# Why no "good knives" in the dishwasher? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 24, 2013, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-good-knives-in-the-dishwasher/648231 "2013-01-24T17:26:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-good-knives-in-the-dishwasher/648231/21 "2013-01-27T18:33:15Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > I still wouldn’t do it. The steel on Mercer knives is going to be about the same as many lines of more expensive German and American knives. I have mostly Mundial knives, with a few German and Japanese knifes thrown in, and I keep them out of the dishwasher. > > The carbon content of higher-end kitchen knives is higher than for other types of “stainless” steel. A knife made of 440 A/B/C steel isn’t going to rust if it’s exposed to water, like a French-made carbon steel knife would, but they’re not entirely rustproof, either. It’s supposedly the same type of steel, with the primary difference that the Mercer Genesis line is forged in Taiwan instead of Germany. At $34, I just can’t get worked up about it enough to bother hand washing them. I could afford a new one every year easily, and they seem to do fine in the dishwasher. I do have to steel and/or sharpen them more often, but not so much that it’s a real imposition. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-good-knives-in-the-dishwasher/648231/22 "2013-01-27T20:53:53Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > I’ve heard it said that everyone tries to catch a dropped knife once. 😛 Well, twice, maybe. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-good-knives-in-the-dishwasher/648231/23 "2013-01-27T22:06:26Z")
> [@phouka](#): > > …snip… > > Also, if you drop the knife, _do not try to catch it_. Just get out of the way and pray it survives. My mom, the RN, has told a manager to take his employee to the ER for stitches because the poor kid was so terrified of screwing up the knife that he tried to catch it. Lacerated his palm, and they had to clear out the prep area to re-sterilize it. OH, that hurt just _reading_ it! ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-good-knives-in-the-dishwasher/648231/24 "2013-01-28T01:05:51Z")
I thought it was “A falling knife has no handle.” ---
**Author:** ![SuperAwesomeGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@SuperAwesomeGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperAwesomeGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-good-knives-in-the-dishwasher/648231/25 "2013-01-28T20:58:59Z")
Our dishwasher crapped out last week and I haven’t gotten around to replacing it yet. In the meantime, my wife is washing the dishes by hand and it really saves a lot of wear and tear on knife edges. I’ve never put my good knives in there, but we have some cheap steak knives that she always used to run through the machine. I like a SHARP knife, and found myself sharpening the cheapies every couple of days before use. Since the machine died, I haven’t had to sharpen them even once. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2013, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-good-knives-in-the-dishwasher/648231/26 "2013-01-30T22:45:49Z")
> [@phouka](#): > > Also, if you drop the knife, _do not try to catch it_. The way I’ve always heard the “rule” is, “It it falls, _let it_.” (Nearly 30 years in the restaurant business.) The same rule applies to hot pans. As far as dish machines, commercial dish machine detergent is different from the home-use stuff, in that it typically contains a corrosive instead of an abrasive (holy crap it burns if you get the concentrated stuff on your skin!), but the effect is the same - takes the edge right off your knives. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-no-good-knives-in-the-dishwasher/648231.md?page=1)