Owners of higher end hair shears, what do you do for sharpening?

[HoneyDew]

I am asking because I tried to sharpen mine myself after I noticed that they were not cutting well.

After my in-home sharpening attempt, the shears were WORSE than they were before.

I ended up getting them professionally sharpened by a mail-in service that was offering a "free first sharpening". It actually was not free because I had to pay $12 shipping, but it was cheaper than most professional salon shear sharpening services.

What other choice are out there to get them sharpened? A fabric store maybe.

edited to add:

I found this place: http://www.perfectedge.biz/sharpening.html. It is $12 all the time.

 

[gymfreak336]

I am asking because I tried to sharpen mine myself after I noticed that they were not cutting well.

After my in-home sharpening attempt, the shears were WORSE than they were before.

I ended up getting them professionally sharpened by a mail-in service that was offering a "free first sharpening". It actually was not free because I had to pay $12 shipping, but it was cheaper than most professional salon shear sharpening services.

What other choice are out there to get them sharpened? A fabric store maybe.

Check some Barber shops. I take mine to a local cooking stores that also sharpen my knives.

 

[HoneyDew]

Check some Barber shops. I take mine to a local cooking stores that also sharpen my knives.

cooking store? Do you mean places that sell housewares and kitchen stuff?

 

[gymfreak336]

cooking store? Do you mean places that sell housewares and kitchen stuff?

There is a store here called Tobacco USA that sells at of upscale knives and such and they sharpen them too. You could also called maybe Home Depot or Lowes or a smaller local hardware store too.

 

[ChocalateDiva]

I use a product called the Samari Shark. Got it at Walgreens. Does a great job. I think it cost less than 20.00

 

[prospurr4]

I am asking because I tried to sharpen mine myself after I noticed that they were not cutting well.

After my in-home sharpening attempt, the shears were WORSE than they were before.

I ended up getting them professionally sharpened by a mail-in service that was offering a "free first sharpening". It actually was not free because I had to pay $12 shipping, but it was cheaper than most professional salon shear sharpening services.

What other choice are out there to get them sharpened? A fabric store maybe.

edited to add:

I found this place: http://www.perfectedge.biz/sharpening.html. It is $12 all the time.

A fabric store would be my suggestion. JoAnn's Fabrics (if there's one in your area) has certain days when they sharpen scissors. I'm not sure of the cost, though.

 

[pazyamor]

I have a sharpening block that I got from a store in Germany, it works so well, and it's pretty heavy, so no need to worry about slipping and killing myself...so that's not going to help you, but I do know that Pampered Chef sells a knife sharpener that looks a lot like mine; I'm not sure how it works though. I am no help at all, sorry.

 

[balisi]

How "higher end" are your shears? It is my understanding that professional hair cutting shears should not be sharpened at a sewing store or by just any random sharpening method.

 

[HoneyDew]

How "higher end" are your shears? It is my understanding that professional hair cutting shears should not be sharpened at a sewing store or by just any random sharpening method.

uh, VERY high end.

I was tired of cheap shears that could not cut my hair correctly so I invested in some very nice ones. After about a year they got VERY dull. I did try some random at home method and that was the worse decision. After doing some research I was so afraid I had ruined them!

Then I found a service that sharpens for stylists and they restored the edge for me. I am NEVER doing that again. My scissors were like new when they returned them to me, but I want to be prepared the next time. I was thinking of trying to find some way to do it without having to mail them in. they got them back to me VERY quickly - less than 2 week turnaround from the day I dropped them in the mail. I just did not want to have to go that route again.

 

[HoneyDew]

This is who I used before:

http://shearintegrity.com/special_offerings.html

I went with them after reading this on their site:

If you had your shears or thinners sharpened in the past by another service and you were not satisfied by the quality of the job, we will reconstruct the blade at no extra charge. (i.e. if too much critical metal was
removed, we will put on the appropriate edge; if your convex edge was replaced with a bevel, we will roll the edge).

They did a great job, but I did not want to have to spend $20 everytime. I guess I need to stop and just get used to it. These are just too special to me to ruin. I plan on owning them for a while and I cannot just go to Sallys or someplace to replace them.

 

[vslady]

A little OT--Honey Dew or Balisi, could you recommend specific trimming shears. I'd really like to start dusting my hair and want to invest in quality shears. TIA

 

[HoneyDew]

A little OT--Honey Dew or Balisi, could you recommend specific trimming shears. I'd really like to start dusting my hair and want to invest in quality shears. TIA

Balisi could probaly give more advice than me, but I have 2 pair. I got one from this ebay seller: http://stores.ebay.com/Angel-Scissors-Shop and they are VERY nice!! Very sharp and the precision is amazing! I paid about $50 including shipping for those. I have a 5.5 inch pair.

I also got these as a b-day gift http://luckyhare.com/OFTWS.htm. My BF, paid $80 for them because they were on sale at the time. Looks like they are $99 now. They are cute, but they really aren't better than the pair I got from Ebay. He got these for me after I complained that cutting his hair made my scissors get dull quicker than they would have if I was using them for myself only. This is the pair that I tried to sharpen myself.

Edited to add:

Many ladies have had much success with $15-$20 shears from Sally Beauty or Beautyfirst and places like that. I sure those are good too. I just really wanted nice shears because I have been burned by the cheaper ones. I started to just get a $20 pair and then when they get dull, toss them and buy new ones. I can't see spending more money than what they are worth to sharpen a pair.

 

[vslady]

Thanks HoneyDew. $50 isn't that bad I thought you were going to say a couple hundred bucks.

 

[ryanshope]

How often are you cutting your hair for your shears to get dull? I am curious because I don't trim often(2 or 3 times a year) and I have my shears for 3 years or so. They were $120 at Sally's but they are still very sharp.

 

[pisceschica]

I am asking because I tried to sharpen mine myself after I noticed that they were not cutting well.

After my in-home sharpening attempt, the shears were WORSE than they were before.

I ended up getting them professionally sharpened by a mail-in service that was offering a "free first sharpening". It actually was not free because I had to pay $12 shipping, but it was cheaper than most professional salon shear sharpening services.

What other choice are out there to get them sharpened? A fabric store maybe.

edited to add:

I found this place: http://www.perfectedge.biz/sharpening.html. It is $12 all the time.

Usually when I get them sharpened I go to the manufacturer or someone that is referred to me by manufacturere. You should never try to do it at home especially if they cost you a couple hundred dollars.

You have to realize that cutting with dull blades can cause damage. Razor sharp shears make alot of difference when cutting hair.

 

[pisceschica]

A little OT--Honey Dew or Balisi, could you recommend specific trimming shears. I'd really like to start dusting my hair and want to invest in quality shears. TIA

Arius eickert, fromm, (sallys) if you really have money jaguar, jowell, cricket rock-it-dog. I think that non professionals can get away with shears in the $40-$100 range you don't use it as frequently as a professional so it should last longer.

PS I found this but I have never used the website. .

http://haircuttingsite.com/products.html

 

[HoneyDew]

How often are you cutting your hair for your shears to get dull? I am curious because I don't trim often(2 or 3 times a year) and I have my shears for 3 years or so. They were $120 at Sally's but they are still very sharp.

I could not tell you. I just dust as needed. I also cut my BF's hair. He has long type 2 hair that I trim every other month or so. I noticed that my shears had gotten slighty dull after about 8 month and at about a year I just could not take it anymore. They were not cutting as well.

 

[HoneyDew]

Usually when I get them sharpened I go to the manufacturer or someone that is referred to me by manufacturere. You should never try to do it at home especially if they cost you a couple hundred dollars.

You have to realize that cutting with dull blades can cause damage. Razor sharp shears make alot of difference when cutting hair.

Well, I already tried at home and learned the hard way that it does not work. I ruined the edge. But, I had them sent to a professional shear sharpening company and they repaired them like new. (thank goodness - I was worried)

I was just wondering if there were other options besides having to ship them off to be sharpened.

 

[Priss Pot]

One day, I'm going to be able to afford some good, quality shears.

I'd been using those .99 shears from the BSS for the longest. I just recently "stepped up my game" and bout some 8.99 shears from CVS. That's nowhere NEAR high quality, but I'll get there sooner or later!

It's nice to see threads like these that can give advice on maintenance for shears. I figured that once the shears got dull, you just bought new ones. Now I know better to get them sharpened in the future (the quality ones, of course) .