Knife Cleaning Help

One of the few things I have from uncrowned_king is a kukri knife. It has a blunt blade, and is more for show/symbolic than anything else.

At some point during our time together he brought it over to my house and deliberately left it on the mantle where my household altar was, as a sign of his commitment to protect both Wolfling and myself. He never retrieved it, and it's been part of my household altar ever since.

The problem is that the blade has various black and brown marks on it -- not a lot of them, but enough to be noticable, and I don't have the slightest idea how to clean it.

The other thing is that it lives in a sheath that appears to be made of wood covered in leather, and I keep wondering how good that is for the blade.

I know that several of my friends have experience with keeping blades in good order. Can you advise me on the best way to care for this one?

Thanks!

Good, Moderately-Priced Vaccuum Cleaner?

I've purchased one or two new vaccuum cleaners in my life and have been thoroughly disappointed by both. Neither was very good at picking up dirt, and both broke down quickly.

I need something reasonably robust, because Wolfling's floor can get pretty bad. I need it to be light enough so we won't have trouble getting it up and down the stairs.

Any suggestions?