How do I sharpen scissors?

Scissors have a bevel on the outside of each blade and a flat inner face, and sharpening means restoring that bevel. Cutting through foil is a popular suggestion that mostly just pushes the rolled edge back into place — it feels like it works for an hour, and it's not sharpening.

What you'll need

• Fine sharpening stone or a fine file
• Cloth
• Screwdriver to separate the blades (optional)
• Oil or water for the stone

Step by step

1. Check first whether the scissors are blunt or just loose.Scissors that fold fabric rather than cutting it often just need the pivot screw tightened, not sharpening.
2. Clean the blades — sticky residue is a common cause of poor cutting.Tape adhesive, sap and grease all make scissors feel blunt. Alcohol on a cloth removes it.
3. If they come apart, separate the blades — it makes the job far easier.Many household scissors have a removable pivot screw. Note the orientation before dismantling.
4. Identify the bevel — the angled outer edge of each blade.This is what you sharpen. The flat inner face must stay flat.
5. Draw the bevel along the stone at the existing angle, always in the same direction.From the pivot towards the tip, with light consistent pressure. Follow the angle that's already there rather than inventing one.
6. Do the same number of strokes on each blade.Uneven sharpening makes the blades meet badly, which cuts worse than blunt scissors.
7. Never grind the flat inner face.The blades must meet flat against each other. Rounding the inner face permanently ruins them.
8. Wipe off the burr, reassemble, and test on paper.They should cut cleanly right to the tip. If they cut near the pivot but not at the tip, the pivot is too loose.

Tips

• Keep one pair of scissors for fabric only. Cutting paper with fabric shears blunts them very quickly and it's the most common way good scissors are ruined.
• A drop of oil on the pivot restores smooth action on scissors that feel stiff and are otherwise fine.
• Kitchen scissors that come apart are much easier to clean and sharpen — worth choosing when buying.
• For expensive fabric shears, a professional sharpening service is inexpensive and does a better job than a first attempt.

Common mistakes

• Cutting foil and calling it sharpening — It realigns a rolled edge briefly. No metal is removed, so a genuinely blunt edge is unaffected.
• Sharpening the inner face — The blades must meet flat. Rounding the inner face is irreversible.
• Changing the bevel angle — Follow the existing angle. A different one leaves an edge that meets poorly.
• Using fabric scissors on paper — Paper is abrasive and blunts them fast. It's the usual cause of ruined shears.

Questions people ask