Scissoring Techniques
Pet groomers come to the craft through many routes. Not all these routes have equal access to information about scissoring technique. This article will outline basic techniques and exercises for improving scissoring.
Dip and Snip — Are you guilty?
Many novice groomers use what I call the “Dip & Snip” technique of scissoring. Dipping is when you move in and out of the surface to be scissored: the groomer takes a cut, pulls the shears away, then dips in for another cut. Snipping is using the top third of the scissor blades only. Are you guilty? Don’t feel bad — most of us start out this way until corrected. It is natural to dip and snip when you are being tentative and lack confidence.
Get a Grip — lose the index finger!
Uh oh! You picked up your grooming shears just as you always have done with other scissors: thumb hooked in the bottom ring and index finger in the top ring? Wrong! Bad! The scissor police will get you for that. First of all, no hooking. REST your thumb alongside the thumbnail in the lower ring; don’t stick it in up to the first joint. We are trying to create a fulcrum here — the leverage point where you get the most control and balance for use of your tool with the least amount of effort. Instead of sticking your index finger through the top ring, place it along the shank of the shears (the lower part below the blades). Now you are starting to have some control. Place your ring finger in the upper ring, and rest your pinky on the loopy thing — it’s called a finger rest. Got it? Place your middle finger gently below the index finger. There you go — the “proper” way to hold your shears.
There is another position which some of us find more comfortable: middle finger in the top ring and the ring finger resting alongside the pinky in the finger rest. This is the grip I use — second-best but acceptable. Most important is to get your index finger out of the ring. Until you do that, you will be scissoring with a pinching action that keeps you snipping and dipping.
Twelve O’Clock and All is Well
Hold your shears with the blades straight up in the 12 o’clock position — that is the main position from which you will be doing most of your scissoring. The reason for scissoring up into the coat as much as possible is that the scissoring action moves the coat slightly forward and ahead of the shears. Scissoring downward is like slightly patting the coat down as you go, which requires more combing back up to get the finish you want.
Exercise One
Hold your shears straight up in the 12 o’clock position. Using your thumb only, open and close the blades to the “5 to 1” position. Work on hitting the exact same time on the imaginary clock with every opening of the blades. Now go to the “10 to 2” position and do the same. The goal is consistency in your scissoring action. For most scissoring you will make cuts from the “10 to 2” position; in smaller areas you will use the “5 to 1.” Either way, you need to strengthen your thumb to do the work. Avoid pinching the blades together with fingers and thumb — the point is to get full cuts using nearly all the length of the blades.
Exercise Two
Hold your shears in the 12 o’clock position and place your hand parallel to a wall. Practice opening and closing the blades while moving right to left and back, staying parallel to the wall at the exact distance. Now open and close the blades while rotating your wrist to the 3 PM position. Practice staying on a level plane and not dipping. Use light pressure with your index finger on the shank to maintain control of the positioning of the shears. Try stretching your reach from the 3 PM position all the way to 6 PM. Work the other way as well — from 12 to 9 and down to 6. This requires flexibility in your wrist, plus control to stay parallel to the wall.
Cuts per minute
This is the rpm’s of your scissoring machine. If you listen to competition groomers — or Edward Scissorhands — their scissors are clicking faster than you can count. It sounds like a machine. You do not need the speed of a race car; settle for cruising, as long as you get the motor going. You want even, consistent action of the scissor blades: it keeps you from dipping the shears in and out of the coat, and by increasing the number of cuts over a given surface of coat you get a smoother finish. Find the cpm speed that works for you.
Exercise Three
Hold the shears in the 12 o’clock position and move from 12 to 3 o’clock while making long, even cutting strokes. Work that thumb! Count your strokes and try to get 10–15 cuts in while covering that area. Work on increasing the cpm as well as opening the shears the full length of the blades.
That’s it!
Good scissoring technique is a matter of (a) holding the shears correctly to create a solid fulcrum, (b) working the thumb to open and close the blades, (c) using nearly all the length of the blade (no snipping), (d) hand control to stay on a level plane (no dipping), (e) wrist flexibility, and (f) getting up to speed (cuts per minute). Now all you have to do is move away from the wall and on to the living, probably moving, target.
Two other factors influence the results of your scissoring: the shears themselves and coat preparation. Use high-quality professional instruments maintained at peak sharpness — a cheap or dull shear bends hair rather than cutting it. Give your shears the Tissue Test: hold a piece of tissue loosely with one hand and cut into it with the shears. You should get clean, easy cuts — no bending, tearing or snagging. For a smooth sculpted groom such as the Bichon Frise, most groomers use 8″ or 10″ shears; the longer blade requires fewer cuts over a larger area. Curved shears help with rounded heads, butts, and defining angulation. The hair needs to be clean and fluffed out — preferably “fluff dried,” a brushing-while-drying technique. Fluff the coat with a metal comb, scissor an area, fluff AGAIN, and re-scissor; it may take several passes over an area to get it perfect.
Scissoring technique does not happen overnight — it takes considerable practice to gain control. Be patient with yourself and use the exercises above. The more you practice, the quicker you will learn. Happy grooming!
About the author
Barbara Bird has been grooming for a bazillion years in Tucson, Arizona. She learned through an extended apprenticeship to Bill “Scissorhands” North, to whom she owes a lifetime debt and an inferiority complex. Writing this article has been helpful in focusing on her own technique development. Thanks for reading.