which way do you point your knives?
@moonlitmagikchild (22181)
United States
January 15, 2009 11:48pm CST
when loading your dishwasher or washing your dishes and putting them in the rack to dry do you put them with the pointed tips upwards or put it to where the pointed tips are pointed down and touching the rack??
i point all of mine up because i figure there might be germs on the rack and so all my utensils i point upwards to where the part that would touch your food or mouth is NOT touching the rack.. other people think im trying to kill them when i loaded their dishwasher and they almost cut themselves unloading it (its by such a habit now i dont even notice i do it and it wasnt like there were little kids around etc) my best friend also does this and said that her mom's cutting knives got ruined because in the dish washer the tips would get broken or messed up if they were pointed down into the rack..
whos right?? and keep in mind that there are NO kids around and only adults that would be handling or near these utensils so its not like they will accidentally stab themselves by not understanding it etc..
2 people like this
17 responses
@pheonixstar1982 (2307)
• United States
18 Jan 09
well thanks now i can't respond because you already posted my response but i am going to tell you anyways. I am the point up person, which with my tendency to cut myself is a little odd, but like in the dishwater my mom does have knives that the tip has broken off. I did stab myself on a knife the other day because it was point up in the drainer and i forgot about it. I am so awesome, let me tell you, right up there with getting a blister from a burn from a LIGHTBULB!!!!
2 people like this
@moonlitmagikchild (22181)
• United States
22 Jan 09
im good around sharp objects for some reason lol.. we need to bubble wrap you
@p1kef1sh (45681)
•
16 Jan 09
I always point them down. I wouldn't worry about germs on your utensil rack in the washer. The temperatures get so high that all germs are killed. We have some very long knives that have to go in flat. I always point them so that the blades are facing into the washer.
2 people like this
@moonlitmagikchild (22181)
• United States
17 Jan 09
i dont have a washer anymore though so its just the rack now
1 person likes this
@deebomb (15304)
• United States
22 Feb 09
I don't have a dishwasher. i dry my dishes in a dish drainer. I always put the big knives to the side to dry. The smaller paring knives go in to the silverware part of the rack with the sharp blades down. so that when some one goes to take them out of the rack they don't get stabbed by them when they are removed and put away. I was taught to put all the other silver ware with the handles to the bottom so the water would drain to the handles..
1 person likes this
@moonlitmagikchild (22181)
• United States
25 Feb 09
good thing everyone that would take them out of the rack now are used to my ways and watch themselves when they grab knives
@SusanShayAvon (1003)
• United States
16 Jan 09
I do not have a dishwasher and wash all mine by hand. I always point them down. I never thought about the germ situation. I have two little kids though and bleach my dish drainer about once a week. I just feel safer even if I did not have kids with them pointed down. I do not know who is right.
2 people like this
@Rosekitty (19368)
• San Marcos, Texas
16 Jan 09
I don't have a dishwasher but when i used to clean homes for people and did use there's i would have all utensils pointing up...I do that cause I want all the cutting part to be really clean and if it was down it might keep some of the food on it..
2 people like this
@jessi0887 (2788)
• United States
16 Jan 09
I always face mine tip down. I just find it easier when i empty it out later. I never face knives up. Sometimes i will forks or spoons but not knives.
2 people like this
@sedel1027 (17846)
• Cupertino, California
16 Jan 09
I put my utensils face down. You know the point of the dish washer is to sanitize the dishes as well as clean them, so if you have germs, you got a problem LOL
1 person likes this
@moonlitmagikchild (22181)
• United States
16 Jan 09
im glad im not the only one. it was crazy when some one accused me of trying to hurt them because of how i loaded their dishwasher!
@kezabelle (2974)
•
16 Jan 09
We dont use a dish rack and there are no germs on the draining board because its cleaned several times a day (as was the dish rack when we did have one) anyway I just lay them flat on the draining board but when we had the rack I had them pointed downwards I do have kids but to be honest they know better than I do its myself im worried about around sharp knives im so clumsy or often just dont see things I cant judge distance and so often catch myself by accident im a walking accident lol!
1 person likes this
@moonlitmagikchild (22181)
• United States
17 Jan 09
i am clumsy too but i am good around sharp objects for some reason lol
@saundyl (9783)
• Canada
18 Jan 09
I dont have a dishwasher but when i put the dishes ive washed in the drying pan i put them pointing down - the utensils are clean and i always wipe out the draining tray. At my moms she puts the knives down so you dont stab yourself (my sister had a history of just grabbing things and slicing her hands open when we were kids)
1 person likes this
@moonlitmagikchild (22181)
• United States
16 Jan 09
im the only one that really deals with them in my house unless i forget to put them away and for some reason people pull them off the rack instead of the cabinets
@nadooa247 (1096)
• United States
24 Jan 09
some adults ARE kids and i am one of them... when my husband "helps" in his rare moments and does dishes he tosses them on the rack any which way.. sometimes up and sometimes down... we BOTH end up getting nicked by a knife time to time when reaching for something else on the rack.
safety-wise... we put the knives pointing DOWN. The whole germ thing is something that never came to mind really...
1 person likes this
@moonlitmagikchild (22181)
• United States
30 Jan 09
well leave it to me to bring some fear into some ones lives by my brain overly thinking something lol
@KatieDidit (989)
• United States
16 Jan 09
I always point mine down. I read an article once of a child getting killed when he was running around and fell on an open dishwasher with a knife pointing up. The article mentioned that it was a rare occurance but I figure that anything preventable should be prevented when it's so easy to do and I have kids around.
I've never had anything bad happen to my knifes like breaking the tips because they're pointed down. And I don't care really about them touching the rack. The rack gets the same soap, hot water steralization as everything else in the dishwasher.
1 person likes this
@moonlitmagikchild (22181)
• United States
16 Jan 09
well right now im more picky since i dont have a dishwasher and am having to use the rack to dry them in
@RonRay (3)
• United States
22 Feb 09
If you have "good" knives (the higher priced, high carbon, tempered knives, such as Wusthof, Henkel, Shun, Cutco, Global, etc.), you shouldn't place them in the dishwasher at all!
The sanitizing cycle produces so much heat that it can take the temper out of some knives, and will no longer hold an edge.
I learned this when I was a butcher (meat cutter) and used well-made knives. We NEVER allowed our knives to get near hot water, much less the temperatures that the dishwasher heating elements generate!
Certainly, placing the butter knives and lower cost steak knives in the dishwasher would be fine. It's just the better ones you wouldn't want to ruin.
I sometimes cringe when I see people using a $100 to $600 knife to turn hot, fried foods over in a skillet!!! :-O (You might say this wouldn't happen, but I have to hide my 'good' knives when I have company that want to help with cooking.) :-/
1 person likes this
@moonlitmagikchild (22181)
• United States
25 Feb 09
so how do you clean them without hot water? a special soap or use warm water?
@twoey68 (13627)
• United States
16 Jan 09
I have always put knives in upside down...blade pointing down. We have no kids in our home either though my Niece and Nephew visit occasionally. It's just how I've always done dishes and how I was taught to put them in.
[b]**AT PEACE WITHIN**
~~STAND STRONG IN YOUR BELIEFS~~[/b]
1 person likes this
@Bluepatch (2476)
• Trinidad And Tobago
16 Jan 09
You're supposed to point knives with the point away from people and the handle readily available to a person.
That means you put the point up and the handle down most of the time with the handle close to being in the pickup place.
If I'm not mistaken I was taught this at home years and years ago.
People these days don't seem to get this kind of instruction and I don't know where my grandmother or mum got it but there was always a lot of emphasis on table manners and etiquette at home.
@balisongman07 (36)
• United States
16 Jul 09
Always point them down, its safer if your reaching to put the forks up and find yourself pushing into a blade forest. and also it lets the water drip down off the tip instead of collecting and soaking near the handle or inside it and letting the blade rust. so tip down is always the best.
