If you’re a crafter (especially if you sew) a rotary cutter is your friend. It might even be your favorite craft tool.
I will say that one of the most frustrating things is when you go to cut a piece of fabric and your blade is dull! You have to cut it like 3 times to make a cut and then it’s not a clean cut, it’s more like a ragged cut with strings. Not fun.
Let me show you a tip on how to sharpen your rotary blade.
Keep in mind that this trick isn’t long-term, but if you’re going to throw your blade in the trash anyways it can’t hurt to try right? We all love the feel of a brand new blade that cuts like butter but this tip is a close second for me!
Oh, and please remember to always be careful when cutting anything with a rotary cutter!
You’ll need:
- cutting mat
- heavy duty tin foil
- fabric scraps
Start by tearing off a large piece of tin foil and fold it many times. I folded mine until I was cutting through 6 layers.
Next, start cutting the tin foil many times.
To test it out, I keep some scrap fabric on hand and see if I sharpened it well enough. Repeat process until the blade is sharp.
So simple and really comes in handy when you’re in a pinch and don’t have a new blade on hand!
Have you tried this tip? I would love to hear about your experience in the comments below.
Be sure to check out these other sewing posts!
Thanks for a great tip. I’m about to do some cutting this afternoon and will give it a try.
Thanks for sharing the idea.
I was thinking of sand paper, but this trick is much cheaper 😉
My grandmother cut fine sandpaper to sharpen her scissors.
Great 🙂
This is real neat! Have pinned this!
Thanks for sharning, great idea 🙂
Melanie
Can you use this technique with scissors as well? Great tip! Thanks!
I have heard this idea used to sharpen paper punches also.
Your trick worked! I went thru three rotary cutter blades while making masks. As a coincidence, my sister sent me your pin. Thanks for the tip!
Great tips! Thanks for sharing!
I am going add a folded piece of tin foil to the sewing kit I bring on retreats. I always have new blades in ther. But, I will try the foil next time.
I’ve also used wax paper to temporarily sharpen rotary cutter blades, paper cutter blades, and scissors. I’m interested to try aluminum foil and see which works better! Thanks for sharing!
This technique is really smart and efficient! Makes a blade sharp with no efforts. Thanks a lot!
Clever tip ~ thanks for sharing it!
Yay! Going to try this today! Oh, and y’all, those so-called rotary blade sharpeners that you can buy for a pretty penny…I haven’t found those to work at all! Save your pennies for aluminum foil ;).
I just tried this tonight. It helped well enough for me to finish the cutting goal I had set tonight, and who can ask for more than that? Thanks for the tip!
My guild owns a rotary blade sharpener. We tried it with several types/brands of blades. We had great luck with Olfa, but blades from China did not sharpen. There are different grades of steel so your mileage may vary using foil for sharpening.
Can’t wait to try this idea. Thanks for sharing.
Great idea. I will try it today. Thanks a lot
This makes sense since this is a useful tip tip to sharpen scrapbook punches!!!
Great tips! Thanks for sharing!
Wow. What a great trick. I had my wife give this a try and it worked perfectly
Wow thanks! I get so frustrated when my blades dull and it becomes more tacting to do my cuts.
Thank you! This is an awesome fix. I’ll have to remember it the next time I’m living the struggle of a dull rotary cutter.
I am confused. I haven’t seen any tin-foil since WWII. All I have is aluminum foil. Will it work as well as tin-foil?
Hey Donna. Yes, aluminum foil is what was used we just call it “tin foil” around here, too.
Thanks for the ideas. Blades here are so expensive so any suggestion on how to make them last a little longer is very welcome.
Omigosh… I know this post if very old, but THANK YOU for this tip. I sharpened my rotary blade, then used the strips I cut to sharpen my scissors. ‘Cause I’m thrifty like that. 😛
Great Idea. I am going to try it today. Thanks for sharing
Thanks for the great tip. I have at least 20 old blades for my rotary cutter. I will try it and let you know. Thanks
This makes perfect sense. I use foil to sharpen my scissors why not those expensive blades. Thanks for the tip. I will try today!
Many many thanks! My mum tried it and says the blades are now better than new!!
Will this work on pinking shears?
This really works!!
Thanks for sharing I always wanted to no how to sharpen the blades. I will try this.
Thanks
love this tip use it for scissors also works well
I am going to try to sharpen my blades, with the foil
This was a hack way before hacks! Mama cut aluminum foil with her scissors to sharpen them. I also use it now to sharpen my small blades of my embroidery scissors to sharpen them ! Thanks for posting this hack.
I have tried this and it is good. But before throwing away those blades they still work well on paper crafts.
Thanks so much for sharing this tip!!! It really works. My Olga rotary cutters sharpened up immediately!