Shear Stories Blog

What's The Proper Place to Store my Salon Shears?

High-quality hairstylist shear case
Shear cases are designed to protect your shears from damage and your hands from being cut by your shears. Selecting a quality shear case is important for a stylist. This guide will give some pointers on how to select a scissor case.

Can You Sharpen my Knives?

Levelset Mizutani Stellite Series-1 Shear
Can You Sharpen my Knives?

Made in Japan vs. Japanese Steel

Handmade in Japan Mizutani Speedstar Double-Swivel Thumb Stylist Shear
Lately, I've heard of a number of shear companies advertising their shears as being made of Japanese steel. Are these shears as good as true Japane...

Welcome to our new Store!

Welcome to our new Store!
After 13 years of providing in-salon shear sharpening to Chicago's top salons and stylists, we're excited to announce the opening of our new store at 858 N Clark St., #202 in Chicago (just North of Chestnut on Clark St., second floor)! 

Shear Basics: Offset vs. Opposing Handles

Shear Basics: Offset vs. Opposing Handles
One way in which stylist shears may differ from one another is in whether they're levelset or opposing handle shears, or whether they're offset or semi-offset shears. This post explains these important differences.

Mason Pearson Professional Brush Care

Mason Pearson Professional Brush Care
Taking good care of your new Mason Pearson professional hair brush will not only prolong its useful life, it will also make sure your brush functions the way it was designed, smoothing and providing that deep lustrous shine that you expect from a Mason.

Adjustment dial or screw? Which is better?

Hikari Blaze shear showing finger dial
There are three broad categories of adjusters for salon shears. Each of these fastener systems has their own advantages and disadvantages. When selecting a shear, the stylist should be aware of these pros and cons to help them select the shear, which is right for them.

Shear Basics - Shear Length

Hikari #B2 Crane-Handle Shear
One of the first questions stylists and barbers ask when selecting a shear is how long the shear is. So how do you measure a shear's length? This post answers this common question.

Weekly Shear Care

Mizutani Blacksmith Fit Shear in Titanium Black finish - available in 5.0", 5.5", 6.0", and 6.5" lengths
In this post we will outline the quick and easy steps stylists should also follow at the end of the week to keep their shears cutting and functioning properly.

Daily Shear Care

Daily Shear Care
Stylists should follow a daily routine to care for their professional salon shears. If they do, this will help keep their shears working properly, and will extend the time between having to have their shears sharpened.

Proper Selection and Care of YS Park Combs

Proper Selection and Care of YS Park Combs

YS Park makes the finest line of stylist tools available to today's professional stylist. To prolong the life of your YS Park comb, follow these care and cleaning instructions. This post outlines how to care for your YS Park professional stylist comb, and also gives some pointers to help select which comb is right for you.

Pointy- vs. Rounded-Tips on Salon Shears

Pointy- vs. Rounded-Tips on Salon Shears
Stylists occasionally ask to have their shears made 'pointier' at the tips. For several reasons, it is better for shears to be purchased with pointy tips, than to have a shear sharpener perform this change on their shears after purchase.