8 Signs That Your Scissors Need Sharpening | Hair Shear Sharpening

Have you ever used a pair of scissors that were dull and tore, grabbed, and pulled hair instead of cutting it cleanly? 

Frustration is an understatement when it comes to dealing with poor-quality scissors. The good news is that professional scissor sharpening services are available all across Australia to restore your scissors to their original condition or as close to. 

The eight main ways to tell if your hair cutting and thinning (texturising) scissors need sharpening are:

1. Cutting hair with scissors is more challenging and takes more effort.
2. The smoothness of cutting hair is gone and now replaced with a 'crunchy' feeling with each cutting motion.
3. When cutting hair, you feel tired or strained in your hand, wrist, shoulder, and/or elbow.
4. Blunt and straight hair cutting techniques push hair away instead of cutting.
5. Slide and point haircutting techniques tend to grab and pull hair with each cutting motion.
6. Your scissors are having trouble cutting hair after a few haircuts.
7. Hair is getting stuck in the scissor blades as you close them, instead of a clean slicing motion that protects them from split-ends.
8. Your clients are coming back asking why they have split-ends after having you cut their hair. 

Read on if you want to find out more and know when you need to send your hair scissors away for sharpening!

Here are some related articles:

• Guide to maintaining your hair scissors
• How to tell if your hair cutting scissors are becoming dull
• Extending the life of your hair scissors

How to tell when your scissors need sharpening again!

If you are in doubt, then send your scissors in for sharpening. A sharp pair of scissors should give you enough confidence to keep cutting hair effortlessly.

Sharp hair shears are vital for hairdressers, stylists, and barbers. They are a great way to build an audience and establish an image that can make you a success.

If you wish for your scissors to be working for you all the time, it is essential to understand how to properly care for them. 

You will need to understand the warning signs for hair scissors that require sharpening.

Even the finest and most expensive hairdressing scissors can become dull over time, so don't take it to heart if your hair scissors need sharpening. 

1. Cutting hair using scissors is becoming more difficult and requires more physical effort to cut hair. When the scissors become blunt or dull, you will notice that you put more effort into each cutting motion. A common symptom of scissors needing sharpening is a strained wrist.
2. Smoothness when cutting hair is gone and has been it is replaced by a 'crunchy' sensation after each cut. Recently sharpened hair scissors cut through hair effortlessly. When the scissors are blunt and need sharpening, the blade will crunch and tear through hair. So much so that you will feel a crunchy feeling with each haircutting motion.
3. When you cut hair, you may feel exhausted or straining your wrist, hand or shoulder. When you feel strain or pain in your hand, wrist, or shoulder/elbow, it may be time to sharpen your scissors!
4. Straight and blunt hair cutting techniques force hair away instead rather than cutting. Hair scissor blades that require sharpening often push hair away instead of cutting. 
5. Point and slide haircutting techniques can draw and pull hair in each cutting motion. You may notice that the scissors start grabbing and pulling hair instead of slide cutting. Pulling or grabbing hair typically means your scissors require sharpening.
6. Your scissors are unable to cut hair after a few cuts. Sometimes after recently receiving your hair scissors back from a sharpening service (bladesmith), you will notice the sharpness disappearing. This may mean that the scissors are at the end of their life, or you need a different sharpening service.
7. Hair is stuck in the scissor blades when you shut them, instead of a smooth cutting motion that protects the hair from split-ends. Hair cutting shears that need to be sharpened often have hair bend and get stuck in between the blades.
8. Your clients keep coming back to ask why they have split ends after cutting their hair. Cutting hair with scissors that are no longer sharp or dull shears may cause damage to your client's hair. If you keep using hair scissors that require sharpening, you may cause split-ends and potentially ruin your relationship with a client.

Are you seeing any of these signs in your hair cutting or thinning scissors? When you notice your scissors are no longer as sharp as they used to be, it's time to find a professional sharpening service to re-sharpen your precious hair cutting shears.