If you have ever worked as a professional hairdresser, you know that your cutting shears are one of the most important tools you have. After all, they are what allow you to seamlessly cut a client’s hair and craft it into their desired look. However, even the strongest scissors will begin wearing down with continual use and become inefficient and ineffective. These are some of the signs your haircutting shears need maintenance and the importance of keeping them in proper shape.
Cutting Requires More Effort
When you cut hair, the shears are supposed to sever it cleanly and almost effortlessly with each snip. If you have to close your blades several times to get it to cut, they are probably too dull to be effective. Using dull shears can also strain your fingers since you need to apply extra force to get them to break the hair properly. Discomfort in your hands and wrists could also be an indicator that something’s not right.
Shears Not Cutting Cleanly
If you find that your blades are not cutting as cleanly as they used to, this is also a sign your haircutting shears need maintenance. As you create the shape of a new hairstyle, it is crucial that you have control over the lines you leave behind. Otherwise, you have little influence over how the finished product looks. For this reason, make sure you keep an eye out for jagged edges as you cut and stop using those shears until they can be sharpened.
Blades Dull Soon After Sharpening
Blade sharpening is an essential component of overall shear maintenance, but even this process cannot fix all your shears’ problems. In fact, you should only need to perform this task once a year. If you are sharpening them any more than this, it is a sign that your previous sharpening session left something to be desired. Shears made with high-grade materials should hold their sharpness through hundreds of cuts. Pay extra attention to how your shears are sharpened the next time around, to uncover the issue.
