A forceps having relative pivoting forceps joined by connectors and jaws retractable by action of a helical spring in a chamber inside the connectors of the two forceps. A passage from the spring chamber outward to the exterior periphery of a first connector and opening in a space between the two jaws of the two forceps when the forceps and their jaws are retracted, permitting entry of cleaning materials into the interior of the forceps. The jaws being shaped and the passage into the interior of the forceps being so located and shaped that the passage into the interior of the forceps is blocked by at least one of the jaws when the forceps are gripped and the jaws are toward each other.
