Well, just being honest I guess. Most of the time, I do clean and sharpen the knives I use regularly. In the case I mentioned, where I managed to grow some form of life on my folder, I was probably in a rush to get the boat buttoned up, and then forgot that the knife was still in the bait well. I might have actually created some new strain of virulent bio/chem warfare agent, but, the bleach seemed to do the trick, and it's gone from the face of the earth forever. (Or at least until I fillet some more fish )