How to Hand Sharpen Scissors

We use scissors for many everyday activities, from slicing open food packaging to trimming photos for scrapbooks. All scissors, however, eventually turn dull and need to be sharpened. You can spend money on fancy sharpening devices, or you can use inexpensive tools or everyday household items to restore the cutting edge to your scissors.

Things You'll Need

• Goo Gone
• Rubbing alcohol
• Nail polish remover
• Cooking oil
• Sharpening stone
• Aluminum foil
• Glass bottle
• Sandpaper
• Screwdriver

Instructions

1. Make sure that your problem is, in fact, the dullness of the scissors. Some scissors cut poorly because their hinge is clogged or they have pieces of fabric or paper stuck to the edges. Clean the scissor blades with Goo Gone, rubbing alcohol or nail polish remover. Unstick the hinges with a small amount of cooking oil.

2. Take the blades apart if you can. It's easier to sharpen each blade separately. If the blades don't come apart, open the scissor blades as wide as possible to reach the full length of the scissors.

3. Buy a sharpening stone at a hardware store. Sharpen each blade by rubbing the beveled edge, from the tip to the inside of the scissors, against the sharpening stone. To prevent injury, point the scissors away from you as you sharpen each blade. Remove any pieces that are flaking off before using the scissors.

4. Buy sharpening stones of different grit for the sharpest blades possible. Begin the sharpening process with a large-grit stone and repeat with sharpening stones of decreasing grit, using a fine-grit sandstone last.

5. Fold a sheet of aluminum foil into several layers and cut through it if you don't have access to a sharpening stone. Repeat this until you reach desired sharpness.

6. Run the blades across the neck of a glass bottle repeatedly. Do this from the inside of the scissors to the tip, taking care to keep your free hand out of the way of the blade.

7. Cut through coarse-grained sandpaper to sharpen scissors.

8. Run the blade through the metal at the top of a screwdriver to sharpen.