Sanitizing the wheel

[bisonbladesharpening]

Is there any harm in running the wheel through a mild bleach solution daily.
I service varied accounts and always clean items prior and after.
I don't know if bleach has any negative effect on the stone.

[Ken S]

That is an interesting question, which, to the best of my knowledge, has never been asked on the firum before. I will consult Sweden. It's the weekend; they will probably not reply until the business week.

Ken

[jeffs55]

Sanitize the finished product, even a sanitary stone is going to pick up air borne contaminants and will have to be constantly sanitized. Dip blades into the bleach solution, not the stone. Way easier.

[Jan]

On another knife forum I have read that sanitizing knives for 10 mins in hot soap water with bleach removed the fine edge of the blade. The freshly sharpened knives did not slice the paper after the bath and had to be resharpened.

May be the bleach concentration was too high.

Jan

[Stickan]

Hi,
We don't recomend using bleache on the stones.
How come you want to sanitize the stone?

Best,
Stig

[bisonbladesharpening]

As an added precaution.  I sharpen for medical facility kitchens along
with restaurants.  I use standard precautions with the knives but was considering running the stone through a sanitizing bath
at the end of each day.

[Herman Trivilino]

As an added precaution.  I sharpen for medical facility kitchens along
with restaurants.  I use standard precautions with the knives but was considering running the stone through a sanitizing bath
at the end of each day.

Are they expecting you to return those knives both sharp and sanitized? That's a mighty high expectation! You're grinding steel, they're the medical facility or restaurant. A reasonable person would hold the medical facility or restaurant responsible for sanitizing. Surely they can't expect you to be responsible for it!

It's perhaps reasonable to expect you to clean the knives after you sharpen them, but not to sanitize your grinding stone. In fact, for the reasons stated by Stig, a sterile grindstone used to sharpen a knife would not produce a sterile knife.

If I were a chef, I would not trust the sharpener to make my knife ready for cutting food. Likewise a medical professional would not trust a sharpener to make a knife sterile.

[Ken S]

I agree, however, the imp in me has thoughts of running the sharpened knives through something like an autoclave, similar to dental or surgical instruments, packaging them in sterile conditions, AND charging  accordingly. I think you would find that the accounting department rules.

By all means, practice good health procedures in your sharpening.

Ken

[Herman Trivilino]

I agree, however, the imp in me has thoughts of running the sharpened knives through something like an autoclave, similar to dental or surgical instruments, packaging them in sterile conditions, AND charging  accordingly.

Nice thought, Ken, but what about the knife handles?! Can you say burnt wood and melted plastic?

[Ken S]

You are right, of course, Herman. I was being facetious. My marketing spin imp might mention the rich patina created during the exclusive sanitizing procedure,

For the record, I do not recommend heating knives during regular use or sharpening, which includes never running them through a dishwasher.

Ken

[SharpenADullWitt]

As someone who has worked in a restaurant, as well as knowing a few professional chef's and having friends in the medical industry, here is my experience for what it is worth.
There are chef's that will trust you with their blades and there are those who won't let anyone else touch it.  For those that send their blades out are covered by their local health department rules, and my experience is the health departments look upon ANY returned items as UNSANITARY until you, the user, personally sanitize it as your liable for it.
While they are happy when they go through a dishwasher, there are a lot of people who won't run them through.  Hand washing is a three step process, that can be found on Youtube using a three compartment sink.  (wash, rinse, sanitze, and then typically those that do it rinse again to get all the chemicals off the knife so it doesn't corrode it or affect anyone who may have chemical sensitivity with transfer.)

Doctor's/surgeons are also required to know the condition of their instruments and have to run their tools through an autoclave.

Your sharpening place, would have to have more then the stone sanitized.  It would have to be up to current health codes for both food and medical facilities, before you should be worried about just the stone.