How to Sharpen Tweezers

Co-authored by Shara Strand and Amy Bobinger

Dull tweezers can make hair removal an extremely painful process. They’ll often slip right off the hair you’re trying to pluck, leading to a painful pull. Sometimes they’ll even break the hair in half, making it harder to grasp. However, you don’t necessarily have to replace your tweezers just because they’re dull. Luckily, there’s an easy way to sharpen your tweezers yourself, and you can even bend them back into shape if the tips aren’t meeting securely!

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Using a Nail File or Sandpaper

1
Get a double-sided nail file. In order to sharpen your tweezers, all you need is a regular nail file. You can use an emery board, a metal nail file, or anything else you have on hand. However, to ensure you sharpen both sides of the tweezers evenly, make sure you choose a nail file with 2 textured sides.^{[1]
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- You can find nail files anywhere that sells beauty supplies, including drug stores and many grocery and dollar stores.
- Most knife sharpeners are too wide for your tweezers to fit around. Using a nail file will prevent you from having to stretch out your tweezers in order to sharpen them.
Tip: If you don’t have a nail file on hand, use 500- or 1000-grit sandpaper. Fold the sandpaper in half, with the textured side facing out, to make it double-sided. Then, use it the same way you would a nail file.
2
Close the tips of the tweezers around the nail file or sandpaper. Hold the tweezers in your dominant hand and the nail file in the other. Move the open tweezers so the tips are on either side of the file. Then, pinch the tweezers so the tips are pressed tightly against the nail file.^{[2]
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- Hold the nail file and tweezers securely so they don’t slip.
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3
Pull the tweezers in a short, sharp motion across the file several times. While still pinching the tweezers closed, twist your wrist so the tweezers slide down the nail file. Release the pressure slightly and return the tweezers to their starting point, then repeat until the tweezers are as sharp as you want them to be.^{[3]
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- You’ll probably need to do this about 3-4 times in order to get the tweezers sharp again.
4
Rinse the tweezers under running water before you use them. To avoid transferring any grit or fine metal shavings to your face, make sure to give the tweezers a thorough rinse after you sharpen them. While you’re holding the tweezers under the water, run your fingers along the outside and inside to ensure they’re completely clean.^{[4]
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- It’s also a good idea to sanitize your tweezers each time you use them to prevent the spread of infection. A simple way to do this is to wipe them down with alcohol.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Sharpening Angled Tweezer Tips

1
Pinch the tweezers closed so the tip forms one line along the slant. After you've sharpened the grabbing surface of the tweezers, you can also use the nail file to smooth and sharpen the slant tip, if you'd like. Start by holding the tweezers in your dominant hand, squeezing the sides to keep the tweezer blades together.^{[5]
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- This will help buff out any rough edges left by the sharpening process.
2
Hold the tweezers so the slant is parallel to the file. Depending on the angle of the slant, this will probably involve holding the tweezers at about a 45° angle to the file. You want the entire surface of the slanted blade tip to come into contact with the nail file.^{[6]
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- If you hold the tweezers so only the sharp point is touching the nail file, you'll just file away the tip.
3
Swipe the tips of the tweezers across the nail file about 3-4 times. Press the slant tip down into the nail file, then flick your wrist to drag the blades quickly across the file. The motion you'll use here is very similar to sharpening a knife on a whetstone. Repeat this motion several times.^{[7]
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- Only do this lightly. If you file too much on the edge of the tweezers, you'll actually make them duller.
- If your tweezers still seem dull after you do this, you probably need to sharpen the grabbing surface inside the blades again.^{[8]
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- You can also do this to sharpen a flat edge on tweezers. Just hold the tweezers flat instead of at an angle.
Tip: If your tweezers come to a sharp 2-sided point, rather than a single slant, carefully run the nail file along one outside edge, then the other.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Bending Your Tweezers into Shape

1
Hold your tweezers so they're open. If your tweezers have flattened out or gotten bent, the tips might not meet securely anymore, making it difficult or even impossible to grasp fine hairs. Luckily, this is an easy fix. Hold the tweezers securely in one hand, but leave your fingers relaxed so the tweezers are open, rather than pinching them closed.^{[9]
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- To keep from accidentally closing the tweezers, it may help to hold them near the bottom.
2
Slide a pencil halfway down the tweezers. In order to open and close easily, your tweezers should have a slight bend in the middle of the blades. Take a regular pencil and hold it so it’s perpendicular to the tweezers, then slide it between the blades so it’s about halfway between the tip and where the blades meet at the bottom, called the hinge.^{[10]
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- An ink pen will work as well, but be careful not to accidentally break the pen, or ink could get everywhere!
Tip: You can even use a stick that you find outside to fix your tweezers. Just look for one that’s about 6 mm (0.24 in) around, which is the size of a standard pencil.
3
Press the tips of the tweezers closed to restore the bend. Pinch the tweezers closed to hold the pencil in place, then squeeze the tips of the tweezers with your thumb and forefinger. Use the hand that’s holding the tweezers to help steady the pencil so it doesn’t slip out of place. When the tips touch, hold them in place for a few seconds, then release the tweezers and remove the pencil.^{[11]
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- If the tweezers have gotten bent, you may need to also squeeze the bottom, near the hinge.

Expert Q&A

Question

Are there any services I can use to do this instead?

Shara Strand
Makeup Artist
Shara Strand is a Makeup Artist and the Founder of Shara Makeup Studio, a makeup and image consulting studio based in New York City. She has over 15 years of image and makeup consulting experience including working as a regional artist for Bare Escentuals and Estee Lauder, Saks 5th Avenue, Bloomingdales, and Bergdorf Goodman. Her work has been featured in WNBC, Fox 5, Direct TV ABC morning news, and Hamptons Magazine. She is the creator of Shara Cosmetics and is a two time Billboard charted singer. She holds a BFA from New York University.

Shara Strand

Makeup Artist

Expert Answer

Yes. I've had a lot of success with Tweezerman. Part of their customer service is that you send them your tweezers and they ship them out to be professionally sharpened. I've had great results with them.