How to Fix Your Vegetable Peeler

It is so annoying when a potato peeler or vegetable peeler doesn't work properly, taking tiny bits of vege skin off or worse, just sliding off the vegetable.

Fortunately, this is an easy fix! Sharpening the blades of your peeler is the best way to extend the life of this simple tech, without needing to buy another blade or another peeler (saving money & reducing your carbon footprint!).

What You Need

All you need is a small metal nail file - these can often be found in nail manicure kits. I was given such a kit for my birthday, by my parents, many many years ago, and I've finally found a use for it!

These little metal files are great for removing rust, shining metal, sanding small surfaces, and sharpening - an essential repair kit item!

How to SHARPEN YOUR VEGE PEELER

Make sure your peeler is clean & dry before starting to sharpen
Most potato peeler blades are slightly curved, so flip the blade so the bottom side is facing you
We want to sharpen the bottom edges of the inside peeler blades, so insert the nail file through the middle of the peeler blade, and hold it fairly flat against the blade
Move the nail file along the blade and across the blade at the same time, on the diagonal, until you get to the other end. Lift the nail file back to the other end of the blade and repeat. Try to move the nail file in the same direction each time, towards the edge of the peeler blade - you will get a sharper blade and it will cut more easily. Do this a few times, and carefully check the sharpness of the blade with your finger.
Now we're going to sharpen the other edge of the potato peeler. Depending on the style of your peeler, you may like to swivel the blade and insert the nail file from the top side - either way, we need to always sharpen the bottom side of the blade, pulling or pushing towards the edge of the blade.
Do Step 4 for the other edge of the blade, and carefully test with your finger
Finally, test your freshly-sharpened vegetable peeler by peeling a vegetable! Hopefully it should move smoothly and easily across the vegetable, peeling the skin off in nice clean strips.

Cleaning and sharpening items are an important part of extending the life of technology, and creating a more sustainable world.

If you want your kids to learn some useful repair skills like this and more, check out our schools programme or our E-waste workshops!

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