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How to Oil and Store Hairdressing Scissors

By Matt Grumley, Australian scissorsmith — a working hairdresser behind the chair since 1990, sharpening professionally since 2007, with more than 100,000 professional scissors sharpened by hand at the bench in Lake Wendouree, Victoria. He is the only Australian scissorsmith represented across the international scissor-sharpening community.

Oil and storage are the two cheapest things you can do to extend a scissor’s life, and the two most commonly neglected. Here’s how to do both properly.

Why scissors need oil

The pivot — where the two blades meet and rotate — is a precision bearing surface. Every cut is metal moving against metal. Without lubrication, that contact wears the pivot, introduces play, and the scissor loses its tension and its set. A drop of proper scissor oil floats the surfaces apart, keeps the action smooth, and flushes out the tiny hair and product debris that work into the joint through the day.

Which oil to use

Use a dedicated scissor oil (a light, food-grade-style clear oil). Do not use cooking oil (it goes rancid and gums up), WD-40 (it’s a solvent, not a lubricant, and strips protection), or clipper oil (often too heavy). Most scissor suppliers include a small bottle; if not, any professional scissor oil is inexpensive.

How to oil — the routine

1. Open the scissor fully.
2. Place one small drop of oil at the pivot joint, on the inside where the blades meet.
3. Open and close the scissor several times to work the oil through the joint.
4. Wipe the blades down with a clean, dry microfibre cloth to remove excess and any debris that came out.
5. Wipe from the back of the blade toward the edge — never across the edge.

How often: a working stylist should oil daily, at the end of the day. A part-time stylist, every few days. It takes thirty seconds and it’s the single highest- return habit for scissor longevity.

Wiping down through the day

Hair carries moisture, salt, product and colour chemicals — all of which corrode and dull steel. Wipe your scissors with a dry cloth between clients, and always before you put them away. After colour work especially, wipe immediately; bleach and tint residue will pit a blade overnight.

Storage that protects the blade

• Never store scissors loose in a drawer. Blade-to-metal contact chips the edge. This is the most common avoidable damage sharpeners see.
• Use a scissor case or pouch with individual slots so the blades don’t touch anything.
• Store closed, with tension slightly relaxed if the scissor will sit unused for weeks.
• Keep them dry. Humidity is the enemy of carbon-bearing steels. A silica sachet in the case helps in humid climates.
• Never let them sit wet after washing hands or rinsing — dry immediately.

The professional service

Oil and storage handle daily wear, but roughly every 6–12 months of full-time use — sooner if the weekly cut test starts failing — a scissor benefits from a professional service: a proper sharpen on water stones, a pivot clean and re-tension, and an inspection for early damage. Makers who run their own sharpening service make this easy — for example, ShearGenius hand-services scissors on Japanese water stones on its regular runs across Victoria and Tasmania, plus Mount Gambier and Millicent. Pair good daily care with a professional service when the cut tells you it’s time and a quality scissor will outlast the trends.