I keep my blades wicked sharp with my favorite technique: cutting aluminum foil.
There is a man who comes to my local grocery store once a month and offers his services to sharpen your scissors and kitchen knives. I have never managed to make it to the store when he is there. When I kept missing his dates, I looked up ways to sharpen scissors myself. There are some surprising methods that are quite easy to do at home. Maybe one day I’ll get a professional to get these babies sharpened but until I do, I keep my blades wicked sharp with my favorite technique: cutting aluminum foil.
All you need is a piece of aluminum (tin) foil.
Cutting Aluminum Foil
Cut thin strips with the scissors.
All you need is a piece of aluminum (tin) foil. Fold the foil up into 8 layers for heavy duty tin foil and 16 layers if you have regular weight.
Next, cut thin strips with the scissors, making sure to cut from the tip of the blade all the way to the pivot points. Use nice, open, broad cuts. This method also works for rotary cutters. Just run the blades over folded tin foil.
When you’ve finished, open your scissors all the way and then swiftly snap them shut.
When you’ve finished cutting the tin foil, open your scissors all the way and then swiftly snap them shut. This will help to smooth out any tiny burs. I’ve been using the tin foil method for years now and my scissors are razor sharp after I do this.
Pro Tip: Always keep one pair of scissors reserved for paper only (so your fabric scissors don’t go dull too quickly.) Second pro tip: Keep your precious fabric scissors far away from children and partners who don’t understand how serious you are about your scissors.
Roll the foil into a ball and you now have a perfect scrubber for pots and pans.
Waste Not, Want Not: What to do with the tin foil you have just chopped into strips? Roll it up into a ball and you now have a perfect scrubber for pots and pans (not your non-stick, of course). You can also bring these along on camping trips for scouring out cast iron or other camping dishes.
Alternate Methods
Have a different method of scissor sharpening? Let us know!
Out of tin foil but still need to sharpen your scissors? You can use the same method with sand paper (the finer the grit, the smoother the blades). Or, you can cut up steel wool, though it will be considerably messier than the tin foil or sand paper methods.
Do you have a different method of scissor sharpening? Let us know your techniques in the comments below.