Cutting your fabric ought to be the easiest part of your crafting activity. Yet with blunt scissors, you can find yourself wrestling with cotton and felt before you even manage to start working! Sharp scissors are a fundamental tool that will prove instrumental in your sewing kit, but you needn’t buy fresh pairs constantly. New pairs of scissors would massively eat into your budget every month, and the cost is avoidable with some simple maintenance! With our clever tips, you can learn different ways to sharpen your sewing scissors at home. Using everyday household items is a convenient way to keep your scissors sharp, and it certainly saves you the drama and the hassle of replacing your kit.
Here are 5 ways to sharpen your sewing scissors at home, and some are guaranteed to surprise you!
Sharpen with Sandpaper
Use high quality, fine-grit sandpaper between #180 and #220 to sharpen your scissors! Fold the sandpaper in half, so both sides are gritted, and cut through the paper using all the blades' edges on your blunt scissors. After around 12 cuts through the sandpaper, test your scissors on fabric fat quarters and see whether they're sharp enough! If not sharp enough, continue sandpapering until they work through your fabric as smoothly as you want.
Use a Steel Wool Soap Pad
While you may use your steel wool soap pads to clean the crusty pots and pans, they're ideal for sharpening your scissors too. Whether you want to use a new pad or you'd like to get some final purpose out of your used ones, this method is straightforward. Take your blunt scissors and cut several lines into your pad. Rinse the blades, and test whether your desired sharpness has been reached through your scrap fabric. If the scissors still aren't quick enough, run through another round of sharpening!
Try a Knife Sharpener
While this method may seem the least creative, a knife sharpener promises to be able to sharpen your scissors. If you're feeling particularly confident, unscrew your scissors apart with a screwdriver and treat each blade separately. Set the inner side of your blade against the knife sharpener, and drag it across 10 times. Repeat for the second half of your scissors, and fix them back together! Check whether your scissors are sharp enough to work through your quilting materials and if not, then repeat the process.
Sort a Sharpening Stone
A bench stone or a whetstone is typically built with a coarse grit side and a fine grit side. Start by running the entire inside of each blade against the coarse grit, lubricating the movement with honing oil or tap water. Focus your pressure on the bevelled edge of your blade. You shouldn't need more than twenty strokes! After finishing with the coarse side, move to the finer grit to finish the job. Your finer grit will buff down any imperfections that the thicker grit missed, so you're lined up for a thorough job.
Give Sewing Needles and Pins a Go
Position your scissors, so both blades are hugging your sewing pin. Start gently, and compress your scissors, so your sewing pin moves from the bottom where your blades meet to the ends. Apply slightly more pressure, and continually shift your blades across your pin in a cutting motion. Continue until you expect they're sharp enough. Wipe your scissors down with a damp cloth, and test them out! Repeat if you aren't satisfied, but ensure your needles and pins are sturdy enough to handle the wear.
For further advice on maintaining suitable sewing equipment, contact us at Singer Outlet.