Sommelier knife maintenance guide

How to care for your Laguiole sommelier knives? 
Forge de Laguiole gives you the keys to keeping your Laguiole sommelier knife in good condition for as long as possible.

Sommelier knives do not like water or the dishwater

A Forge de Laguiole sommelier knife should not be washed, it must be wiped. The natural materials of the handle, such as precious woods or horn, are sensitive to humidity; it is therefore preferable to keep your knife in a dry place.

We recommend that you wipe the various metal parts of your sommelier knife with a soft, slightly damp cloth, and then wipe after immediately with a dry cloth.

Be careful, however, metal parts can be scratched when in contact with other metal objects (keys, coins…)

For bone or mammoth ivory handles, in case of prolonged contact, the tanning of the leather can stain the handle of the knife.

Operating and maintaining the mechanism

To maintain the mechanism of your wine waiter’s knife, it is necessary to add a drop of oil from time to time (3-in-1 multifunction oil or a vegetable oil). With the mechanism in the closed position, put the oil at the joint of the blade and the corkscrew, open it again so that the oil applies to the whole mechanism, and finally wipe off the excess.

When using the wine waiter’s knife, the screw must be placed vertically in the center of the cork. Avoid pushing the screw completely in order not to pierce the cork.

The corkscrew must be kept straight, in the continuity of the neck of the bottle. Otherwise, you risk twisting or weakening the piece. To do this, use the lever.

To find out more about how to care for your Laguiole knife, read our Laguiole folding knife care guide here.

Download our guide here

By following these simple care instructions, you can preserve your Forge de Laguiole folding knife for many years to come, and pass it on to future generations!

If you would like to call on our after-sales service, you can contact us at contact@forge-de-laguiole.com. Please include a photo of your knife with your request so that we can identify it. Once this initial contact has been made, our team will then tell you the steps to follow for the proper handling of your knife. We provide repair and after-sales service on all the knives produced in our Forge de Laguiole workshops (subject to the availability of certain raw materials and spare parts).