and saturate the leather with krazy glue while warm. After it's thoroughlt dry, finish it off with 400 grit wet/dry and then polish with a good carnuba wax.

Should be pretty damn near waaterproof by then!

Have you tried contacting the maker of the knife yet? There are lots of things to put on the spacer but I'd at least try to see what the maker suggests first.

Problem solved. I masked the stag, then applied Meltonian Shoe Cream of the appropriate color. Let set for two days, then polish. Then apply Kiwi neutral polish (actually a wax). Let set for one day, then polish.