Scissors 101
Care of Scissors

• Buy several pairs - Decide which scissors will accomplish what tasks and use them for only those purposes. If you use sissors to cut paper, you can't use them to cut cloth.

• Wipe blades after each use - This prevents build-up of lint and other debris that can get caught in the pivot area and interfere with the way your scissors performs. For normal cleaning, wash your scissors with soap and water. Sticky substances can be removed with lighter fluid. Wipe off scissors before using or storing.

• Oil scissors - Oil your best scissors/shears every once in a while at the screw assembly and between the blades at the pivot area. Wipe excess oil off the blades to prevent staining.

• Don't force cutting - This damages the blades and alignment. If it's hard to make the cut, your scissors are too light or too dull to complete the task. Cut heavy things near the pivot, NOT near the tips of the blades.

• Cut carefully - Hitting a pin can cause jags or nicks in the blades, making it difficult to cut.

• Don't drop your scissors - Dropping can break or knock your scissors out of alignment.

• Store scissors - Keep scissors in a safe, dry, cool, clean place. This will avoid damage to them and prevent accidents.

• Sharpen or replace blades - Do this as needed to ensure optimal cutting performance. Scissors sharpeners restores blades to the perfect cutting edge quickly and easily. Do a test-cut on a scrap piece of material. Repeat the steps if necessary.

• Test for sharpness - Here's one way to discover whether or not your scissors are sharp enough: Draw a five-point star about the size of a dime on a sheer piece of fabric. Start in the center and cut out to the points. If the star edges are clean, your scissors are sharp enough. If the edges are jagged, you need to sharpen your scissors.

• Care for Pinking Shears - Use full cuts. Always have fabric between your blades when you cut. NEVER open and close the blades without fabric between them. Pinking Shears can not be sharpened, although it may be possible to regrind the blade edge. The easiest and quickest way to finish seams is to trim them with a Pinking Shears or a rotary Cutter with a pinking blade. This works well on all fabrics except those that ravel easily. Hold both sides of the seam together and trim, then separate and press open.

-- Karen (mountains_mama2@hotmail.com), March 24, 2002

Answers

And God help the person who touches my sewing scissors! I even keep an old cheap one in the sewing room for paper and other things, so as not to use the two scissors I keep just for fabric!

-- Ardie/WI (ardie54965@hotmail.com), March 24, 2002.

when I replace one of my 3 pairs of sewing scissors, the old ones become kitchen scissors and the old kitchen ones become paper scissors.

-- carol (kanogisdi@yahoo.com), March 24, 2002.