How to Dispose of Kitchen Knives Safely

There will come a time when you simply just have to dispose of old knives, even the best kitchen knives won’t last forever if they’re not looking after correctly and loved.

One of the problems you’ll face when getting rid of your old kitchen knives is just where and how you can dispose of those knives safely. The last thing you want is your old knives in the hands of children or even worse cutting someone. So knowing how to safely throw away those kitchen knives is a must.

But hold on a minute do you actually need to throw out those old kitchen knives? There might be another solution, keep on reading to find out how to dispose of old knives as well as some other useful tips as to what to do with old kitchen knives.

Throw Away Kitchen Knives or Give Them a New Life?

Dispose of old knives: it’s a sad day when you have to dispose of old kitchen knives, pull yourself together, grab a tissue dry those eyes and let’s make sure we throw away that old kitchen knife safely.

Whenever you throw away old knives the number one thing you have to do is make sure the actual knife blade is wrapped with something. Ideally a piece of cardboard taped around the blade is enough. If you’ve not got any cardboard an old cloth, bubble wrap or lots of old newspaper taped around the knife blade will do the trick.

Once your knife blade is wrapped and taped, you can then safely dispose of your knife in the garbage bin with the peace of mind that it’s not going to hurt or injure anybody.

See that want to difficult, was it?

Recycling old knives: just hold on a minute, do you really need to throw that old knife away? Why not drop your knife off at your local recycling centre. Just follow the above steps to make sure your knife is not going to cut anyone and also it’s also a good idea to write on the wrapped up knife that the contents is sharp. Simply drop it off where it can be recycled, if you’re not sure where your local recycling center is contact your state’s Department of Environmental Quality/Department of Environmental Protection.

Donating those old kitchen knives: even though you may think that your old kitchen knives are ready for an early grave, others might find that they can get some use out of those old unwanted knives. Before you go running off to your local thrift store make sure you give your knives a good clean in hot soapy water and it would also be wise to wrapped them up safely, last thing you want is to be arrested by the police for carrying a 8 inch chef knife down your local high street.

One of the advantages of donating your old kitchen knives is that you may be able to claim a tax write-off. Ask the thrift shop owner to give you a rough value of your donation to use as a tax write-off.

Before you dispose of your kitchen knife ask yourself if it can be saved. Does it just need to be professionally sharpened? Could those rust spots on the blade actually be removed? Can you replace the knife handle? At the end of the day if it cannot be saved you’ll have to put it out of its misery.

Safely disposing of kitchen knives isn’t really that difficult, before you decide to throw away your kitchen knife always look at the recycling and donating options first. It’s always better to reuse an item rather than simply throwing it away where it will just end up filling the ever growing rubbish sites.