Find a good sharpening person I your area an you can have any scissors done. I have paper scissors that are good quality and sewing scissors that are good quality. I have had them all for many years and have them sharpened regularly. Buy quality and care for them and you will not have to have them replaced. I also have my pinking shears sharpened.

Dropping scissors is definitely not good for them!. It can ruin the pints and cause the blades to separate so they are never good for anything except decoration. My mother's Wiss scissors never touched paper and were always professionally sharpened, but 3/4 of a century's use has finally rendered them fit for a wall display of sewing notions rather than useful cutting tools. I guard my Gingher's closely, keep all purpose scissors I buy at Lowe's for kids to use for paper crafts and send them to Gingher's for professional sharpening. No one uses my sewing scissors for anything other than fabric. froggyintexas

You tell 'em, sister!

If you want to know if new scissors cut better, find a way to try out a brand new pair somewhere. I found a big difference. My Fiskers cuts well, but I think they cut better when they were new.

Thanks Jan for the link to Gingers. I had forgotten about that. I have my grandmas pinking shears. Not sure what happened to them but they won't cut anything. I'm not sure how old they are but if grandma was still alive she would be 114 years old.
I have a cheap scissor sharpener I bought at Wal Mart that I use on all of my cheap scissors. They do a good job. I am afraid to try them on my good scissors.
I have always been told that cutting paper dulled scissors. I'm not sure if it is true or not. I save a couple of nicked up rotary cutter blades to use for cutting paper and other things like that. They worked great for cutting the rubber mats for my sons tool box.

Anyone who enters my sewing room better be there to clean it. Since there are only two of us at home, husband is afraid of my room so I have no worries. But years ago, he had to purchase a new pair of shears after his kids cut carpet for their car trunk using my best pair of scissors I paid over $100.00 for. He was quite surprised when I told him the $3.99 orange handled "thing" they purchased at the hardware store were not the same. Grandson went into sewing room to cut the plastic tag off of something. Suggested he back slowly out of that room before he was injured by the monster in there.

Thank you so much for the Gingher link! I have 4 pairs, and have never been satisfied with the local sharpening service. I will be sending them out, one at a time!

I read the part where the professional sharpener called it a "myth". Ask my kids if it is a myth. Many years ago, Fiskars were quite expensive, and I had 2 pairs. Not being able (or willing) to find the cheaqp scissors, my kids used my Fiskars scissors. I noticed the difference immediately, and any fabric that was cut with those scissors turned out choppy. After my kids had to use their allowance to buy a new pair, they never touched my "fabric" scissors aqain.
I stil have one of those pairs of Fiskars, but now my kids are all grown and moved out, so I don't have to worry about my scissors. :)

I completely agree with you. With a couple of notable exceptions, most of my worst injuries have been with dull or garbagy tools.

I do the same now with my scissors. I had a group of ladies here when I sold my quilting frame (the short arm one) and the one noticed my tether and asked if I thought someone was going to swipe them. I told her to drop them. All three ladies looked at me in horror! ;) I said seriously - drop them. She did, tentatively, and they stopped about 2" from the ground. No damage. If I'd learned that before they'd bounced off the ground twice, we might not be having this discussion. ;)

Now my embroidery scissors, those are another story! They land point down all the time for some reason. They used to sit on my Juki when it was on the frame, and the one day they fell and landed point down in my toe. I didn't realise it immediately, but when I felt like my foot was wet, I looked down and found blood everywhere. Now I dodge them if I see them falling. Every man for himself at that point! Luckily I have anti fatigue mats below the frame, cutting table and my sewing desk now, so they just stick in point first and I can retrieve them once their freefall is over. Yes, the points are a little less pointy now, but they're not too terrible, so they still see use. I mostly use my Famore snips now anyway.

Thanks for that clarification Auntie V! I had thought that bolt was really only to hold them together. I guess it stands to reason that there's adjustment in there too. The space you mention doesn't seem to affect the way the scissors cut,... the blades are nicely mated together when the cutting edges are together,... do you think they need adjustment?

I never do it on purpose! ;) It just seems to happen sometimes. There've been two times that I know of for my Ginghers. They seem to cut well, but a friend is bringing her set to our sewing circle tomorrow so I can compare them to mine. I got us each a set when they went on clearance, so they should be identical unless I've done them damage.

All I know is that Dad always said that the adjustments were for the professionals and not to mess with them. He would make not so nice remarks about people messing up things when they do not know what they are doing.

LOL! I know those remarks! I make those same remarks when people bring me a sewing machine with the same adjustments... or make me come fix their computers for the same reasons. :)