Don't put your knives in the dishwasher!

Found this exceptionally abused Wusthof Classic 10" chef knife a few years ago at the thrift store. Hammered spine, dented cutting edge, and delaminated handle. Most of us are aware to not put our “nice” knives in the dishwasher, and I think a $200 commercial knife qualifies as nice. I was surprised most by the handle. Current Wusthof Classic knives come with synthetic handles, but this one is obviously plywood laminate. I thought the combination of stainless rivets and epoxy-bound plywood were impervious to most mistreatment, but the previous owner’s abuse exceeded the knife’s limits. This is a great example of how torturous the caustic chemicals and heated drying can be to even a robust commercial manufacturing process.








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Awwww. Poor thing !

Happy New Year @Eiron !

Off topic; not a knife, but a spatula that I am constantly rescuing from the dishwasher. When I bought it, it said don’t put it in the dishwasher. Too bad there were no warnings about the handle and hot pans!


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Ai yai yai. Somehow my copper 10cm butter-melter ended up in the dishwasher. :crying_cat_face:

Live and learn.

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So are you going to rebuild it?

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I guess the person can always buy a new knife. For some people, the usage of dishwasher is a must. I remember one time on Chowhound, we had an user said that dishwasher is part of his/her routine and he is not going to deviate from it.

For some people, it is lack of knowledge, but I think for some people it is a conscious decision. The damages I am seeing are not a one shot (broke a tip that kind of damage). These damages are repeated build-up damages. To me, the person is quite aware of what was happening.

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Leave your wood handled knife in the sink to soak can also mess up the handle over time. Not every knife but I have one that got wrecked that way. I do have trouble keeping my husband and daughter from putting small knives into the DW.

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Yeah. Just need to balance between how much effort to take care of the knife/cookware vs how frequent the tool may need to be replaced.

I wash and dry my good knives as soon as I am done cutting, bypassing unwanted immersion or dishwashing.

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Yes, but what about any co-habitants? I usually tell my husband that it’s the same way he doesn’t want me to to “forget” and have our car washed at the local high school.

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There are so many things that do not go into the dishwasher, including knives, other things with handles with scales, copper, bare aluminum, tinned steel, carbon steel, cast iron, measuring cups with painted on numbers, wooden items, insulated things unless the manufacturer says they are dishwasher safe (like Yeti), bone china with decoration painted on it, and, I am sure, more. Some things that are plastic go in at your own risk, notably parts to food processor bowls. If they go in, use that top rack to minimize the likelihood of warping. However, last night the filter grids for the vent over my stove went in.

That knife is a sad example. It was originally quite nice.

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Never had a problem putting these in the dishwasher. My wooden spoon is probably 40 years old and still in good shape.

You are fortunate!

Might be a magic spoon.

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A truly great thing to have!

To avoid the battle to keep the knives out of the dishwasher, I don’t buy expensive knives; I keep them to under $50.

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I’m with you!! I got this knife at Goodwill for $1.49, came home sharpened it on my whetstone and put it to work. It gets cleaned/sanitized in the dishwasher and its ready for the next job. I have no complaints, it cuts, chops, whatever I need it to do. If it gets dull, I’ll pull out the whetstone and re-sharpen.

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It may depend on several things. What does cheap mean to you? My most expensive knife was $89, and most were under $50, and one under $30, but they are all pretty nice, and I would be pretty upset if someone put them in the dishwasher. When others are helping in the kitchen, I watch the knives. It helps that I always clean them and put them back in the block after each use with the possible exception of the bread knife, my only SS knife.

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But… where’s the “After” pic? Surely you brought this poor dear back to life?

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Any recommendations for a sharpening stone on Amazon?