How to Sharpen Hair Shears
by Cynthia Taylor
If you are Professional stylist or just a home haircutter caring for your hair shears is important. They say that a stylist is only as good as his tools and if his tools are not properly looked after then he will not be able to do a truly professional job of cutting hair. Keeping your shears in good cutting order you may only need to clean them. Regular maintenance will keep your shears sharp for longer before they need professional sharpening.
Difficulty: Moderately easy
Things you’ll need
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Barbicide
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Soft dry towel
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Alcohol
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Clipper oil or 3-in-one oil
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Fine-grade sharpening stone
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Screwdriver
Step 1:
Daily Cleaning
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To keep your hair shares in optimal condition clean them after each cut using barbicide to sanitize them
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Using a soft dry towel wipe each blade carefully wiping away from the cutting edge.
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At the end of each day wipe the ‘ride’ area, this is where the shears meet at the pivot. Make sure there are no hairs stuck in this area.
Step 2:
Make sure they are properly dry
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Before storing your hair shears make sure that they are properly dry.
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With a soft dry towel dry them carefully.
Weekly Cleaning:
Sometimes a residue builds up on the blades and it requires a more thorough cleaning to remove this, do this once a week:
Step 1:
Dissemble your shares
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Using a screwdriver remove the screws and dissemble the blades.
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Place the small screws and any small parts in a receptacle to ensure you don’t lose anything.
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Remember the order of removal so you can put it safely back together.
Step 2:
Removing residue:
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Wipe each blade with alcohol to make sure there is no residue is left on the blade, remember to wipe away from the cutting edge.
Step 3:
Reassemble:
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Reassemble your hair shares so you can test them. Make sure they are properly aligned.
Step 4:
Testing the shears
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Test your shears by cutting a piece of hair, if it cuts cleanly then you don’t need to do anything further.
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If the shears still bend the hair or pull, then they need to be sharpened.
The sharpening process:
You could take your hair shares to a professional sharpener, or you could try the following first before calling in the specialists:
Step 1:
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Dissemble the blades as instructed above.
Step 2:
Sharpening the blades
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On a fine-grade sharpening stone (my friend calls this a whetstone) place a drop of hair clipper oil or you could even use 3-in-one oil.
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Place the blade on the whetstone with gentle but brisk strokes, run the blade cutting edge side down on the stone, going in one direction only, do 5 to 10 swipes. It doesn’t matter if you start from the tip of the blade first or the ride.
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Repeat in the other direction.
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Sharpen one blade at a time, don’t go back and forth.
Step 3:
Inspection:
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Check each blade to make sure that they are cleanly sharpened. If it does not look smooth repeat step 2.
Step 4:
Clean again:
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Wipe with alcohol ensuring that they are completely clean and dry.
Step 5:
Putting it back to together:
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Re-assemble the blades making sure that they are properly aligned.
Step 6:
Final check:
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Place a drop of oil on the screws and open and close the hair shears allowing the oil to run down the blades.
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Test on a piece of hair.
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If they cut cleanly, wipe any excess oil and store safely
Tips:
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Always store your shears in its own container, don’t store them with other things that might damage them.
Warnings:
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Don’t drop your shears it can do a lot of damage
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Only cut hair with your shears, using them for other purposes will damage the blades.
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Don’t loan your hair shares to other people who may not look after them properly.
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Don’t try to sharpen your professional hair shares with an emery board or nail file you will scratch the blades and do untold damage which cannot be fixed.
References
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Cleaning process: Mad Shears madshears.com/
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Sharpening process: My Friend George
Photo Credits
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Stylist and Salon Newspapers: http://www.nwstylist.com
Keywords
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sharpen hair shares
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hair shares
