How to sharpen kitchen knives at home in simple steps

Stop struggling with dull knives. Learn easy ways to sharpen your kitchen knives at home using simple tools you already have. (Pic credit: Pexels)

• Kitchen knives dull from wear, poor storage, and cleaning methods.
• Knives can be sharpened at home using a whetstone, honing rod, or ceramic mug
• Proper sharpening improves safety and efficiency, reducing injury risk

Did our AI summary help?

Kitchen knives are multi-purpose and used for not only chopping vegetables and cutting fruits but also for opening milk packets and other items. They are an indispensable part of the kitchen, and often their frequent use dulls them over time.

This can be problematic for a number of reasons. Firstly, it gets harder to slice anything. Secondly, excess force leads to slippages, causing injuries and mishaps.

Their dullness makes people replace old knives with new ones. They feel an old knife needs to be professionally sharpened. However, that is not the case. Knives can be sharpened at home easily, in an inexpensive way. Here are some of the safe methods you can use to make them efficient again

Also Read: 4 easy tricks to bring shine back to your silver utensils naturally

Why knives become dull over time

Knives can get dull over time due to a number of reasons, one of which is wear and tear of the blade caused by using it against rigid surfaces like glass or stone. Even scraping the blade against cutting boards or using it on bones can make it dull. Many people store knives in drawers with other utensils, causing them to rub against each other every time the drawer is opened and closed. There are also very few people who are aware that knives shouldn’t be cleaned in the dishwasher.

Way to make knives sharp again 

Use whetstone

This one is a classic method where you wet the stone for about 15-30 minutes before putting it on a firm case or a damp towel. Place your knife at a 20° angle against the coarse surface first and run it from heel to top on both the sides alternatively for about 20 times. Switch to the slightly fine side of the stone and repeat the process again.

Use a knife honer

It is basically using a steel rod which doesn’t help with sharpening but maintaining the blade’s edge. It is because the tip of the knife pits and frays with usage, something that’s hardly visible to the eye but affects the knife’s efficiency. Hold the honing rod upright and use the same 20° angle for honing the knife. Run the knife from top to bottom, switching sides every time.

Also Read: Which came first: Orange fruit or orange colour? Find out here

Use a ceramic mug

You may not be aware that simply using a ceramic coffee mug, commonly available at home can also do the job of sharpening knives effectively. Use the unglazed ring at the bottom of the ceramic mug. It acts as a sharpening stone. The 20° angle helps here too.