Sharpening Sewing Scissors and Rotary Cutters

You can sharpen your scissors and rotary cutter by cutting aluminum foil! It helps to get a few more cuts out of every rotary blade, or a pair of scissors. However, there are some pros and cons to using this sharpening method.

Pros:

• Cutting the foil removes dust and other small, microscopic objects from around the blade, thus somewhat sharpening it.

Cons

• This does not truly sharpen the blade, it is only a temporary fix. If you do this too much, the metal of the blade could possibly be worn away, making it duller. Sharpening blades is typically done at an angle, not with a straight up and down cut. This may be the reason this method may dull blades. Some websites suggest you should think of this as cleaning the blade rather than truly sharpening it.

To sharpen your rotary cutter with aluminum foil:

Fold a piece of foil several times to get a long, thick piece. After I folded mine, I had about 10 layers of foil.

Use a ruler with your rotary cutter to make straight cuts all the way down the foil, each cut about 1/4" wide to make the most of your foil piece. Any thinner and it's easy to slip off the foil.

Continue cutting all of your foil. I had enough to make 3 cuts. How many cuts you want to make is up to you depending on your rotary cutter. Remember, doing this too much has the possibility of dulling the blade.

Very carefully (be careful!) Wipe around your rotary blade with a damp cloth or paper towel to remove any small bits of foil that may have stuck to the blade. Again, careful!

You can also do this with your sewing scissors. Just make long cuts through a thick piece of foil. You are the best judge for how many cuts you should make. Carefully clean the scissors just like the rotary cutter to remove small bits of foil.

If you think your rotary blade or scissors are getting dull, try this and see how it works! It's super easy, and it helps to get a few more cuts out of a rotary blade. Thanks for reading!

Note: The sharpening method in this post is just a suggestion. I am not responsible for any damage that occurs to your rotary cutter or blades, your scissors, or you, if you try this.