The Best Scissor Care Maintenance For Your Dog Grooming Scissors
If you’re a professional dog groomer, you’ll know how important it is to keep your professional dog grooming scissors performing at their best. By looking after the tools of your service, you’ll get the best from them, you’ll save money as they won’t need repairing or replacing often and you’ll never have to contend with sore hands or damaged blades.
If cared for correctly, good grooming scissors are built to last. With this in mind, we’ve pulled together our top tips on scissor care maintenance to help you maintain your professional dog grooming scissors and keep them performing at their best.
From cleaning to tensioning and everything in between, get ready for fabulous, faultless grooms with our top scissor care tips.
Table of Contents:
How do I clean and keep my dog grooming scissors in good condition?
How do I disinfect dog grooming scissors?
What oil do I use for my scissors?
How do I keep my dog grooming scissors sharp?
How do I alter the tension of my scissors?
How should I store my grooming scissors?
How do I clean and keep my dog grooming scissors in good condition?
Keeping your dog grooming scissors clean is one of the most important things you can do to ensure long working scissor life. Dirt, moisture, hair and chemicals can cause nicks or corrosion to your scissor blades, severely impacting their effectiveness.
You should always clean your scissors between grooms for hygiene reasons and to keep them at their best. Start by brushing away loose hair with a soft brush or damp cloth before spraying the blades with a disinfectant spray. Then, thoroughly dry the blades with a soft cloth or chamois. Always double check your scissors are compatible with certain sprays and chemicals before using them on your scissors to prevent any corrosion or rust from occurring.
At the end of each grooming day, it’s time to clean your professional dog grooming scissors thoroughly. Start by removing loose hair from the blades, as mentioned before, taking time to ensure that hair and moisture are removed from the tension screw. Neglecting this part of your scissors causes clogging and, if left alone, can cause the tension screw to rust and become faulty.
When cleaning your scissors, it’s important not to leave them soaking overnight, as this can damage the blades and cause them to rust. Using a good and safe disinfectant, such as Barbicide, is all you need to clean your scissors without damaging them. Always ensure that your scissors are compatible with Barbicide and that you dry them fully after cleaning, paying special attention to the blades and the tension screw.
How do I disinfect dog grooming scissors?
Barbicide is the best and safest solution for cleaning and soaking your scissors without causing damage or corrosion to the blades and tension key. It’s much safer to soak your scissors for more prolonged periods in this formula as it contains a rust inhibitor.
An antibacterial agent, Barbicide kills ringworm and bacteria to prevent cross infection between dogs while helping keep the groomer safe. When paired with a Barbicide jar, you can disinfect tools and scissors easily, and the self-draining retrieval basket means you don’t have to put your hands in Barbicide formula to retrieve your scissors.
Although great for scissors, avoid using Barbicide on clipper blades as it can damage them.
What oil do I use for my dog grooming scissors?
Alongside cleaning your scissors regularly with Barbicide, the only other solution you should put on your scissors regularly is scissor oil. Scissor oil helps to keep your scissors lubricated and feeling like new and prevents the tension key from becoming stiff.
Start by cleaning and drying your scissors, open them up and apply scissor oil to the opening and around the tension adjustment screw. Work the oil down the blades and wipe away any excess liquid.
Applying two small dots of scissor oil at the end of every day should be enough to keep your scissors working effectively. However, if you find them stiffening or tightening up throughout the day, a quick clean followed by a couple of drops of oil should help to rejuvenate them.
Always make sure you only use scissor oil on your scissors.
How do I keep my grooming scissors sharp?
It’s recommended that you get your scissors professionally sharpened every three to six months to achieve the best groom for your clients.
The frequency that your scissors require sharpening will depend on how many dogs you groom daily and the types of dog coats you’re grooming. If you find that your scissors are catching, aren’t cutting easily or aren’t giving as good a quality finish, as usual, these can all be signs that they need sharpening or aligning.
Never try to sharpen your scissors at home or in the salon, as this could damage your blades or even cause them to break. Always take your scissors to a professional sharpener who can sharpen and realign them to bring them back to their best.
To keep your blades sharper for longer, only ever use your scissors for dog grooming. If you can avoid it, don’t cut through large chunks of dog hair or dirty hair, as this can overwork and blunt the blades. Finally, be mindful not to drop your scissors as this can damage their blades and alignment.
How do I alter the tension of my scissors?
Professional dog grooming scissors usually come with information on adjusting their tension.
Correct scissor tension helps guarantee the longevity of your scissors and prevents hand fatigue. Setting the tension to the appropriate level will prevent your scissor’s blades from locking and catching against each other, allowing them to perform at their best.
Most dog grooming scissors come with adjustable hand tension or a tension key, so unlike sharpening or aligning, you can easily adjust yours without needing help from a professional. Here’s how to adjust the tension of your scissors:
- Start by testing the tension. Hold your scissors by the thumb ring with your left hand with the scissors facing upright in a 12 o’clock position.
- With your right hand, take the finger ring and open the blades to a 45-degree angle. Let go of the ring and let the scissors close by themselves.
- When the blades close, there should be approximately 0.5 inches between them, and if there’s any more or less, the scissors might need tensioning.
- To tighten the scissors, move the tension screw a fraction clockwise (or anti-clockwise, depending on the model of your scissors). To loosen the scissors, work in the opposite direction, testing and checking after each adjustment to see how they feel.
How should I store my grooming scissors?
It’s recommended that you store your dog grooming scissors closed and in a protective case, a padded scissors wallet or wrap to prevent them from any unnecessary damage. Always store your scissors in a cool, dry place away from any contact with chemicals, dust or humidity.
Scissor care maintenance: The highlights
When investing in a pair or set of grooming scissors, it’s important to clean, oil, adjust, sharpen and store them correctly to allow them to perform at their best and ensure they stand the test of time. By only using recommended products to care for your scissors and following our top tips and tricks, your scissors will be helping you to perfect grooms for years to come!
Shop professional grooming scissors at Groomers
Now you know how to care for your scissors correctly, why not treat yourself to a new set from our fabulous selection at Groomers? Our professional scissor selection offers scissors tailored to cutting styles and grooming experience levels so you can find your perfect set, irrespective of your grooming needs. Read our Groomers Scissors blog to discover your perfect set, then shop our scissor accessories for practical storage solutions to keep your scissors safe.
Related Posts:
Have You Heard About Our Groomers Scissor Range?
Comments are closed here.