Scissor Sharpening Made Easy
Many people that use scissors don't realize they become dull, which means scissor sharpening becomes a necessity. Scissor sharpening isn't only for kitchen shears that see a lot of use cutting bone and tendons, but also for scissors meant for crafting and everyday needs. Scissor sharpening is often done by a knife sharpening expert with specialized tools, but this costs money. Besides the cost, a professional can take a lot of time and you will most likely have to wait for your scissors to be returned. There are several ways that you can easily sharpen your own scissors at home, using everyday items, and the following article will share some of these with you.
Warning: Take standard safety precautions when handling scissor blades.
Glass Mason Jars
You can use any type of glass jar to sharpen your scissors, but mason jars are best suited for it and are quite common in most homes. This method will seem somewhat awkward at first but you will soon get the hang of it. You are going to use the glass to sharpen the blades. Open the pair of scissors as wide as they can go and slide the blades around the jar so that the glass is near the back of the scissors where they pivot. Squeeze the scissors closed, like you're cutting paper, until the blades are grasping the jar. Hold the jar in one hand and with the other, drag the scissors backward away from the jar as you close them. Repeat this process until the blades have a smooth and clean edge. This is an indication that the blades are sharpened.
Screwdriver
Essentially, you are repeating the same technique as described for glass mason jars. Open the blades of the scissors and insert the metal shaft of the screwdriver to the end of the scissors at the pivot point. Close the scissors like you are going to cut the screwdriver, and then slide the screwdriver out of the scissors. Maintain the same grip as though you are trying to cut the screwdriver as you remove it. Once the blades are smooth and free of nicks or indents, you are done. The same thing can be achieved with a knife sharpening tool found in many knife blocks.
Cut and Sharpen
This technique uses the scissors to cut material and doing so sharpens them. Several materials can do this: sandpaper, emery cloth and steel wool. Simply cut through any of these items until the blade looks smooth and cuts cleaner. You'll need to move the item down the blade periodically, to ensure the whole blade is sharpened. You can also sharpen your scissors using aluminum foil. This is tricky because you have to fight with the scissors to get them to cut through. Pull foil from the roll and fold in half several times. You want it thick, but also as long as the scissors. Insert the foil to the pivot point and slowly cut. Repeat as many times as needed until the blades cut clean.
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Stephini Candella is a Nutritionist, and attended the University of Texas for a B.S. in Nutrition and Didactics. She was a manager for a small gourmet restaurant, and has spent over 15 years cooking as a hobby for health. She has extensive knowledge of food science, micro-nutrition, history of the classic foods from across cultures, modern commercial and home cooking processes, disease restricted diet meal planning (cardiovascular, GAPS, diabetes), and popular diet trend (Paleo, Keto, Vegan) diets. Stephini most enjoys meal planning that focuses on simplicity and cost-effectiveness, and she strongly believes these are the foundations for delicious and healthy meals—the basis for a happy life. She is addicted to reading food labels, and uncovering the nutritional benefits of traditional cooking techniques of the classical foods across cultures. If you let her, she will talk your ear off over her fascination for how traditional fermentation cultivates the metabolic byproduct of certain bacteria into nutritional gold for human health. Stephini is also a CRLA (Certified Reading and Writing English Tutor) and has professionally tutored college students as well as K-12 students for an accumulated 15 years expanding to private school curriculum development and teaching in STEM and STEAM. She has been a professional researcher for multiple private and non-profit companies and organizations including the University of Texas Food and Housing Division. There, she researched and wrote recommendations for the University’s campus wide composting and food waste reduction initiatives, design and management of campus wide food waste studies, and the procurement of technologies best suited for large scale composting and food waste reduction. As a former Red Cross shelter manager, she has worked with her National Guard, and the US Army and Marines in search and rescue, procuring, and deploying multiple shelters serving thousands of evacuees. She has overseen the management of over 25 shelters in the state emergency operation center, and was held responsible for procurement of meals, medical supplies, and basic necessities. She also assisted in local county natural disaster rescues, providing insurance evaluations and recommendations for approving families affected by natural disasters to receive financial aid, housing, and food assistance. In addition, she volunteered for her local food pantry and domestic violence shelter where she prepared food. These discovered passions for emergency aid volunteer work led her to pursue national and state EMS licensures. She has traveled from Houston to New York to Seattle on a Leadership Scholarship, listening to world renowned scholars on the values of great leadership. Her favorite being the opportunity to sit and connect with the grandsons of Gandhi, listening to their first hand childhood experiences growing up alongside their grandfather organizing and executing his activism. Presently, Stephini conducts research and assistance on customer relationship management campaigns for 30 year veteran executives and business owners as an operations manager for a small, boutique executive assistance CRM firm. She has retired into a quiet, family-centric life, and can be found living between her home and college towns where she is raising her children. There, she is imparting her love for DIY learning and food on to them in the hopes that self-directed creativity and production will bring to them the same sense of holistic wellness that she’s experienced for herself.
