Shears are one of the most used and expensive hairdressing tools for stylists. In order to take care of them and not ruin your investment, our experts bring up some tips to help make sure your shears stay in good shape and optimal performance for a long period of time.

Shears proper use

• Use them always on clean hair
• Avoid dropping them to the floor
• Close them when not in use

Shears regular cleaning

Cleaning your shears on a regular basis is one of the most important steps. When the blades of scissors are covered with hair, styling residue, moisture and chemicals, corrosion can occur. Regular cleaning will help keep the blades stay sharp longer.

• Remove carefully the hair off the blades and the pivot point using a damp cloth, before using any solution to sanitize the shears. Use rubbing alcohol and a cotton ball to remove styling aid residue and wash with soap and water, rinsing thoroughly.
• Dry with a soft cloth and apply a small amount of oil, open and close shears, and again wipe blades clean with a soft cloth.
• After cleaning your hair cutting scissors, allow them to dry in a holder or other device. This will allow air to circulate and dry the shears completely before placing them into your storage container.

At least once per week you should sanitize your shears, paying attention especially to the pivot point area, where we can use a small and soft brush (note: be careful to do this only in the screw and not in the blades)

Shear’s storage and protection

After they’ve been cleaned, sanitized and dried, store your shears in a protective case, that will help keep the shears safe from moisture and environmental factors. Be sure you put them away once they are completely dry, to avoid corrosion.

The Termix cutting and thinning shears have their own case. But if you also like to have them all together but protected you can use the Termix safety shears box, for easy access and use.

Oil lubrication

A coating of oil will protect the scissor by helping to keep moisture out and making it feeling smooth. Normally, each shear brings its own oil and that’s the one we should use.

Remember that before using it, the shear must be clean and dry. Hold it with with the blades open and put a couple drops of shear oil at the pivot point. Don’t apply too much oil, or else you could make them slippery to handle.

Tension adjustment

On each shear there is a dial or screw on it which is designed to adjust the tension by just tighten or loosen it. It is recommended to adjust your scissors daily after lubricating them although proper adjustment is often a matter of personal preference. However, a good way of knowing when to do it is when the scissors open too loose or too hard. Here we show you some examples:

• Correct tension: As you can see in the image, we have marked the angle or point where the scissor must present its first blade contact with a low resistance when closing.

• Insufficient tension: In this case, the blade contact is produced almost at the tip. This means you need to tighten the screw because it is loose, which causes the hair to fold and slip during the haircut.

• Excessive tension: If it is hard to push down it and the blade contact is made in the union area it means our scissor is too tight. Loosen it to avoid damaging the blades for excessive contact.

To adjust a shear you need to tighten / loosen the adjusting screw as needed. Take a look to these images:

If there is insufficient tension, we should increase it. Turn the screw clockwise, to the right. Be sure not to over tighten. Slowly rotate in the same direction and in turns of about 2mm at a time.

If the scissor is too tight and we have to loosen it, turn the screw counter clockwise, to the left. Again, rotate gently and in 2mm turns at one time.