How to Maintain Your Dog Grooming Scissors
You should maintain your dog grooming scissors for two main reasons, namely to keep the dog grooming scissors in good condition and extend their longevity, as well as for hygiene reasons.
The best dog grooming scissors are an investment – buy once and cry once! – so it’s important to protect that investment by carrying out routine dog grooming scissor maintenance. We’ll explain the best ways to maintain dog grooming scissors below, including how to clean them and how to oil them correctly.
How to Clean Your Dog Grooming Scissors
Don’t be tempted to use your fingers to clean dog grooming scissors. Dog grooming scissors will be sharp and you don’t want to risk your personal safety as part of cleaning your scissors.
The correct way to clean dog grooming scissors is to wipe away the hair with a soft brush or a microfibre cloth. Kitchen roll can also work well. Fine hairs will usually be visible on the inside and outside of each blade. However, don’t forget to check for hairs on the inside of the blades at the pivot point. This area is often forgotten and goes uncleaned.
Top Tip: Make sure you hold the handles towards you and wipe the blade from the pivot point to the tip to avoid injury!
Should You Oil Dog Grooming Scissors?
Yes, you should oil your dog grooming scissors after cleaning them. You may not need to oil them after every use and clean.
So, how do you oil dog grooming scissors? It’s quite straightforward. Open the scissors to 90 degrees. Then apply a small amount of scissor oil to the parts of the blade where the blades cross and are attached as in the image below, as this is the area which will control the tension.
Top Tip: Make applying the oil easier by buying scissor oil that comes with a brush, pad or syringe applicator to dab it on.
Watch our video on how to clean and oil dog grooming scissors for a more visual explanation!
What About Dog Grooming Scissor Tension?
You’ll probably know intuitively if your scissor tension is wrong, especially if you bought your grooming scissors new and know how they should feel. To check this more scientifically, point the scissors to the ceiling holding each loop with a different hand. Open the scissors to a right angle and then release. The blade should return to an almost-closed position. If they close completely the scissors will fold hair rather than cut hair, making them less effective.
Dog grooming scissors will have an adjustment at the pivot point and this is used to adjust the tension when required. It will be a trial-and-error exercise until you get the tension correct.
