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So it's come to that time of the year where you start to question when your scissors are due for a sharpen.
Sometimes there are very obvious signs that your scissors need sharpening like, dropping them, they are blunt or maybe there is a nick in the blade. Sometimes there are no obvious signs that your scissors need to be sharpened and you may look at the calendar date and think to yourself that "maybe I will just book them in for a sharpening just in case". Then you receive your scissors back after a sharpening and then there's an obvious improvement while cutting hair, because we just simply forget how good it is cutting hair with freshly sharpened scissors.
Now I've taken you on a trip down “ Memory Lane ''.. let's get back to what we are here to talk about today and that is "Identifying the signs that your scissors need sharpening". Well we have listed 5 warning signs for you today, so by the end of this blog you will be a master at identifying when to go and get those hair scissors sharpened.
Scissors are blunt
Ok, yes we know this is an obvious one but let's talk about this anyways..
Having blunt scissors is not fun for you or the client in your chair. When you start to feel signs that your scissors feel slightly blunt, that's when you should go and book them in for a sharpening and you should never wait until they are extremely blunt.
To make sure you never let them get this blunt, mark in your calendar two dates a year where you will be reminded to book them into your professional hair scissors sharpener. Depending on the type of steel or how frequently you use your hair scissors, you should be getting them sharpened at least twice a year.
Nick in the blades
So what is a nick in the blade?
Have you ever opened and closed your scissors and felt a crunching feeling or sound? Well that's the first obvious sign that you have a nick in the blade and you need to get that sharpened out immediately. If there is a nick in your scissors this can pull on your clients hair while you're cutting hair or if you continue to use your scissors you can cause further damage to the blade. That's why it's so important that if you find a nick or two, to try and put your scissors aside until you can get them in for a sharpening.
Nicks can be caused by your scissors being dropped mainly, so anytime you drop your scissors by accident the first thing you should be checking for any nicks.
Hair slipping or grabbing while cutting hair
If you're cutting hair with your hair cutting shears and have noticed your hair cutting scissors are folding hair, grabbing hair or the hair is slipping off the blade while cutting hair, then your first step should be to check your Tension. Once you have checked the tension then this could have maybe fixed all your problems. If you are still finding it's not completely right then it would not be the tension and would be that you need to book in for a sharpening.
Dull scissors will never cut hair smoothly where sharp scissors will never give you any issues.
Can't remember the last time they were sharpened?
As mentioned previously, we advise that your hair cutting shears should get sharpened at least twice a year to maintain those sharp edges on your hair scissor blades. If you cannot remember the last time they were sharpened then that is the first sign that you would need a sharpening. Even if your scissors feel sharp enough, sometimes we forget that good feeling of a fresh sharpening.
It is super important to always use a professional and specialized hairdressing sharpening service in your area and not any type of sharpening service. By using the correct sharpener they have the required skills to recognize your last service and will only sharpen the finest amount off the blades. A Knife sharpener for example uses harsher tool's and you could run the risk of your hair shears being broken or over sharpened, which can shorten the length or a blade in one visit.
Of course all blades will shorten over time but a specialist will have the skills to drag out the shortening process for you and may not even shorten them at all.
Experiencing hand fatigue
Hand fatigue is a sure sign that there is something off with your scissors, especially if you don't normally experience any hand fatigue. Scissors tend to cause hand fatigue when your hand is working too hard because the tension is tight or if the blades become dull.
Dull Scissors is something you don't want to get used to as hand fatigue can then lead into further problems down the track for you like, sore shoulders or back and worst case scenario Carpal Tunnel. So keep those beloved scissors sharp and cutting hair will become a breeze after that.
If you have always experienced hand fatigue while cutting, then dull scissors would not have caused this, but dull scissors can most definitely make your pains worse. To reduce or fix hand fatigue look into investing in a pair of Swivel Shears.
How to check your scissors have been sharpened correctly
Now that we have gone through our "Top 5 warning signs" we wanted to discuss this extra and bonus helpful tip to checking if your scissors have been sharpened properly.
To check if your scissors have been sharpened properly we suggest you do the "cutting a tissue trick". The tissue trick is cutting into a tissue and seeing if the blades grab the tissue or slice through the tissue with ease. If your scissors properly slide through the tissue with ease then they are properly sharpened but if they grab then they are not.
If your scissors start to feel dull after 3-5 uses of cutting then this may be that your sharpener has not sharpened them properly.
Restoring blades to their former glory is such a good feeling after you get them back and get to start cutting hair again with sharp scissors. We can tell you that some scissors may stay sharper longer than others depending on the quality of type of steel but no scissors will magically stay sharp and never need sharpening.
A hair stylist is likely to cut themselves with a freshly sharpened pair of scissors and sometimes you can get used to slightly dull shears. But not sharpening your scissors for fear of cutting yourself is not wise too, having sharp shears is protecting your investment and prolonging their lifespan.
So get onto regularly sharpening those shears for a more joyful cutting experience.
