HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT SCISSORS FOR THE JOB

I’m crafty and a lot of my friends are too; we understand each other.

Recently I was visiting a friend in Chicago who is an avid sewer. She graciously converted her sewing room into a guest room while I was in town for a few days.

We had this conversation as we were getting ready to dash out the door:

Her: “Are you ready?” [from the front door]

Me:  “One sec, l’m just cutting this plastic tag thingy off my dress” [from the sewing/guest room]

Her: “Okay. Noooooo…wait, wait”.  Running frantically into the room

Me:  “What’s wrong?” [holding a pair of scissors in my hand]

Her: “Nothing. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t using the other scissors”. Sigh of relief when she saw I wasn’t using her fabric shears to cut the tag

Me:  “No worries. I know how it is. I’ve got like ten pairs of scissors too”.

It’s moments like these that solidify and reaffirm our decades-long friendship. I’m serious.

My friend’s craft desk had no fewer than six pair of scissors within view, and I knew right away which pair of scissors to use. I know what it feels like to get your specialty scissors blunted because they were used for the wrong task. I wouldn’t do that to a friend.

For folks who use the same pair of scissors for ev-ery-thang, believe me when I say this: you are making things difficult for yourself.

Having the right scissors for the job produces higher quality work in less time. Here are a few types of scissors you may want to add to your collection:

OFFICE

Office scissors are your everyday standard scissors. They have a straight blade that matches up with the handle. These are basic scissors that are used primarily for cutting paper. The blades usually remain sharp and even since they cut the same types of materials every time they are used.

CRAFT

Your craft scissors are your “ride or die” scissors; they should not be confused with your office scissors. Craft scissors are the pair of scissors that can (and will) be destroyed without you feeling emotional about it. They are fairly cheap – since they will be replaced often – and they are designed to stand a fair amount of abuse. I use mine to cut things like heavy plastic packaging, thin jewelry wire, and polymer clay. The handles are usually get caked with paint or glue and I use them until they literally fall apart. Which is why I like to keep more than one pair on hand.

HEAVY-DUTY

These are the scissors you use for tasks that are more than your craft scissors can handle. Most heavy duty scissors have a special joint that helps them automatically adjust to slice through thick materials and give you a neat cut. They work great for cutting things like foam board, cork and even thin sheets of wood.

FABRIC & SEWING

Fabric shears are the prima donna of the scissor world. They are large scissors with handles offset at an angle that makes it easy to cut fabric on a table. They shouldn’t be used on paper or materials that can dull their ultra sharp blades. Other types of scissors that are used for sewing are:

Pinking shears have serrated blades for making zig zag cuts to stop fabric edges from fraying

Embroidery scissors are small and delicate with super pointy blades for precise thread cuts

Snips have a spring loaded handle that makes them great for lots of repetitive short cuts

FLORAL

Don’t you feel kind of weird using office scissors to trim the stems on flowers your boo sent you (or on the ones you picked up from the grocery store)? You don’t have to feel weird anymore. Use floral scissors. They work well for trimming flower stems and pruning indoor plants.

COOKING

With the exception of using floral scissors to cut fruit stems, you definitely don’t want to use tools that touch your food for other hobbies (and vice versa). Knives are good for some things, but not all things in the kitchen. That’s why it’s handy to have a few types of cooking scissors.

Herb scissors are usually multi-bladed scissors that do a great job of cutting herbs and not bruising them which preserves the true depth of flavor.

Poultry shears are designed specifically for de-boning and cutting poultry. They usually have comfort handles, strong blades and easily come apart for cleaning.

Seafood scissors save you a ton of work when it comes to cracking, cutting and shelling seafood at home. They also work well for deveining shrimp.

HAIR

Unless you know what you are doing, I don’t recommend giving yourself a major haircut at home. But I do think it’s realistic to trim your ends at home (or to cut bangs if you’re brave). The bottom line is: using “regular” scissors will gnaw through your hair and cause split ends. Nobody has time for that. Hair shears are super sharp and should be used solely for cutting hair.

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