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Scissor Care Leaflet

Scissor Care

Are your scissors not cutting as they should? Do they feel hard to use or do you feel any numbness or pain in your wrist area after using them?

It may be that they require professional scissor sharpening and servicing; however, there are four simple things that you can try to improve scissor performance

These four points are essential to keep your scissors operating at their optimum.

  1. Tension adjustment of your scissors.
  2. Oiling your scissors.
  3. Use of Chamois.
  4. Use an alcohol based cleaning liquid such as Isopropyl alcohol.

Tension adjustment of your scissors

Over time and during use, your scissors will lose their ideal tension setting.

However, it is very important to keep your scissor adjusted at all times for several reasons.

The blade of a scissor has a slight bow (Set of scissor) If the scissor is not adjusted correctly the blades will have no tension and will not cut properly, they will simply bend the hair or the hair will slide on the blades.

When this happens hairdressers will subconsciously press vertically with their thumb to make the scissor cut. This results in rapid blade wear and poor scissor performance.

Please note this can also lead to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome or other RSI (Repetitive strain injuries)

set tension on scissorssetting tension on scissors
Pic. 1Pic. 2

To adjust scissors:

Hold your scissors by the thumb ring with your left hand - let the scissor point straight up in the air at 12 O'clock.

With your right hand take the finger ring and open the blades so they are open 35-45 degrees (Pic. 1) Now let go of the ring/blade in your right hand so the scissor closes by itself.

When the blade comes to rest there should be a gap between the two tips of approx 1/4".(Pic.2)

If the tips come together completely the scissor is too loose. They need a little tightening which is clockwise tightening of the screw.

If the tips are too far apart from each other, loosen the scissor screw until adjusted correctly.

Oiling your scissors

scissors and oil

It is very important to oil your scissors EVERYDAY!

The oil keeps the scissor clean by leading hair and dirt backwards, past the screw.

If your scissors are oiled you will notice that hair will come out at the back of the blades while cutting. If not oiled on a daily basis hair and dirt may build up under the screw mechanism forcing the blades apart.

Hairdressers will subconsciously press vertically with their thumb to make the scissor cut. This results in rapid blade wear and poor scissor performance, and again can also lead to RSI.

It only takes a moment to oil your scissors; open the scissor completely and drop oil between the blades around the screw area.

Occasionally it maybe necessary to loosen the scissors and clean under running water N.B ensure the scissors are dried and oiled immediately.

Use of Chamois

A chamois is used on scissors in the same way that barbers use a leather strop on razors to prepare the cutting edge before use.

Firstly, Wipe the blades with a paper towel to remove most of the hair and dirt.

scissors and chamoisscissors and chamois
Scissor towards fingertips.Scissor towards wrist.

Then wipe the outside of the blade with the chamois 2-3 times. Be careful not to cut into chamois (or your hands) with the scissors.

Wipe the inside of the blade once with the chamois. This procedure is done best by placing the chamois flat in the palm of the left hand.

When the scissor is done on both blades it may have to be adjusted for tension again.

 

Use of an alcohol based cleaning liquid.

Many hair products on the market contain silicone and other scissor damaging products.

These products leave a thin layer on your scissors leading to diminished cut performance. Soap does not remove these products.

To remove these products from your scissors it is necessary to clean the blades with Isopropyl alcohol or acetone. Simply add some to a paper towel and wipe blades thoroughly