I am old enough to remember when knife sharpeners used to come to the DOOR. Not anymore - but you can sort of sharpen your scissors by cutting through sandpaper until the edge is restored. Not ideal - but better than dull scissors and very thrifty.
By Pam from LA, CA
You can sharpen scissors easily by cutting through a few pieces of steel wool.
By Robin from Washington, IA
I also use my scissors to cut SOS pads. It saves not having to waste a whole SOS pad as well as sharpens my scissors.
By Tawnda
I've found that the best way to sharpen my scissors is to cut aluminum foil a few times after cleaning the blades with alcohol!
By Michlee from Glen Morgan, WV
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That's a good idea to use before you discard any old emery boards.
After you are done using an emery board to file your nails, cut up the center lenthwise to sharpen your scissors. I have found that only the edges of emery boards get used up by filing nails.
I knew someone that sharpened their scissors on the rough ceramic edge on the bottom of a coffee mug.
I used sandpaper on my scissors and it made them MUCH WORSE! I used a fine grit dont' know what I did wrong but I sure don't recommend using sandpaper!
I don't know who will read this, since this post is old, but these methods of "sharpening" scissors will ruin or damage the edge.
I have been sharpening scissors, knives, and other tools regularly for about 15 years. to understand why this method will not work, you have to understand what the process of sharpening acompleshes, here's a brief description:
very simplistically, an "edge" is formed on any steel tool when 2 planes of steel meet at an accute angle, thus creating an "edge".
if you look at the edge of a scissors, bolth blades are assimetrical, with the flat sides facing each other, there is then a small bevel to form a rather steep acute angle (sometimes not a bevel but a right angle on ONE side only), this forms the "edge" and the two edges of the two blades come together and work with each other to cut material. why scissors work is that the flat parts of the blades are against each other, and the two edges (actually similar to the edge on a knife, just steeper) create a shearing effect as they force material onto one another.
when scissors, or any tool dulls, the edge, which was once the precise meeting of two planes of steel, becomes rounded, thus not meeting precisely and being less able to sever material.
All materials you cut have abrasive qualitys, this is why tools dull, the material you cut wears away the steel of the edge. If you were to believe that cutting very abrasive material like sandpaper would restore the edge, then by the same token anything you cut should magically keep the scissors sharp!
Editor's Note: Thanks Joe for the excellent explanation!
Thanks Joe for adding that info.. I cringe when I see the sandpaper trick being flaunted around. I have known people to sharpen each side of the scissor blade in domestic knife sharpeners, and this also puts a bevel on the inside edges which ruins the scissors as indicated above.
Also... The concept of sharpening scissors or knives on the underside of a coffee mug is quite plausible for a quick sharpen. The ceramic is abrasive, similar to grinding stones, but may be inconsistent.
Hey Joe, I thinking about getting into the salon scissor and knife sharpening bus. I've been looking at several diff. machines, like the Twice as Sharp, Jet, Tormek and a lot of others. Can you Help me out and suggest the best,oh yell whats the best way to sharpen mower blades?
It also helps to take a stainless steel needle (a regular sewing needle or sewing machine needle) and rub it on the blades of scissors. This helps with nicks in the scissors.
This IS an old post - and NONE of these methods work for me. And Joe just tells us what NOT to do - what does one do to sharpen scissors?
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