Protecting Your Knives

A good knife is an investment. A well-made blade, if properly taken care of, can last you a lifetime. People like chefs, who earn their livelihood with a knife, will spend large amounts of money to take special care of their tools. Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t know how to treat a knife properly. If everyone simply followed a few simple maintenance habits, they’d never have to deal with a dull or chipped blade ever again.

Always regularly clean your knife. Leaving them dirty after use will only accelerate the possibility of corrosion. Not washing the blade until you need to use it again can cause stains and rust to accumulate between intervals of use. Washing and drying the knife immediately will only take five minutes at most but its benefits are immeasurable.

Remember the three S’s: sharpen, strop and steel. It’s a mistake to sharpen your knife every day. Improper or too much sharpening can degrade the blade very quickly. When you need a quick touch-up, stropping the blade with a leather strap is often enough. The leather gently realigns the indentations and microscopic teeth along the edge thereby restoring cutting ability. Steeling with a metal rod will accomplish much the same thing with the added benefit of removing torn off or damaged particles.

If you’re going to place your knife into storage for a long time, apply some oil and wax along the blade first. These two things serve as protective metal coatings against rust and corrosion. The oil is especially effective with pocket and utility knives that have moving parts and fold down; it’ll keep the joint moving smoothly and cleanly. The wax can also keep handles from crumbling and decaying.

For anything other than kitchen knives, you might also consider permanently applying any of the top liquid ceramic protective metal coatings out in the market. These provide significant amounts of protection from impact, heat, abrasion and complete invulnerability from all types of rust and corrosion. Such characteristics would be invaluable in a hunter’s all-purpose blade or in the combat knives of military personnel.

One great thing about these designer protective metal coatings is that they’re effectiveness is only matched by their affordability and ease of application. A bottle is usually less than fifteen dollars and anyone with even rudimentary sprayer skills can apply the treatment quickly and safely.