Why can't you use scissors with your left hand?

[hedgehogger1]

Or your right if you're left handed. I don't get it. They're just moving up and down. They're hinged, I can't do anything else, but why can't I cut left handed....

I would love an answer to this. I’m left handed and whenever I use scissors it just folds the paper. If I use them with my right hand that doesn’t work either.

Something to do with the cutting edge of the scissors, I think.

I'm left handed and I've always been able to use regular scissors OK.

I am sure there are left handed scissors for sale from somewhere.

I think it depends what you learnt as a child - it's really hard to change that as an adult. I am left handed so can cut left handed but my mum taught me to cut right handed as well because most scissors are designed that way. Consequently I cut right handed out of habit but can n do left handed as well.

I’m right handed but can use scissors with either hand.

cutting edge is slanted (bevelled) for natural angle depending on your handedness (with scissors, not knives)

DH is resolutely left-handed & easily uses RH scissors with his left hand, insists this is easy & something is wrong with Lefties who can't.

I'm RH & can sometimes use the LH scissors with my RH

What lljkk said! It's the slight twist depending which loop is in your fingers or thumb

@lljkk

cutting edge is slanted (bevelled) for natural angle depending on your handedness (with scissors, not knives)

DH is resolutely left-handed & easily uses RH scissors with his left hand, insists this is easy & something is wrong with Lefties who can't.

I'm RH & can sometimes use the LH scissors with my RH

This - the blades are round the other way for left-handed scissors.

I’m ambidextrous and can only use scissors with my left hand. I have two pairs of left handed scissors and none of my right-handed family members can use them as comfortably as I can.

You can use right handed scissors in your right hand, and left handed scissors in your left hand.

The edges are set one way or the other.

There's a link here, sorry it's so long.

www.amazon.co.uk/Westcott-inch-Easy-Handed-Scissor/dp/B001RDDCZO/ref=asc_df_B001RDDCZO/?hvlocphy=1006937&linkCode=df0&hvptwo&psc=1&psc=1&hvnetw=g&hvadid=258536951956&hvpone&hvlocint&th=1&hvpos&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl&hvqmt&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&hvtargid=pla-393689369455&hvrand=6421083987270098830

It's partly to do with the cutting edge and also if you compare left and right handed scissors the handles are different shapes. Left handed ones tend to have a two finger grip at the bottom.
Most left handed people can use right handed scissors for small jobs. I had to buy specialist scissors because I do an insane amount of cutting out as a teaching assistant and using right handed scissors will eventually cause me pain as I'm using them backwards.

It's twofold:

1. Big scissors have moulded handles which don't work for lefties

1. Using them in the wrong hand means you can't see the cutting edge which makes it very awkward to cut in a straight line or along a guide.

I'm very left handed and scissors are one of the few things I do see the benefit of having an adjusted version of.

I'm LH but have always used RH scissors with no issues! I suppose I was taught how to angle them as a child (my Mum was also LH) so I've never had a problem. Never bothered with LH scissors either.

@Phoenixrising2020, I have those ones. They are so comfortable. I use them for hours and no blisters and they are still very sharp after years.

Is horrible really that until recently LH kids had to use RH implements!

In terms of the scissors themselves - it's the cutting edge. If you cut on a marked line, with the 'wrong' scissors for your correct hand, you're blocking your view of the line with your hand/scissors position.

In terms of hands - its a lot of learning for a non-dominant hand I guess - even simple right handed tasks are hard for my left. Despite it being a relatively easy motion there's likely a lot more going on - hand-eye coordination, wrist position- your dominant hand having to learn the 'support role.

Because on many the cutting edge is the wrong way round and any ergonomics in the handles.

If you have any kitchen scissors with the bits you put your fingers in shaped differently then try using them with your left hand. Might be ok might not for you. In general though yes they are designed for right hand use with the blades etc.

Out if interest this has made me wonder what causes people to be left or right handed? Is it neurological? Does it also affect how people cross their arms or legs or which keg they prefer when going up steps?

In my family of 6, 4 of us are left handed though to be fair one us very left handed and a couple are only left handed with writing really. That might have been influenced by the fact that it's easier to be right handed generally.

I’ve always used right handed scissors in my right hand, no issues. My mum bought me left handed scissors when I was 8/9 I’m now early 40’s so they’ve been available for a few years no one is forcing anyone to use right handed ones. They had left handed desks/scissors at school too

I am left handed and can use scissors with either hand - necessary for cutting finger nails - but tend to use my right hand to avoid feeling awkward.
I find 'swipe motion' on kindles and smartphones somewhat alien'
If I cross my ankles or arms - it is the left over the right
When I kick a ball - I will use my left foot
When I was young in the 1950s my teachers must have been very enlightened as they let me use my left hand for writing as I wanted to - but I had to position my hand parallel with the edge of the paper and below the writing line to avoid ink smudges.
I am the only leftie in my family over 3 generations and none of my immediate family are left-handed. I seem to be an outlier.
Interesting to note - working in IT for most of my career many of my fellow workers were left-handed

just realised I go up stairs leading with my left foot.

@BreakfastOfWaffles

I think it depends what you learnt as a child - it's really hard to change that as an adult. I am left handed so can cut left handed but my mum taught me to cut right handed as well because most scissors are designed that way. Consequently I cut right handed out of habit but can n do left handed as well.

Ooh this is interesting, my son is left handed so I've bought him loads of left handed stationary (he's 6) but we have 2 pairs of leftie scissors to about 10 pairs of rightie ones and he can never find his so I might try practicing to teach each other how to use the other hand!

I think Breakfast is correct, I’m 46 and was taught to use right-handed scissors so I’ve never bothered trying left-handed ones, even though I’m very leftie in everything. The left side of my body is much stronger than my right, arms, legs, even better eyesight in my left eye! I describe my right side as “purely ornamental.”😂

I am surprised that there is any need for left handed stationary - a leftie can easily use standard notebooks. I do not hook my arm and can write perfectly well within margins and lines,

Some things have to be worked around - those pens that used to be in banks were wrong, turning pages in a book will be from the bottom of the page with a left hand etc. There was no provision for lefties when I was growing up and my generation coped.
It is best to foster adaptation to a right orientated world - it makes life easier. (and is unlikely to result in a stutter)