How do you clean / disinfect your knives?

jimnolimit said:
I don't "disinfect" my knives, a quick rinse and dry if they're not too dirty, or soap and water of they are.
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Agreed...and maybe some acetone (fingernail polish remover) or brake cleaning fluid (spray can) from the auto store...which dries immediately dry and clean of any sediment.
 
Really cleaning a used knife is something that I hadn't really considered. You don't know what the owner did with the knife. Most germs die fairly quickly. But I think in this particular case, I would clean them thoroughly before I began using them.

Stuff I bought new which in my case is just about all of them, I don't worry much. Soap and water if they're dirty and a rinse if they do not appear "dirty" after using for a task that could have gotten them "dirty".
 
Dawn dish soap & water .... usually

Kitchen knives will get soap & water, and a rinse in the other sink which is full of hot water and a healthy splash of bleach (when I'm doing dishes) or vinegar (when my wife does them).

If I have sticky tape residue that does not come off after soap and water, I grab a few drops of lemon essential oil (from my wife's stash) and a paper towel, rub the residue off, then another soap & water wash. That is one of those weird, but it works things. :confused:

Of course, I use hand sanitizer and a paper towel to remove any sharpie ink left after I sharpen, but that ain't for sanitation, just cleaning.

If I need more than that, then CSI will probably figure it out anyway. :rolleyes:

Enjoy
 
Whoa !
An even older thread.
I may as well spread the cheer here as well . . . I mean share the scientific knowledge :
We already did a scientific study . . . er . . . I mean Scientific Study and Heatmiser found the ultimate method : >>>>>Link
Perfection.
 
miso2 said:
I do not recommend chlorine bleach on knife steels.
It does corrode stainless steel even at 1% if left soaked, especially with blood.

Edit: Zombie resurrection! I used to use chlorhexidine gluconate 5% solution to disinfect surgical instruments for animal surgery.
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I have a stainless steel Mora Companion that we use in the kitchen, and one day I saw tiny black holes in the surface of the blade, and I couldn't understand what had happened to it - it was almost as if something really hard hit the knife on the blade and dug out a small piece of steel. A few weeks later it was worse, and there were chunks missing in the edge as well. Eventually I found out my fiancee would leave it in a mild bleach solution, sometimes overnight, to disinfect it. She did this with all the cutlery, but the Mora showed the problem - cutlery steel didn't seem to be affected as much.

So yes, Chlorine bleach will damage the steel, similar to rust pitting, but with no surface rust.
 
Yeah. Bleach causes pitting, probably attacking vulnerable areas.
Some stainless steels seem more susceptible than others.
I don't know what makes the difference.
 
I know most knife makers recommend soap and hot water, and it seems pretty popular based on the responses here, but it scares me. You've got oiled/lubed parts pretty deep inside the blade, particularly in the pivot area, and you want to add water? Oil and water don't really mix too well.

I go the solvent route- alcohol, WD40, Ballistol, etc. Much more compatible with lubes, drying is much less of an issue, and in the case of the cleaner/lubes you're basically killing two birds with one stone. Just seems to be a more logical way to clean a piece of mechanical equipment. Anyway, it works for me but as always, YMMV.

And if food safety matters, there are plenty of cleaners that are food safe, if you look around.
 
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