What to Avoid When Maintaining Hair Cutting Shears
Whether you’re attending a cosmetology school, working in a salon, or simply giving haircuts to friends or family, having adequately maintained equipment is imperative for providing the best possible service. Taking care of your hair cutting tools is quite simple and requires attention to detail, regular checkups, and careful handling. However, many hairstylists fall victim to a few simple mistakes. To avoid these errors, check out these tips on what to avoid when maintaining hair-cutting shears.
Not Cleaning Between Haircuts
Working in a hair salon is a fast-paced job in which you’ll see countless clients every single day. Among the hustle and bustle, it’s easy to cut corners and neglect proper sanitation processes. In truth, not cleaning your shears between haircuts leads to sanitary and functionality issues.
For starters, dirty shears carry tons of bacterias on their blades, which can cross-contaminate with other clients and lead to outbreaks of infections. Additionally, a build-up of hair fragments quickly dulls your shears and limits their ability to cut correctly. To prevent these issues, thoroughly clean your gear between each session, ensuring your shears are thoroughly dried before the next customer.
Improper Storage
Shears are expensive, and you spend even more labor ensuring they’re clean and functional. However, improper storage of your cutting equipment quickly negates your hard work. Stashing your gear loosely into damp containers causes blades to chip and rust.
Instead, invest in a quality carrying case with absorbent lining and specific compartments for each shear. This case should be made out of sturdy materials to prevent damages caused by dropping or bumping around. Lastly, keep your case stored away in a dry, safe area when not in use.
Using Hair Shears for Other Tasks
Haircutting shears are explicitly designed for, well, hair cutting! Different tools, such as wide-tooth thinners, swivel shears, and texturing blades, have specific functions to make your job easier and the finished results better. To ensure the functional integrity of your hair trimmers, never use your shears for anything other than their designated jobs.
For example, using a basic shear for opening a package or envelope dulls the blades and affects the shear’s tension. Materials like paper are made of wood fibers that are different in texture compared to hair. Basically, your expensive gear is only built for hair cuts, and any other task puts tools at risk of damages.
Understanding what to avoid when maintaining hair-cutting shears is essential for any professional or aspiring stylist. Ultimately, we want to provide the best possible service, and having finely tuned tools is the only way to accomplish this goal.
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