How to best clean - degrease - a universal knife block (plastic bristles, within a wood frame) ?

APennySaved

Has anybody else found their universal knife block (plastic fibres/rods/bristles, within a wood frame) needs cleaning (i.e. degreasing), and only then found that they - like me! - don't know how to do so ?!

Our old knife block is still in v.g. shape. BUT over the years the grease in the air in the kitchen has caused the plastic bristles to clog up. Most of the knives no longer fall as low in the block as they used to. So it is time to clean the item!

BTW, the item's materials are: It has a wood frame of some kind (rubberwood? beech? bamboo? I can't tell as its finished colour is black on all but 2 sides). It has a handy metal (stainless steel?) coating on 2 of the 4 sides; this has made it great to clean the outside of the block. The fibres/rods/bristles are plastic, and look like really thin straws, and the knives slot into the gaps between the bristles. It has an inclined shape so it sits well on the kitchen worktop surface.

The problem is, I seem to remember when I bought the knife block that the instructions (long since thrown away, of course! hey-ho!) said that when cleaning is required, the fibres/rods/bristles could be removed and washed. So I attempted this. But when I tried to upend the block to get the bristles out, they weren't loose enough! Same problem when I tried teasing some of the bristles out of the knife block's wood frame: the bristles are still stuck in place.

So I can't get it clean enough to get to the dirty bristles! :-D

Any experience out there, by other forumites, as to how to o about solving this problem?

Would it be best to submerse the whole item? And if so, would hot water & washing up fluid do? Or would a chemical - e.g. white vinegar - be best??

Obviously I risk ruining the wood frame in so doing so I'd hope to avoid that happening!

All help appreciated !  :-)

Brie

rather than get them out can you try soaking the whole thing?  I have a wooden block and was worried about cleaning it and the wood swelling/splitting but a soak long enough to loosen the grit and grease and then a good scrub worked just fine.  Oiled the block after to "feed" the wood a bit - although a suppose the grease in the kitchen would do that naturally!!

FlorayG

Probably the grease accumulated has stuck the bristles to the base (they are all attached to a plate on the bottom, they are not just in there loose). I would try pouring a little hot water into the unit, this may release the stickyness holding the bristles in then you can pull them out

APennySaved

Brie said:

a soak long enough to loosen the grit and grease and then a good scrub worked just fine.

Thanks for your reply. Good to know that submerging the block didn't ruin it!

Did you soak the block-&-bristles in just hot water, or by adding anything else to the HW? (And do you by any chance remember how long you left it to soak?)

I have now tried submerging our knife block in just HW; but no success. Then I added washing up fluid. But no luck with that method either! :-:neutral:

Would using HW with a different/stronger cleaner help? - e.g. (i) white vinegar (ii) a general multi-purpose disinfectant cleaning fluid (e.g. Zoflora spray) (iii) Fairy Power Spray [I think thiss has now been renamed?/rebranded? as Fairy Skip the Soak].

I don't fancy going as far as using household bleach, as it's so strong a chemical product. But it's a shame to have to give up on getting to reuse the knife block, at this stage.

APennySaved

FlorayG said:

Probably the grease accumulated has stuck the bristles to the base (they are all attached to a plate on the bottom, they are not just in there loose). I would try pouring a little hot water into the unit, this may release the stickyness holding the bristles in then you can pull them out

Thanks for the advice.

From your experience, are the bristles ATTACHED to a plate on the base, or just RESTING on it? This might affect how easily removable they are?!

I had assumed the bristles were just so densely packed that it was that packing-out that kept them firmly inside the wooden frame. And made them as UNremovable as they are proving to be! [ Hey-ho! ,-) ]

I might try a little disinfectant with the hot water (have some Stardrops pine-scented disinfectant), in case that helps.

-taff

A dishwasher tablet or washing powder will be better to dissolve grease. And if the bristles come out individually, all the better for cleaning yes? You can chuck them in a saucepan or large frying pan with a tablet and bubble for a few minutes.