Nail clippers: how to choose, use and sharpen correctly?

You can achieve neat and beautiful nails only if you regularly do manicure. Some women turn to professionals working at home or in salons for this purpose, while others prefer to do it on their own.

The nail clipper is a special device for manicure. They are mainly used to remove the hardened skin around the nail plate, to tidy up the cuticle and pterygium.

In the case of young children, forceps are used as an alternative to conventional nail clippers, as they are much more convenient to work with. They are also used in a situation where it is necessary to correct the free edge of the nail plate.

There is a wide variety of nail clippers, which allows you to choose the best option for any condition of the nail plate, as well as the cuticle.

Professional cuticle pliers are quite miniature and have shorter cutting surfaces than other varieties.

Nail clippers are an alternative to nail scissors, therefore they are suitable, if necessary, for shortening nails and for cutting off burrs. They are more powerful than cuticle-only nippers

Nippers for clipping toenails, that is, for a pedicure, have the most durable design.

Baby clippers are used to trim toddlers' nails. In principle, they look the same as nippers for adults, but differ from them only in size.

For the home, it is better to choose separate tweezers for manicure and pedicure, and the latter should be more powerful and have long blades. When going on a trip, it is more convenient to stock up on a miniature device with safety blades.

Any forceps should have smooth handles with no play in the joint between them, that is, no gap. Otherwise, their use can be quite dangerous. The ideal material for making this manicure device is called stainless steel.

With a well-made device, the blades are already sufficiently sharpened, they can be used immediately after purchase. Usually, you can use cutting pliers for almost six months, and then you have to turn to a professional to sharpen them again.

When buying, the quality of the forceps can be checked by trying to cut the tightly stretched bag exactly in the middle. Ideally, the cut will be neat and will not injure the rest of the bag. It is also worth closing the blades and checking to see if there is a gap between them. The halves should also not overlap and, of course, not creak.

It is important that the forceps are comfortable to use. If they open too tight, or, on the contrary, hang out, then this is considered wrong. By the way, the optimal length of the blades for correcting the cuticle is between six and eleven millimeters, and those used for cutting nails are between eight and sixteen millimeters.

For beginners, it is better to start with a blade length of five millimeters. For owners of wide blades, a tool with 6 mm blades or more is suitable, and a little smaller for narrow and small ones.

Tweezers for manicure, made by different manufacturers, differ in the quality of the selected material and some specifics of manufacturing.

This brand produces a wide variety of tweezers. There are devices on sale that are sharpened by hand, have a lock, coated with a special coating of silver or gold. All products are of high quality and can last for a long time even without sharpening the blades.

Staleks manufactures professional salon cutters from hand-sharpened surgical steel. They differ from each other in various parameters, for example, the length of the cutting part or the dimensions of the device itself. The length of the blades of the most popular model from this manufacturer is approximately sixteen millimeters, and the tweezers themselves are as much as 134 millimeters, thanks to the neat long handles. The model gently and without wounds removes both excess cuticles and burrs. Staleks also have models with longer blades, the length of which is seventeen millimeters.

These nippers are very powerful and can handle any thickness of nail plate. In addition, pliers with shortened 8mm blades are also available. It is important to mention that Staleks has created nippers for the correction of ingrown nails. The blades of such a device are narrow and long, making up a length of about sixteen millimeters. The tweezers are made of durable steel, which can be sharpened again if necessary.

Avon offers several varieties of nail clippers in different sizes. The devices are made of chrome-plated steel, protected from corrosion and silicone.

Tweezers of this brand are made of cobalt steel. They look very nice and stylish. In addition, there are several options for the compression mechanism and the ability to choose the length of the blades from four to fifteen millimeters. Yoko products are hand sharpened.

Before starting the procedure, it is necessary to disinfect the equipment, and steam the fingers themselves slightly. The tweezers are parted and brought to the cuticle (and one blade should be under it), after which they are compressed. Parts of the hardened skin on the sides of the nail plate are processed in the same way. It is correct to hold the wire cutters calmly and gently so that they do not tear off the skin, but carefully cut it off. The thumb should be placed on the connecting mechanism, and the rest should be clamped on the spring. It is always recommended to point the blades downwards.

While working, do not be zealous and press the device too hard against the cuticle to be treated. Movements should follow an arc. If the procedure is performed correctly, then a thin strip will still remain from the cuticle.

It is better to store each instrument in a separate case or case, which will close tightly and, thereby, fix it in an immovable position. In addition, it is recommended that you cover the blades themselves with something, so as not to accidentally cut your fingers. For example, it can be the remnants of the sheaths of old wires, from which tubes of a suitable size are constructed.

In the event that the blades become dull, you should not try to restore them yourself - it is better to give them to a repair shop. When using nippers, you must not forget about disinfection. Before starting a manicure, they should be treated with an ultraviolet sterilizer, and after the procedure - with ordinary alcohol.

Sharpening tweezers at home is strongly discouraged - instead, you should always contact a professional. The process itself usually consists of several stages. First, it turns out if there is a backlash, that is, an unnecessary gap between the surfaces, it is eliminated. The springs are adjusted as necessary to provide a calm, gentle movement and any existing rust is cleared away. Finally, each plane is sharpened from the inside to become sharp and thin.

However, there is still an instruction for sharpening the wire cutters at home. For its implementation, you will need a bar used for sharpening knives. The tweezers open as wide as possible and sharpen very smoothly on the block. If the farm has a grinding machine, then the device is fixed on it, and the direct processing of the blades occurs using a diamond-coated wheel. In addition, you can try to put the tongs in order with ordinary sandpaper.

In the event that the nippers begin to move slowly, you can also correct the situation yourself. In this case, a special grinding paste, machine oil or kerosene is used. A small piece of green substance is ground into dust, and then mixed with a few drops of the liquid component so that a gruel is obtained.

The composition is applied to the junction point of the fully open tweezers, after which their handles are turned and brought together. Then (if necessary) the gruel is also rubbed into the points where rivets are placed on both sides. At the end of the procedure, the hinge is thoroughly washed with kerosene, and then lubricated with a couple of oil droplets.

Zinger tweezers are very popular with buyers, which do not lose their original condition even seven years after the start of use. Users note that the device not only copes with neat cuticle removal, but, moreover, is very comfortable and does not dull at all. Yoko nippers are also considered convenient and are often chosen for use in nail salons. They do not lose their quality even with frequent use.

Thus, you got acquainted with the most popular models of nail clippers, and also learned how to sharpen them at home.

For tips on choosing and using tweezers, see the following video.