How to sharpen scissors at home

One of the most widely used universal items include scissors, which everyone probably has in the apartment with other classic household helpers. Depending on their purpose, scissors can be further divided into hairdressing, manicure, garden, classical and even tailor’s. However, whatever type they are, they have one thing in common: sooner or later these tools will need sharpening; the most frequently used ones may become dull even after half a year.

Before the sharpening process itself, it is necessary to pay attention to the appearance of the scissors: it is likely that the reason for the loss of sharpness lies in the resulting raid, for example, after cutting a greasy object or product.It can be removed with a soap solution and a hard abrasive brush, after which it is important to wipe the tool dry with an ordinary rag in order to prevent the appearance of smudges.

Tip: if the attack leaves with difficulty, you can use soda powder, vinegar or alcohol. It is enough to blot a cotton disc in any substance, then rub it in a circular motion with a circular motion.

It often happens that the cause of poor cutting is also due to the fact that the fastening of the two components of the scissors has weakened, therefore it is necessary to check the quality of the connection of the tool parts. If a bolt is used to connect them, it should simply be tightened; if it is an ordinary rivet, simply press the part.

There are quite a few ways to sharpen scissors at home, so if the tool’s performance has noticeably deteriorated, you can use several at once.

A quick way to sharpen a tool

If you need to sharpen scissors as soon as possible because of haste and the inability to go to the master, then you should use an ordinary thick needle, which will play the role of a classic solid machine.Instead of a needle, by the way, you can use another thin and round metal object, for example, an iron bar. Also fit the glass neck of the bottle, but sharpen scissors with its use should be as careful as possible.

The point is that you need to pick up such a thing that the two cutting edges of the scissors will be able to clasp on both sides. For sharpening, you should only compress the selected object from two sides only a few times with a little effort. This method will help only for a short time, because it cannot be used as the main one.

This method is often an additional step, which is used in practice to give even greater sharpness to the tool after sharpening it on sandpaper or a grinding stone.

Sandpaper use

Emery paper can be used in different ways, and the choice of a particular method is based only on individual preferences.

The first, classical, implies the usual excision of a sheet with scissors in different directions with applied force. However, it is important not to overdo it, as this can damage the surface.For convenience, the emery paper can be in a tense state, put on the table and press down on something in the corners.

Also, emery paper can be applied sandpaper down and several times already have it itself in opposite directions. And in fact, and in another case, it is better to use its coarse-grained variety, since with its help it is much easier to carry out rough processing of any kind of blunted surfaces.

Important: you can only rub the outer surface of the cutting elements with the sandpaper, in any case not the inside! Otherwise, you can immediately bring the tool into disrepair.

The second method is distinguished by its technique: it is necessary with the help of scissors to cut a few pieces of sandpaper, again coarse-grained (such as 150-200). In this case, the fine-grained type can already be used, however, the sharpening process of the tool will take a little more time.

Tip: if there is no sandpaper nearby, then you can use aluminum foil to sharpen scissors in this way. Usually, for this procedure, a sheet of foil folded five or more times is taken, which must be cut in half using the entire surface of the cutting edge so that it is possible to sharpen the scissors completely.

Use of grindstone

In most cases, the sharpening stone is used exclusively for sharpening kitchen knives, however, it is also perfect for scissors. You can buy this tool in any building and household store, and if it is made using natural materials, it will last a very long time.

When buying a grinding stone, you should pay attention to the presence of two different sides: one should be coarse, with very large grains, the other - more homogeneous, with mostly small.

To quickly and accurately sharpen scissors, you need to follow the following procedure:

1. The sharpening stone should be put on the cloth folded several times (in order not to damage the surface of the table or the floor) and slightly wet, evenly distributing moisture.
2. Scissors must either be disassembled into components for convenience, or opened up as much as possible (if the fastening element is a rivet).
3. In accordance with the angle of the factory sharpening, the scissors should be placed on the rough part of the wheel so that the plane forms an acute angle with the surface of the stone. Sharpen scissors should be cyclic movements from themselves to the center of the stone, plus,care must be taken that the entire cutting edge extends all the way from the edge of the grinding tool to its center.
4. After that, you should also walk on the fine-grained side of the stone in order to give it extra sharpness.

To check the quality of sharpening, you can use a very thin shred of synthetic fabric, which are bad enough to cut. If the scissors go quickly on the surface, this will be evidence of their good sharpening.

File use

If there is no sandpaper or grindstone nearby, you can also use a regular file for sharpening scissors, but the procedure with its use will require much more time. For processing scissors with their cutting edges pass over the surface of the file, which must be firmly fixed on any surface.

For convenience, you can with one hand hold the file on a table or other surface, and the other to perform the penetration with one blade. Just keeping the scissors open is not recommended, since the slightest indiscretion can lead to a fairly deep cut.

The use of special tools

In modern household department stores there is a huge amount of grinding tools on sale, which differ from each other not by the material of sharpening, but only by the method of application (some, for example, can be used only in a stationary position, others are not). It should be particularly distinguished among the variety of the following tools:

1. Machines with a spinning disc inside. For sharpening scissors, it is enough just to press the cutting edge to the visible part of the disk, and due to friction against randomly located small and large abrasive particles, it will become very sharp within a minute or two. A certain skill is required, therefore children should not be allowed to work in any case.
2. Various manual sharpeners that look a bit like a razor. For small size and ease of use, they have gained popularity among a large number of people (they can take with them, for example, on a hike). To sharpen scissors, you should only pass a hand through a special hole and hold the tool along the cutting edge back and forth.

In conclusion, it must be said that when sharpening scissors, it is recommended to use an integrated approach, if time permits.In the usual use of scissors to resort to using some special tools for sharpening is not needed more than once every 2-3 years, and therefore acquire them does not make sense, just enough stock up with the right amount of sandpaper.

If scissors are used every day, then it is recommended to have both a grinding stone, sandpaper and its substitutes on hand, and even files. With an integrated approach, it is recommended to first carry out a rough treatment on the stone, and then improve the condition of the cutting edge by sharpening on paper, a file and, finally, the fine-grain side of the same grinding stone (that is, make a gradual transition from coarse-grained material to a smaller one).

Video: how to sharpen scissors with foil