Abstract: There is described a method of laser-processing a metal workpiece. The method generally has a step of laser-hardening a portion of the metal workpiece by momentarily exposing said portion to an out-of-focus region of a pulsed laser beam, the exposed portion heating to a given temperature and quenching thereafter, the sequence of said heating and said quenching thereby hardening said exposed portion, and a step of laser-cleaning the hardened portion by momentarily exposing said hardened portion to an in-focus region of said pulsed laser beam, thereby cleaning said hardened portion.