How To Restore Old Knife Handles Quickly And Easily
How To Restore Old Knife Handles Quickly And Easily
Are you old knife handles dingy and lost their luster? Mine was too, but the knives still cut perfectly, and I knew there had to be a way to save them. I found an easy way to restore old knife handles, and I’m excited to share this easy tip with you.
I have two good sets of steak knives that I wasn’t ready to part with yet and discovered an easy way to restore them back to looking good once again. This tip works great on any wooden handle knives you have. I decided to use a top coat I had handy called Gator Hide, but you can use any top that works well as a sealer.
Miss Mustard Seed’s Tough Coat is another great choice to use to restore old knife handles. It’s especially good because it protects against water damage and food stains and dries to a beautiful matte finish.
You can also use Teak Oil Sealer too – teak oil is usually a mixture of linseed oil, varnish, and mineral spirits. 
The process is so easy and the paint dries very quickly. I have this one Farberware knife that I love and had for years. The handle was so badly deteriorating that you can feel actual splinters!
I know this was caused by the dishwasher which is awful for any wooden handle knife. We all get forgetful or lazy and end up running our wooden handle knives in the dishwasher which is not a good thing to do and will most definitely ruin them.
All it took was one quick top coat and my favorite knife is saved! I love how it even restored the color back too! No more splinters and I can safely place it in the dishwasher now as its protective coating will now keep the handle safe.
While I was at it, I decided to add a top coat to a set of one of my favorite wooden handle steak knives too! This is what it looked like before the top coat application. After seeing how great this work on this set of knives, I can wait to try them on my set of J.A. Henckels knives too!
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The before and after speaks for itself!
The paint dried so quickly (about 5 minutes) and felt brand new once again after applying the top coat.
Tip: Place the bladed edge of the knife into a book with the wooden handle exposed to the air to dry!
And now, the after! I love how the color is deeper like the original color. You can paint over the metal too or you can use a Q-Tip and gently wipe away the paint over the metal areas.
I always easy hacks that work great. Be sure to check out my other household tips and tricks too!
I hope you get to try this awesome hack to restore old knife handles too! I love saving money and the fact I get to upcycle my knives too!
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Wow, thanks for this great idea. I would never have thought to restore the handles the way you described. Pure genius.
Thank you, Sue. I was thrilled to see how this easy hack restored my kitchen knives. I love upcycling stuff that’s worth keeping. They look brand new again! Hope you get to try it soon too!
Carolann
Such a great idea!!! I have some steak knives that are in desperate need of some love and think I will try the Miss Mustard Seed application!!
Thank you for the inspiration!!
I was thrilled to see how this simple fix brought my old knives back to new again. I hope you get to try it soon. Happy New Year, Sam to you and yours!
I have a few good knives that could use a little love, thanks for the great tips.
Why did I never think of doing something like this Carolann. That’s just brilliant
Thanks much, Michelle, I was thrilled to be able to rescue some of my old knives. This simple tip worked great. I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year!
Carolann
Thanks much, Sarah, I was thrilled to be able to rescue my old knives. Its a simple tip and works great – my favorite kind :)
Carolann
I need to sharpen some SCISSORS , having bought a sharpener from Amazon which the ad said for Knives & Scissors. On the instructions, it said DO NOT USE TO SHARPEN SCISSORS so I sent it back. Is there any way to sharpen them. Thank you.
these are great tips … thanks for sharing. Just a note – there is another reason not to put your good knives in the dishwasher. The high pressure will cause the water to seep into the wood around the metal components that fasten blade to handle… and the wood will ultimately rot . A good knife can cost well over $100, and it’s worth protecting our investment.
Hi Lillian, I had to have mine shipped out to a sharpening service. If you google one in your area Im sure you can find one. They came back great and the service was awesome. I know how frustrating it is!
Carolann
Hi Christine, oh yes, you are so right! Putting knives in the dishwasher is a sure way to ruin them. I agree, worth protecting our investment for sure. Thanks much for stopping by.
Carolann