Why does nobody talk about how to properly hold thinning shears?

I keep seeing new barbers in my shop gripping them like regular scissors, which just chews up the hair instead of blending it. How did you all learn the right grip when you were starting out?

3 comments

3 Comments

lucas_jenkins1mo ago

Oh man, I saw a whole breakdown about this on a barber forum last year. The main point was that holding them like regular scissors makes the blades close fully on each snip, which just takes out big chunks. The proper grip keeps them only partly closed so they skip teeth and actually blend. It totally changed my results once I got the feel for it.

jason9583d ago

Wow, that reminds me of when I first tried using thinning shears and butchered my own hair. I was squeezing them shut like regular scissors and just made a huge hole. It took a bad haircut to finally look up how to hold them right.

hollyr281mo ago

Honestly, the regular scissor grip works fine for me. It gives more control over the cut, and I've never had a client complain about the blend. Maybe all that talk about a special grip is just overcomplicating a simple tool.