How to Properly Care for Your Knife

How to Properly Care for Your Knife

Knife has been one of the human’s most loyal tools for centuries. It was coincidentally the first tool, human has made and used to fulfil its various needs. Today, we use the knife for various purposes viz. survival, combat, food preparation and many more. However, we often forget to take care of our knives, resulting in its damage over a period of time.

If You Love Your Knife, Take Proper Care of it

Knives, like any other tools and gadgets need regular caring and servicing for it to remain strong and functional for a longer period. Knives, irrespective of the materials used are prone to damage, wear and tear or rusting. The folding knives become stiff and jammed with the lack of proper care. The most common culprits for the damage are moisture, dust and cutting residue. To ensure that the knife remains in good condition, the most basic action that can be taken is to wipe the blade off any moisture, dust and cutting residue with a dry cloth. Sharpening it regularly also helps the edge remain sharp. There are a number of ways and methods through which one can maintain their knives. Moreover, depending on the type of knife, the ways of maintaining them may also differ. Usually, a folding knife is more tedious to maintain than a fixed blade knife. Read through to know the ways through which one can maintain and take proper care of their knives.

Keep Your Knife Away From Those Rusty Devils

Rusting is a common problem for all kind of metal knives, be it made of Carbon Steel or Stainless Steel. Before storing and after using a knife, it’s always judicious to ensure that no amount of moisture is sitting in your knife. Knives used at kitchens, outdoors or any other cutting/chipping/scrapping activities should be properly washed. It should be washed such that any remaining particle/dust is removed. Soap Water and a brush/scrub can be used for the purpose. The properly washed knives should then be cleaned off of any remaining moisture and water droplets with the help of a dry cloth.

Make Honing a Regular Habit and Sharpening an Occasional Habit

Making knife-honing a habit will help your knife, remain healthy and sharp for a longer run. Honing the knife against the straightened honing steel rod or the water stone realigns the distorted/ disoriented edge of the blade, back to its best shape. Regular honing of the knives keeps them sharp and alive for longer run. Sharpening of the knives wherein the aged-layer of the cutting-edge is removed is another way to maintain your knife. However, sharpening should be done occasionally say after a 10-22 months gap, compared to the honing process which can be done almost in a daily basis.

Use Properly

Proper usage of knives goes a long way towards the maintenance and well-being of the knife. Knife’s ability to be used for multiple purpose, doesn’t mean that knives can be used any way you want. For illustration, a small pocket knife should not be used as a hammer to nail a nail, or a kitchen knife should not be used for the purpose of chipping wood. For cutting purpose, only the sharp edges should be used, whereas for the lighter task the belly/sweep of the knife should be used. Handling of the knives properly is also important.

Store Judiciously

Today, most of the knives come with a sheath. However, it’s not always sensible to store a knife in the sheath. A leather sheath may retain moisture, damaging the knife. Similarly, a low grade plastic polymer sheath may cause the sharp edge to become blunt. Stacking a knife along with other items also increase the chances of the knife edge to get blunt. Magnetic knife rack or a knife block is the best options for storing a knife. The focus should be avoiding the knives to rest on their cutting edge.

Lubricate them for a Longer run

Lubricating the knives goes a long way in keeping them sharp and lively, more so for the folding ones. An oil based lubricant should be applied into the various moving parts, joints and pivots of the knife. Applying lubricant regularly, keeps all the moving part free from any congestion. Immediately after applying the lubricants the parts should be moved to and fro for few times, to allow the lubricant seep deeper into the parts. This process will help the knife stay alive and lively.

Take Care

If you love your knife and care for them, we hope that this article has helped you a lot. For any further queries you, feel free to contact us at customercare@knifecountryusa.com. We, at Knife Country USA, are ready to help you with anything related to your knife.