Cleaning Your Hair Shears Daily

You should clean your hair shears after every haircut, but many hair salons simply drop theirs into Barbicide as a shortcut method. This is a bad move for several reasons, since small pieces of hair can still get caught in your hair shears. Even though they’re sanitized, they’re not clean. What’s more, Barbicide can actually harm your hair cutting shears by removing all lubricant if you leave them in for too long.

Instead of the Barbicide-drop method, clean your shears with warm soapy water after you’ve sanitized them. Wipe the blade away from the cutting edge and make sure to check the place where the blades of your hair shears connect, since that’s where hair is most likely to get caught. Make sure they are dry before you close and store them to avoid rust. Some beauty salons like to dry their hair shears with a hair dryer, but this can warp the blades and ruin their set, which can have devastating effects on your next haircut!

Cleaning Your Hair Shears Weekly

On a weekly basis, your hair cutting shears need lubricating. A good way to remember that you need to lubricate your shears is by always doing it at the end of the day before a day off. That way the lubrication has time to set into your hair shears and do its work before you need to sanitize and clean them for your next haircut.

After you clean your shears with sanitization agent and soap and water, apply a few drops of quality shear lubricant around the pivot screw of your shears. Open and close the blades gently a few times to let the lubricant get all the way into the part of the pivot screw that you can’t see inside the hair shears. Wipe the extra lubricant down the blades of your hair shears and store them in a case or pouch.

Sharpening Your Hair Shears

If you find your hair shears are “pulling” or “pushing” hair or having trouble cutting the tips, they probably need sharpening. Shear sharpening is not for amateurs, since doing it incorrectly can permanently ruin your blades. Go to professional shear sharpeners with certified equipment for hair shears. Ask around your fellows in hair salons – they probably have someone they can recommend that they trust with their hair cutting shears too.

If you treat your hair shears well, they shouldn’t need sharpening until you’ve served about 600-700 customers. That number goes toward the lower end of the scale if you’re frequently cutting thick, coarse, dirty, treated, or damaged hair.

If you’re looking for a pair of quality hair cutting shears that will last for hundreds of cuts, visit us at The Shears Depot. We have a wide array of hair shears and other beauty products that are sure to satisfy your every need at home or in the salon.

Julie Sullivan - July 24, 2009