Your favorite pair of hair shears lose their edge after repeated usage. Read this article on How to Sharpen Scissors to save a pretty penny!
If you haven’t been regularly cleaning and oiling your scissors, a day at the salon can really roughen up its edges. Debris from hair and bacteria buildup isn’t just a hair hazard; it’s hazardous to your scissor’s sheen. Learn How to Sharpen Scissors at home to save your bucks on buying a new pair!
How To Sharpen Scissors
1. Get a Store-Bought Hair Shears Sharpener
Using store-bought hair shears sharpeners is the easiest way to get a sharp pair of scissors.
Hair shears sharpener comes in various configurations, and even the cheapest ones offer crazy good polishing and refinement. Hold the device on the table with the gripping end, and put the scissors in the vice provided.
With each cut, the wedges on the device push your blades closer together and sharpen their edges.
2. Rub Through Sandpaper
One way of sharpening hair cutting scissors is to take a piece of sandpaper and cut strips of it with your scissors. As a result, the sandpaper sharpens the edge of the scissor’s blades with every cut.
For better results, take the sandpaper and fold it in half. Make sure the rough edge is on the outside of the fold. Cut through the folded sheet.
Consequently, this lets the sandpaper grind on both edges of the blade simultaneously, hence sharpening hair cutting scissors pretty well.
3. Try Aluminum Foil
Sharpening scissors aluminum foil idea may seem unreal, but it works! Take a big piece of aluminum foil (8 by 10 inches should do) and fold it multiple times until you have one long strip.
Start cutting this long strip lengthwise. Use full scissor strokes to even the grind. The metallic friction generated by each layer of foil you cut through will sharpen your scissors with each stroke. Cut as many strips as you need to sharpen your blades.
4. Sharpen Scissors Using Whetting Stone
If you are wondering how to sharpen hair shears, Whetting stones or sharpening stones works best for dull blades that other methods won’t fix.
Sharpening stones are dual-layered. One side is grainy and coarse(for grinding), and the other side is finer (for polishing and refining).
Firstly, lubricate the whetting stone with oil or water. With the cutting side of the blade placed face down on the stone, push the blade into the stone and pull it towards you a good 10-20 times.
Finally, tilt it at an angle (where the blade tips into its cutting edge) and push the edge into the stone until it grinds to a sharper edge. Repeat this until you see this how to sharpen hair shears remedy working.
Finally, when your scissors are sharp enough, finish it up with the finer side of the stone. A few swipes on the opposite side of the whetting stone should give it a nice, smooth finish.
5. Use Mason Jar for Sharpening Hair Scissors
Another method that you can use for sharpening hair scissors is by opening them as wide as they can go, put a small mason jar in the middle, and closing the scissors around the mason jar.
Use light pressure not to damage your scissors, and they should slide right around the jar. Repeat several times to sharpen scissors properly.
Use a mason jar you don’t mind spoiling, as the blades might leave scratch marks on the glass surface. This is one of the easiest remedies to sort your doubts on how to sharpen a pair of scissors.
6. Clean with Alcohol
Alcohol isn’t much of a sharpening hair cutting scissors agent, but a few swipes of alcohol on your shears can really lengthen their lifespan as it cleans out the gunk and rust from the blades, letting them stay sharper for longer.
7. Use a Safety Pin
Much like the mason jar method above, what you need to do is pretty simple. Take your scissors, open them wide up, and put a safety pin or thick needle in the middle.
Then, using full strokes, “cut” around the safety pin so that the metal grinds against each other. You should see your scissors getting sharp after every single stroke. Repeat as much as required to get your scissors to optimum sharpness.
End the process by cutting a few strips of cardboard or paper to knock the burrs off the blade. So now that you know how to sharpen a pair of scissors, you don’t need to lose bucks getting new ones.
8. Get a Filer
A standard store-bought file can do the trick. What you need to do is unscrew the blades, and with the cutting side of the scissors placed up, start filing slowly at the edge.
With gentle, even pressure, ensure that the angle at which you file the scissors remains the same, or it’ll give them an uneven edge.
Once you’re done filing the blades to your liking, sand them off with fine-grit sandpaper and cut a few strips of cardboard to eliminate any burrs that might have formed on the edges. This method will pretty much solve your doubts about how to sharpen hair scissors.
9. Try Steel Wool
Steel wool, much like aluminum listed above, has an abrasive property to it. Take a ball of steel wool, and cut through it. Within a minute or two, your scissors will be razor-sharp. No tricks or gimmicks; steel wool just does the trick of sharpening hair cutting scissors.
10. Make Home Grinder to Use
If you have a grinder at home then you need not worry about how to sharpen scissors. You can sharpen your blades using by running the edges on the grinder repeatedly.
11. Use Iron Nail
Iron nails work as a super remedy for how to sharpen scissors. Unhinge the hair shear and run it several times across the blades’ full length.
This is one of the best options if you are worried about how to sharpen scissors!
Important Tips to Follow
Now that you know how to sharpen scissors, here are certain hygiene tips you must follow:
- Wipe the scissors with a damp paper towel after sharpening them.
- Assemble your scissors back properly, and do not keep the sharp blades open.
- Clean the blades thoroughly after every use to keep them in good shape for long.