Most Americans have owned a knife-sharpening gadget, but many no longer do or have quietly stopped using them regularly. A new national survey conducted by YouGov for Vivront, on behalf of its sharpening brand Sharpow, found that 67% of adults have owned a sharpener at some point, yet only 28% still use one regularly. Many current or previous owners said their gadgets either worked at first but without lasting results (21%), never really made knives sharp (13%), or even made their knives worse (4%). Unaided responses justifying no longer using them included mentions of being too complicated or time-consuming to bother with.
“The promise of the gadgets lets us down,” said Joseph Rueter, spokesperson for Sharpow by Vivront. “We look for easy solutions. Gadgets make sharpening look simple, but they hide complexity you don’t realize until you try to use one and get poor results.”
The survey revealed that 19% now replace knives entirely when they get dull, and 18% don’t sharpen at all. Sharpow calls this America’s Dull Secret, a widespread problem where Americans have accepted that they need to cook with dull knives.
“Maybe one of the oldest gadgets, and Benjamin Franklin’s revolutionary vision, works best,” Rueter added. “Ship your knives to Sharpow with prepaid, pre-printed labels through the Postal Service. It’s so easy, it actually works.”
Sharpow’s shipping kits and retail partner programs are designed to remove the friction from sharpening. The survey confirms what professional sharpeners have known for years: people aren’t lazy, they’re looking for a solution that works.
“When knives are dull, cooking becomes a chore,” Rueter said. “Sharpow offers a simple reset: no gadgets, no confusion… just sharp knives, professionally done.”
Let’s cook!
