Cleaning your knives

The thought of cleaning knives may seem like a simple task, and it is.  

However there are some important considerations to keep in mind.

-         Washing knives by hand is always recommended.  Use a soft brush or rag to avoid scratching the blade and putting a cap full of bleach in the water will take care of sanitizing.  Rinse the knives with warm water and wipe dry with a clean towel.  For extra care you can wipe the dried knives with a Mineral Oil, this is highly recommended for carbon steel knives.

-         Commercial Grade Nylon handled knives and now made to go through dishwashers.  As long as the operator is using the recommended amounts of cleaning chemicals, this is a suitable way to clean the knives.  Just take caution in loading the knives into the dishwasher so that they are visible to whoever is unloading.

-         Wood handled knives should never go in a dishwasher.  The hot water and chemicals are the woods’ worst enemy.  After only a few times in a dishwasher the handles will start to loss their color and cracks will start to develop in the wood.  A commercial dishwasher can severely damage a handle after only a couple times around.

-         A knife does not have to go through a dishwasher to get properly cleaned and sanitized.  A quick dunk in a diluted bleach solution or a wipe down with a rag with a bleach solution is plenty to get the full effects of bleach.  After using any bleach method make sure to thoroughly rinse the knife with warm water.  Bleach will destroy wood handles, eat away at some types of nylon handles, and can cause pitting in even the highest quality stainless steels.

-         Knives should never be left in any type of water solution for extended periods of time.