Longevity of sharpness: Can i help?

You'll receive back a sharp knife. We guarantee this. Your knives will be QC tested and this process is filmed.

We cannot however guarantee longevity of sharpness. This is where you come in.

How long will a knife stay sharp for?

There are many factors that effect longevity of sharpness and here we'll address the most common.

Frequency of use - Quite obvious really, but the more you use your knife the faster it will blunt.

It's just plain physics. Over time the V shape of the cutting edge will be worn away on cutting surfaces until it become a U shape once again.

Quality and condition of steel - The quality of steel is crucial to a sharp knife. Remember that quality does not necessarily mean expensive. There are many budget ranges within established premium brands that use poor steel ( Wusthof 'Gourmet' range is a prime example ).

We regularly see ultra expensive knives with mediocre steel and vice versa.

We even see wildly varying quality of steel within one brand of knife!

This shows that the steel that the knife manufacturer buys in from their supplier varies in quality from batch to batch and year to year.

Thickness of taper - Taper is how your knife thins from its spine down to the cutting edge. The taper looks like a thin or tall letter 'V'.

In the image below you can see two different tapers. The bottom image has a thinner profile and generally will hold its sharpness for longer.

The taper of your knife greatly affects its sharpness and longevity of sharpness.

Generally the thinner the taper, the easier it is to keep sharp. However its propensity to chip and nick increases so you have to use your knives wisely and only for their intended application.

Ability to hone your knife correctly on a sharpening steel - The best method of keeping your knives sharp is by using a honing steel. It's super important that you use it correctly as the knife will blunt within seconds if the angle used is too great. The knife edge should run down the steel at no more than 20 degrees though we'd recommend 15 degrees maximum.

How you store your knives - Keeping your knives in a knife block, magnetic rack or in their own compartment within a drawer is best practice.

Never share your knife space with other utensils as they will nick and damage the cutting edge.

The surfaces on which you use your knife - Chopping and slicing on wooden chopping boards is the most forgiving for your knife.

Soft plastic chopping boards are also fine. High density plastic boards are super tough and can blunt a knife quickly.

Chopping or cutting directly on stone, marble, metal or glass is not recommended. This will kill the edge within minutes.

What you cut - Prepping a crate of ice berg lettuces will be easier on your knife than a crate of whole chickens.

Bones, gristle, seeds, pips and stones all dink and nick the cutting edge

Abuse - Cutting cardboard boxes or plastic bags, using your knife to open tin cans or as a screw driver or lever will blunt the blade extremely quickly.

We know it's tempting to reach for a good knife so that's why we recommend having a "bad" knife in your drawer. One that you can always reach for to do these tasks with out compromising the sharpness of your good knives.

3rd parties - When other people use your knives you unfortunately won't know how they're being used and treated. Third parties can turn a sharp knife blunt then hand it back to the unsuspecting owner or place it back in a drawer.