Lifestyle

Magnetic Knife Strips–You Want ’em Strong.

November 15, 2012

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Back in September, we shared a photo of our new magnetic knife strip that we picked up at Ikea, and today I am back to tell you–it may not be the best choice.  The left side of ours has lost most of its magnetism, so we’re left with just using the far right and crossing our fingers that the knives stay put.

Let me tell you, that’s a scary thing to constantly be worrying about–your knives falling down.  No one should have to live that way; with that thought hanging over their heads…err hands.  The problem is, we fell for the convenience of the knife strip hard.  It was handy, better for our knives, and if you don’t count the fact that the Ikea knife strip didn’t hold the knives well–it is actually a lot safer than sticking your hand in a drawer of these sharp guys.

All that to say, we trashed the $10 13-inch Ikea strip and upgraded:

We sprung for the 20-inch MIU France Stainless Steel Magnetic Knife Bar knowing, from pictures and over 200 great reviews (what did we do before online reviews?), that we could hang it vertically and have even more knives conveniently out and ready to use. That sentence sounds crazy–like, how many knives do you need?!–but they’re Chris’s babies and he uses all of them.  A lot.

So far, so good–the magnet seems super strong and the knives aren’t going anywhere.  Let’s just hope it stays that way. I don’t know if I can take anymore more stress about knives falling.

Is there a special place for knives in your house?  Is that a normal question?

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What do you think?

  1. Adam says:

    Your Amazon link appears broken–pointing to another product entirely.

  2. Rena says:

    I’m a big fan of magnetic knife holders that aren’t metal and are therefore easier on your nice knife blades; no scratches and nicks. I found a handcrafted one on Etsy that I love, love, love. Works beautifully and gets lots of attention when friends hang out in my kitchen because it’s cool looking with striped “zebra” grain. The knife holders also come with vintage glass dots or little bits or polished stone. Fun! https://www.etsy.com/shop/BladeCatchers

  3. […] Magnetic Knife Strips You Want em Strong Chris Loves Julia source […]

  4. Troi says:

    Ha! I have the same magnetic knife holder as Aaron. I love mine. I got the wenge and it looks so elegant. No dead spots. Easy to install. I researched the boards and decided on wood because I’ve read that metal strips can damage knives. I have a super small kitchen so I want to maximize counter space and want it to look classy. I got mine on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=bl_sr_kitchen?ie=UTF8&field-brandtextbin=M.O.C.+Woodworks&node=284507

  5. Aaron says:

    I have a pair of http://www.mocwoodworks.com strips, I have the Wenge and the Lacewood couldn’t be happier. My knifes do not gets scratched, the magnets are strong and they look great, highly recommend them.

  6. I’ve been making these out of hardwoods. I noticed (the hard way) that the wood weakens the strength of the magnetic field substantially. I’ve found that roughly 17 rare earth magnets with 50 lb pull over an 18 inch strip works really well, even on big heavy high quality knives.

    Check it out if you’re interested:

    http://warriorwoodwork.blogspot.com/2013/05/magnetic-knife-strips.html

  7. freya says:

    ooh thanks for the post! we’re moving so i told brett we’re upgrading to something classier and ditching “the ex” — the knife man he had to register for when we got married http://www.amazon.com/THE-Kitchen-Knife-Raffaele-Iannello/dp/B004JHXO6C/ref=pd_sim_k_1. it definitely was a nice conversation piece these last four years though! ha

  8. Sarah V @ Crafty Waffles says:

    My hubs is a professional chef, so I know all about male love affairs with knives, and how crazy sharp those bad boys are! I’ve been contemplating putting them on a magnet bar, as we have too many for our in drawer knife holder, so thanks f FYI- My hubs is a Global fan (for both his work and home knives), just incase anyone is looking for good quality but reasonable (for high end knives) priced options.

  9. Debbie says:

    We have a magnet knife bar (hung horizontally). Best place to store knives ever. I believe ours is Wusthof.

  10. Falling knives are such a bad thing! Hopefully this one works WAY better!

  11. Staci says:

    Haha, I knew the knives were Wusthof as well. Guess the product training I got at work paid off. If you keep the rest in the drawer, and if they’re worth anything, please make sure to keep them in knife sleeves! It will extend the life of the knives and also it’s good for your own safety. You can DIY sleeves out of cardboard or buy some where you bought your knives.

    • Sky says:

      I shy away from cutting any sort of paper products with my kitchen knives, so the idea of protecting the cutting edge of of knives with paper products–more often than not made of wood–is a “no-no” for my family. But I do keep the knifes we store in a drawer in plastic sleeves. By the way, the cardboard constructed with brown kraft paper sandwiched with coarser corrugated medium is the worst offender.
      (Knowledge about wood based paper comes from DH who was in paper and pulp mill business for over thirty years.)

  12. Lindsey@ A Pear to Remember says:

    I have not yet had bad luck with our IKEA magnet strip, have had our knives (and can opener and microplane) on it for a few years now. Thankfully, no problems, but i appreciate the head’s up! Ours are on the wall beneath our cabinets above the counter, so if they fell, they would fall into our fruit basket at least!!

  13. To me, it’s still an uncomfortable site and reminds me of Twister. Do you know which scene?

  14. Haha thanks! I used to work for Crate & Barrel and when I covered for the girls in gourmet, I learned a little bit about the knives we carried – one of which was Wusthof :)

  15. The rest of ours are in a drawer. Blah. I love a knife block!

  16. The fact that you knew those were Wusthof knives is making me hold on to Chris a little tighter. Good eye, girl! (I totally had to google “Wusthof.”)

  17. Tracy says:

    Ours are on the counter in a knife block. :P

  18. Our knives hang out in the boring old knife block they came in. We don’t have any fancy Wusthof knives though but if we did, I’d definitely want them on display (as long as they wouldn’t fall)!

  19. meaganbriggs3 says:

    We need a new knife block for sure. I’m ready for new kitchen tools!! The knife strip is cool-so modern.

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