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The Daily & Weekly Scissor Maintenance Routine

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.

Scissor maintenance isn’t complicated — it’s just consistent. Here is the exact routine that keeps a professional scissor cutting cleanly.

Between every client (10 seconds)

• Wipe both blades with a dry microfibre cloth, from back to edge.
• After colour or bleach work, wipe immediately — chemical residue pits steel fast.

End of every day (1 minute)

1. Wipe the blades clean of all hair, product and moisture.
2. Place one drop of scissor oil at the pivot; open and close to work it in.
3. Wipe away excess oil and any debris it flushes out.
4. Store closed in a padded case or pouch — never loose in a drawer.

Once a week (5 minutes)

1. Tension check. Hold the scissor vertically, open the top blade to roughly 90°, and let it fall. It should close about a third to halfway under its own weight. Falls shut fast = too loose; barely moves = too tight. Adjust the tension screw a small amount and re-test.
2. Cut test. Cut a strip of fine tissue or a section of damp cotton wool from base to tip. Catching, folding or pushing anywhere along the blade means the edge or set needs attention.
3. Inspect the edge. Look along the cutting edge in good light for nicks, rolls or shiny flat spots. Catch damage early — a small nick caught now is a quick fix; ignored, it spreads.
4. Clean the pivot. If the action feels gritty, add a drop of oil and work it through; if still gritty, the pivot may need a professional clean.

Adjusting tension safely

Most modern scissors have an adjustable tension screw or dial. Turn it in small increments (an eighth of a turn at a time) and re-test. Correct tension is the difference between a scissor that cuts effortlessly and one that tires your hand and folds hair — and many “blunt” scissors are simply mis-tensioned, not dull.

What to leave to a professional

Daily and weekly care is yours to do. Sharpening is not. A convex hairdressing edge must be restored on water stones by a scissorsmith — never a machine or a DIY rod, which flatten the curve and ruin the geometry. When your weekly cut test starts failing despite correct tension, it’s time for a professional sharpen. If your maker runs their own sharpening service (as ShearGenius does, on regular runs across Victoria and Tasmania, plus Mount Gambier and Millicent), that’s who should restore the edge.

The payoff

Two minutes a day and five minutes a week is the entire routine. Do it consistently and a quality scissor will keep cutting cleanly for a long working life. Skip it and even the best steel will wear out years early. Maintenance is the cheapest performance upgrade you’ll ever make.