Carbon steel knives require some specialist care. The trade off for superior materials is that they have different qualities to your average stainless shop-bought kitchen knife, however - if you love your knife as much as we do then the care can be an enjoyable experience (a bit like washing your car). 

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Our handles are made from seasoned, untreated wood. They're local, sustainable, and beautiful but they DO NOT like the dishwasher! They will swell up, lose colour, crack, warp, you name it - the salts and aggressive washing cycles used will not only distress the blade but will also have a huge affect on the reactive carbon steel of your blade. Make sure your KP/children/friends/partner/housemates know not to to throw this in with the wash!

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Carbon steel will take a patina. You can always polish it back up and rub a little acid across the blade (or send it back to us for a refurbishment for a small fee), but the patina can also be really beautiful, and is part of owning a knife like this. Have no fear, your original pattern is still there hiding just under the surface. If left wet the blades will rust, which can be removed with a light wire-wooling. It's not dangerous for cooking with, and is how knives looked for all the centuries before stainless was mass produceable, so don't worry. In our professional knife roll we have carbon steel knives with a variety of patinas - a paring knife which sees a lot of onions will be a very different colour from your cleaver, its all part of their story!

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If you want to prevent any patina or rusting at all costs (but really, chill) then you can immediately wipe your blade after use, and give it a light food-safe oiling whilst it's stored (your handles will appreciate this too!). 

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The knives are heat treated. They are strong. They are also slightly more brittle. Don't chop into bone, metal, hardened plastics, can lids, wood... they really don't like it. If you drop one from a great height the super fine tip might break off - you can get it back with some persistent sharpening, or you can send it back to us for a refurb (again for a small fee, we have to eat!).

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If you think there's a manufacture problem when you receive and start to use your knife (it's snapped/chunks are missing and you didn't abuse it/the handle is loose) then you can contact us immediately and we will either fix or completely replace the knife free of charge - but if you did abuse it, and trust us, we can tell, then you can pay for a refurbishment or a fix up and make sure to look after it better next time! Naughty!