Kitchen Knife Safety: How to Cut, Store and Wash Knives

Cut with a claw grip or a bridge grip on a board that cannot slide. Keep the knife sharp rather than dull. A sharp blade needs less force and is less likely to skid off the food. This causes fewer cuts than a dull one. Wash most knives by hand. Dry them immediately. Store them edge-protected, away from children.

Kitchen knife injuries mostly come from three things: an unstable board, a guiding hand with fingertips exposed to the blade, and a dull edge that needs extra force to cut. Fix those three and most everyday kitchen cuts do not happen.

How do you cut safely with a kitchen knife?

Stabilise the board first. Then keep your guiding hand’s fingertips curled back from the blade at every cut. A board that rocks or slides turns a controlled cut into an uncontrolled one the moment the food resists the blade.

Put a damp cloth, a rubber mat, or a silicone board-gripper under the chopping board before you start. Test it by pressing down on one corner. It should not shift.

Keep the knife tip low and in contact with the board on straight cuts. Lifting the tip high and cutting downward gives the blade more room to travel if it slips.

How do you hold the knife itself?

Grip the handle with your index finger and thumb pinched on either side of the blade’s heel, just above the handle. Wrap your remaining three fingers around the handle below. This pinch grip gives more control over the tip and edge than gripping the handle alone with a full fist.

Keep your wrist straight rather than bent at an angle to the blade. A bent wrist tires faster and loses precision over a long cutting session. Relax your grip between cuts rather than clenching the handle throughout.

What is the claw grip?

The claw grip curls your guiding hand’s fingertips behind your knuckles. This means the blade meets a knuckle, not a fingertip, if it touches your hand at all^[4]. Curl your fingers and thumb inward. Then rest the first knuckles on top of the food you are cutting.

Hold the food firmly enough that it cannot shift. Keep your grip relaxed at the same time. An over-tight grip on the food tires your hand and makes small adjustments harder to control.

Move your claw hand back in small steps as you work down the length of whatever you are slicing. The blade should track just ahead of your knuckles on every stroke.

What is the bridge grip and when do you use it?

The bridge grip arches your guiding hand over round or awkward food. Your thumb sits on one side and your fingers together on the other. The blade passes under the middle of the arch^[5]. Use it for whole onions, tomatoes or anything too round or too tall for a comfortable claw grip.

Cut a thin flat side onto round food before switching to the claw grip for the rest of the job. That flat face stops the food rolling once it is on the board.

Reserve the bridge grip for the first cut or two. Then move to the claw grip for repeated slicing. The bridge is harder to sustain over many cuts because your hand is stretched further from the food.

Is a sharp knife safer than a dull knife?

Yes. A sharp knife needs less force to cut. This makes it far less likely to slip sideways off the food and into your hand^[2]. A dull blade forces you to push harder. That extra pressure is what turns a missed cut into an injury.

A dull edge also behaves less predictably. It can skate across the surface of firm-skinned food before it finally bites. Examples include a squash or a tomato. By then the blade may have moved off its intended line.

Keep the edge maintained rather than assuming a duller blade is the cautious choice. See our guide to sharpening a kitchen knife for angles and methods by knife type.

How should you store kitchen knives?

Store knives edge-protected. Use a block, an in-drawer tray or a wall-mounted magnetic strip. Never store them loose in a drawer^[3]. A loose blade in a drawer can cut whoever reaches in without looking. It also dulls faster from knocking against other metal.

A knife block keeps blades separated and visible. An in-drawer tray with slots does the same job out of sight. That matters if children can open the drawer.

A magnetic strip mounted above worktop height keeps knives fully out of small children’s reach while still leaving them easy to grab safely by the handle.

Can you wash knives in the dishwasher?

It depends on the knife. Some manufacturers state that knives with synthetic handles are dishwasher-safe. They still recommend hand washing large kitchen knives because it is gentler on the edge^[3]. Dishwasher heat, detergent and contact with other items in the rack can dull, corrode or chip a blade over repeated cycles. Wooden handles should never go in at all.

Hand wash the knife under running water straight after use. Rub the flat of the blade rather than the edge with a clean cloth or sponge. Dry it immediately with a towel rather than leaving it to air-dry. Standing water can leave corrosion spots on the blade.

You might use a dishwasher for a synthetic-handled knife. If so, load it edge-down and away from other items. Open the door soon after the cycle ends rather than leaving the knife sitting in condensation.

How do you keep knives safe around children?

Store every knife out of a child’s reach. Keep it out of an open block at worktop height too, ideally in a high or lockable drawer. Children cannot judge how a blade will move. The safest rule is that they cannot reach one unsupervised.

Let children handle blades only with direct adult supervision. Use tools designed for children’s cooking lessons rather than an adult kitchen knife. These tools are built to cut soft food without an exposed sharp edge. Keep this rule even for older children who have used a knife with you before.

Never leave a knife soaking in a sink full of washing-up water. A hand reaching into cloudy water cannot see the blade. This is a common cause of kitchen cuts in any household, adult or child.

What first aid do you need for a kitchen knife cut?

Apply firm, direct pressure to the wound with a clean cloth or bandage. Raise the injured hand above the level of your heart^[1]. Most kitchen cuts stop bleeding within a few minutes of steady pressure.

The NHS states that “Most cuts and grazes can be treated at home and will start to heal in a few days.”^[1] Some wounds need a medical professional if there is a risk of infection or the cut is serious.

Once bleeding has stopped, rinse the wound under water. Pat it dry. Cover it with a sterile dressing or plaster. Take paracetamol or ibuprofen for pain if needed. Do not give aspirin to a child under 16^[1].

Contact a GP or NHS 111 in four cases: the cut is longer than 5cm, it will not stop bleeding through a dressing, there is still something in the wound, or you see signs of infection such as swelling, redness or pus^[1].

Call 999 or go to A&E for heavy bleeding that soaks through a bandage, a deep wound, or any loss of feeling or movement near the cut^[1].

This is general safety guidance. It is not medical advice. For a specific injury, follow NHS 111 or A&E guidance instead of this page.