I hand wash my knifes... heck, I hand wash all my dishes... but my knifes lay across the back of the sink, when they need washing. Never put them in the dishpan... one could cut themselves! I haven't had to sharpen them yet... and got my set when I turned 50, 13 years ago.

Moni

My knives, which I love, are Henckels 4 Star. They are kept in a knife block, but we always put them in with the sharp edge UP. It makes no sense to me to slide the sharp edge along the bottom of the slot... And we have a Henckels 4 Star Sharpening Steel, which has its own slot in the knife block.

As Moni says, the knives are always hand washed.

If you were to put a knife cutting side up and then looked down on it with a microscope, you'd see that the cutting edge develops a zig-zag pattern that "dulls" it. A steel doesn't sharpen, it hones, meaning it straightens out the zig zag.

All knives need to be sharpened regularly, like every few months. Sharpening involves grinding down the edge to repoint the angles for the cutting surface. One good way to do it is to buy a Chefs Choice sharpener. Another way is to take them to a knife sharpener. Some butcher shops offer this service for a nominal cost, like $5 or less per knife. Dull knives are dangerous to use, sharp knives much less so

How to keep them sharp? Never use them against anything other than a soft cutting board, soft plastic or wood. Never use them on a plate, counter, hard plastic or other hard surface. Never put them into a dishwasher.

Long ago I developed skill using a sharpening stone on my secateurs. Like the others I keep my knives in a knife block but I also sharpen them when they need it and they are quite sharp, but as I said, it is a skill plus experience They never go in the sink with the dishes.

I sharpen my long kitchen knives with a chef's hone (a long slender abrasive wand with handle).

Blades made of 300 series stainless steel will not sharpen very well. The material is too ductile. Blades made of 400 series stainless may sharpen if the material has been hardened, although, this material does not resist staining and with use may become discolored. Discoloration of 400 series stainless does not harm its performance.

The best cutting blades are made of medium carbon steel or higher. These will rust if not cared for.

Surprisingly, cutting paper will take the fine edge off a really sharp blade. When my other-half grabs a freshly sharpened blade to open a batch of mail, I notice a loss of sharpness. Paper products may contain abrasives.

Jemdandy -- perhaps you should gift your other half with an envelope opener.

I'm so lucky to have a knife shop about 3 miles from my house. I take my knives there before I go on my 4 week vacation each year. I also take my loppers and pruners every winter - usually right after the first of the year so they have plenty of time to sharpen them. Yes, a steel helps with the nicks but nothing beats a good sharpening.

I use a steel. I own several sharpening stones for tools in the garage such as a chisel or an ax...but never used one on my kitchen knives.

I have a set of Wusthof knives I've had for years. I keep them sharp using a Wusthof 2-stage sharpener like this. It's easy to use and takes just a minute to sharpen a blade. You can buy them almost anywhere for about the same price. I store in a block, blades to the side.

I always wash my knives by hand as soon as I've finished using one; pots and pans too.

Does cutting aluminum foil sharpen the blades on scissors?

I have old carbon steel knives which I sharpen on a whet stone. All very old fashioned, but they do the job for me.

"Does cutting aluminum foil sharpen the blades on scissors?

"

Sharpen, I wouldn't think so..

Sharpening a knife with a sharpening stone would be a challenge, to get the facet angle correct and consistent along the entire blade with no angle guide to help. Better than nothing, maybe or maybe not. Better than a purpose-built sharpening machine or tool with angle guides - no. With garden shears, it wouldn't matter as much as with a kitchen knife.