Maintaining Blades

We are always happy to offer advice or have a product back for re finishing, thinning or sharpening, please feel free to contact us.

Maintaining A Carbon Steel Blade:

One of the most important steps in taking care of your carbon steel is keeping the blade clean. That means wiping down your knife directly after use. It may seem tedious at first, but it will keep your blade looking nice. This is especially true when working with acidic foods like lemons and tomatoes, which tend to be particularly tough on carbon steel and our ‘special black’ finish.

Cleaning:

A gentle wipe down with a soft, non abrasive sponge and hot water is all it needs. Dish soap is fine but avoid scrubbing the surface finish or soaking the handle. Dry it off well asap.

‘Special Black’ Finish:

The special black finish we offer for most of our carbon steel blades is exceptionally rust resistant and relatively hard-wearing. If you want it to stay pristine, keep it away from acidic juices, or use our leather and knife balm as a protective layer as the colouring can be bleached by acid over time. If you do end up with marks on the blade that you don’t like; just send us a message, all of our hidden tang handles are removable to allow re-finishing.

Wax Coating:

Our hidden tang knives will come with a hard food safe wax coating on the blade. This will help protect surface finishes and also helps the knife look its best right out of the box as there is no need for it to be covered in oil. This wax coating doesn’t last forever unfortunately but it can be replenished using our leather and knife balm.

Handles:

A handle should be pretty maintenance free but you can help protect/ rejuvenate it with a finishing oil if it starts to dry out. We usually use Osmo top oil which leaves a nice durable food safe satin finish but our leather and knife balm will also work well.

Keep Your Knife Honed:

We recommend a leather strop for honing as its a little more forgiving than a steel, especially on hard edges. This straightens the edge on an almost microscopic scale and should be done regularly to help keep your knife sharp for longer. It does not actually ‘sharpen’ your knife though and eventually some material will need to be removed. Huge tin of worms here so I’ll keep it simple, we would recommend Naniwa professional whetstones which are nice to use and good value. Please do not be tempted to use a carbide or electric sharpener.

Carbon Steel or Stainless?

Stainless steel is the most common material for kitchen knives, however, carbon steel is often the preferred choice of culinary professionals. This is because even basic grades can hold an incredibly sharp edge, some with very high hardness while remaining easy to keep sharp. That being said, there are some pretty amazing grades of stainless steel if you don’t mind the price tag.