Sanitize Knives and Knife Sharpening

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Great Steel

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Hello Fellas

I'm new here and thinking of doing some knife sharpening for other people . I have two questions

#1 I would want to sanitize knives before sharpening them . What product could I use that would sanitize knives before sharpening them so I have no cross contamination or chance of picking something up if I sustained a cut. It would need to be safe for all knife metals and handles .I worked in the meat industry for many years in Canada but not sure what they are using currently that is government approved.

#2 Where would I find the topic of knife sharpening on this site ?

Thanks
Keen Edge
 
Welcome to the forum!!

1 - Alcohol wipes are one option...- the small ones from drug stores - or a bottle of isopropyl or rubbing alcohol & paper towel...

2 - use the search function - near the top right corner on the home page...or do google search for: "knife sharpening site:www.bladeforums.com" and you will see all the results from this forum..
 
416isToronto said:
1 - Alcohol wipes are one option...- the small ones from drug stores - or a bottle of isopropyl or rubbing alcohol & paper towel...
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This is what I use. I can't think of any material in common use that a light swabbing of isopropanol would hurt, and once it's dry it should be safe even for food use. If you're really concerned about any kind of residue, I suppose you can try ethanol, or dip the blade in boiling water for a few seconds. (No, that won't hurt the heat treat, though use your best judgment about handle scales.)
 
There is a sub-forum: Maintenance, Tinkering & Embellishment, which is where discussions of knife sharpening happens.
 
What Mossy said.

.....and detach your watch bracelet and give that a good cleaning in the 'clave as well - you wont believe the gunk present in the nooks and crevices there.
 
Mossyhorn said:
Try an autoclave.
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Right... But lets be serious, unless you are in medical/tatto, who has those in their house..? Also, depending on knife and materials used not all parts can withstand the heat, usually pressurized at 249F.
I use 90% iso Alcohol. Then wipe off residue with my polishing cloth. If you are using the knife to eat, you can use mineral oils that are safe to ingest for lube.
 
I've never sanitized a knife before sharpening.
 
Brusiedmeat said:
Right... But lets be serious, unless you are in medical/tatto, who has those in their house..? Also, depending on knife and materials used not all parts can withstand the heat, usually pressurized at 249F.
I use 90% iso Alcohol. Then wipe off residue with my polishing cloth. If you are using the knife to eat, you can use mineral oils that are safe to ingest for lube.
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Seriously, Im in neither field (neither medical nor ink) and Ive contemplated purchasing an autoclave (admittedly this was when my watch interest was at an all time high and I wanted it for cleaning amongst other things watch bracelets). Autoclaves can be had in compact sizes and for okay prices for private citizens.
 
Just wait. Most germs die when not in a host.

Alcohol wipes are great.
Bleach shouldn't be bad though haven't used that for this purpose.

When I worked in research we dipped scalpels in alcohol waited a bit and then held them in a fire. The tissue we cut was on culture medium for weeks and nothing funny grew usually. Maybe 10 samples out of a 1000 got spoiled but never because of the scalpel not being sterile.
 
I work in medical, use an autoclave regularly, and I don't recommend it for this context. As was already mentioned, most autoclaves are calibrated to run at 121'C (~250 F) and 15 psi for 15 - 20 minutes, very effective at denaturing and destroying viral and bacterial material as well as polyethylene, polystyrene, varieties of polyurethane, nylon, acrylic, polyester, and even some crappier varieties of polycarbonate and polypropylene. Micarta and G10 should be able to handle it, but other materials... For example, you want to put wood or leather handles in an expensive steam-cooker?

As was already mentioned, an alcohol wipe will do the trick on most non-porous surfaces previously cleansed of gross contamination/debris. In other words, hand-wash (use a nylon brush or whatever is needed), then wipe down with 70% Ethanol or Isopropanol. 90% is actually less effective than 70% for sterilization. You can also soak the tool in alcohol and light it up, but it is neither necessary nor recommended for your purposes. Know that alcohol will dissolve oils and leave micarta, wood, leather looking rather dry - you can use mineral oil or beeswax, etc. to restore a gleam.

Bleach requires ~10 minutes of exposure to be effective, i.e. soak, which can be detrimental to a lot of materials, not recommended. There are a variety of non-bleach cleaners like CaviCide and SporKlenz available for more effective sterilization, but both will leave a residue if not wiped away after use (again, soak), and guess what is usually used to clean up the residue.... 70% ethanol or isopropanol.

Keep it simple.
 
Yes, the autoclave solution would be best suited for knives with detachable handles, skeleton knives or other knife handke materials impervious to the rigors of an autoclave.
 
hand sanitizer
alcohol
boiling water
fire

Never heard of sterilizing before sharpening, but hey........ :cool:
 
#1:

A mild bleach solution works well.

Typically, 2 teaspoons of 8.25% bleach to 1 gallon of water is recommended for surfaces that come in contact with food.

Personally, I use 1 tablespoon (= 3 teaspoons) of bleach to 1 gallon of water.

I've used 2 tablespoons of bleach to 1 gallon for bathroom surfaces but that's about as high a concentration that I'd recommend if you're working without gloves.

Just wipe it down and let it air-dry.


#2:

Here - http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/794-Maintenance-Tinkering-amp-Embellishment
 
^^^ Not to be a killjoy, but seems to me bleach not only requires a lot more care in use, but could degrade some washers or scale materials if allowed to touch them. Not something I would use, but that's just me.
 
You can buy a sonic cleaner at a decent price. That's another alternative. I would not use bleach.
 
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