Using a plastic bristled brush to clean kitchen knives

[Swedge]

After I use kitchen knives, I often rinse them off with detergent and water and use a plastic bristled brush to clean the sides of the blades. Invariably, the side of the bristles will rub against the edge of the blade. I was wondering if rubbing the edge against plastic bristles is likely to dull the edge. Thoughts?

 

[Jason B.]

If you cleaner is abrasive I'd be more worried about that. You are applying a edges worst enemy though and that's lateral pressure, if well sharpened your looking at a edge that's maybe 1 micron wide, don't take much to cause damage to something that small. You would probably need a SEM to see the damage but either way its something that could happen.

 

[thombrogan]

The only way to really know is to see how they cut after being washed.

 

[unit]

I do the same thing and only use enough pressure to remove any visible debris on the knife (that is to say very light pressure) and I "scrub" parallel to the edge.

Never use abrasive cleanser (I just use anti-bacterial soap), and steel the knife after wards (I usually do this immediately prior to storing the knife, and perhaps again before and during use).

Regardless, you are not going to accomplish any damage with a plastic brush that can not be fixed at the hones...even with abrasive cleanser.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

I've gotten in the habit of wiping down the blade immediately after use, with a paper towel, either damp/soapy or even with a little Windex. This helps keep the blade reasonably free of the heavy, gooey, sticky debris that might otherwise require heavy scrubbing later. When I do finally 'wash' the knife, it just needs a very light wipe-down with soapy water and either a paper towel or a sponge-type scrubber. I 'scrub' with more or less a 'stropping' motion (from spine towards edge).

I started doing my knives this way primarily because I kept cutting up my scrubbers if I had to scrub very hard.