I’ve switched to left-handed scissors – and they’re a cut above the rest
Although I’m left-handed, I’ve been using scissors designed for right-handed people for my entire life. Why? Because they’re everywhere, and you eventually grow used to the torture of using them. Statistics show my experience is anything but unique.
Every Thursday, I felt like a fool. It was bin day, meaning I had to bundle up the paper and cardboard waste to get it ready for collection. But instead of neatly cutting the twine, I’d end up ham-fistedly sawing my way through it. I never got to hear that satisfying «snip». Never got to see a clean cut on the end of the twine.
As a left-hander, I’m used to fiddling around with «normal» scissors, i.e. right-handed scissors. No matter how hard I try and pull the blades together with my thumb, they don’t cut – they just pinch. Although this has frustrated me on many an occasion, it never occurred to me to buy a pair of left-handed scissors.
No more scissor stress
In the kitchen, I’ve always used a knife instead of scissors. Old habits die hard, so I’d simply resigned myself to doing so. When my son wanted to give me a pair of left-handed scissors as a gift, I even said, «Oh, come off it.» Even so, I continued sneakily rummaging around for his pair of left-handed arts-and-crafts scissors in an unsuccessful attempt to borrow them.
He’s ambidextrous, preferring to write and cut with his left hand, and throw and play tennis with his right. At school – a different place in this day and age – he’s regularly given suitable scissors. As a result, he’s much handier with them than me, who’s had to put up with 40-odd years of scissor-based frustration. In any case, he managed to plant a thought in my head: that there might be something better out there for me.
Anonymous, I feel you!
When I search «left-handed scissors» on Galaxus and see the most popular models, I can’t help but laugh. This user comment could easily have been written by me. Same age, same experiences.
Source: Galaxus
Anonymous, I feel you! Won over by your enthusiasm, I ordered myself the scissors. And I have to say, you’re absolutely right. How did I ever go without them? These days, I always have my left-handed scissors to hand. I just have to get used to using them. Sometimes, I still catch myself bumbling around with knives.
Lately, I’ve been wondering why we left-handed folks only ever have the «wrong» scissors available to us. Especially since, depending on how strictly you define left-handedness, we make up between 9.34 and 18.1 per cent of the population (article in German). The global average is apparently 10.6 per cent. Are sales of left-handed scissors that much lower? In a bid to find out, I ask Victorinox, the company that sold me my own pair of left-handed scissors, for information.
A niche product
A few days later, Victorinox tells me that scissors «essentially complement [its] range of kitchen knives and kitchen gadgets». It adds that left-handed scissors are a niche product in that range.
According to our sales figures, just over three per cent of scissors sold are left-handed models.
Together, we realise that there’s a yawning gap between Victorinox’s market share and the prevalence of left-handedness among the wider population. Anonymous, you and I are among the few people who’ve found happiness with the «right» scissors later in life.
The lousy state of the left-handed scissor range in 2021
However, Victorinox isn’t the only seller of left-handed scissors. After pinging a query over to Ana in Galaxus’s Category Management team about left-handed scissor sales, I delve a little deeper into the subject at large.
In doing so, I come across a [Community post]https://www.galaxus.ch/en/s12/producttype/showdiscussion/linkshaenderscheren-14157) from 2021 bemoaning the sorry state of affairs for left-handed customers.
With an estimated 10 per cent left-handed people in the population, Galaxus has a mere 0.4 per cent left-handed scissors in its range: 2 out of 493 products. And these are also children’s scissors...
Famously, Galaxus sells pretty much everything. But does it cater to pretty much everyone? Not quite. When you think about everyday language, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out why. While the word «right» is synonymous with correctness, the word «left» has less flattering origins, ranging in meaning from «sinister» to «weak». In day-to-day life, we’re often forced to get by on making clever use of our weak hand.
Change in sight following uptick in left-handed scissors
At least there’s been progress when it comes to the scissor range. As of 13 March 2025, customers can now filter for 178 left-handed scissors – an insane amount when you consider there are 442 pairs available for right-handed people. Mind you, these figures include models classified as «universal».
Universal scissors are a compromise meant to work equally well or badly for all users. The handles are symmetrical and the blades are often whet in the same way. At least in theory. In practice, I think many so-called universal scissors are clearly designed with right-handed users in mind. Am I being snippy by saying most universal scissors are a sham? Either way, I’ve yet to get my hands on a pair I’m really happy with.
Looking at the sales figures for 2024, it’s not that easy to separate the «real» left-handed scissors from the supposedly universal ones. What’s immediately apparent is that children’s scissors dominate: 83 per cent of left-handed scissors sold on Galaxus are intended for kids.
The most suitable model for a left-right comparison among adult users is one of our bestsellers: the SoftGrip from Westcott, available in both left-handed and right-handed versions. As many as 7.8 per cent of SoftGrips sold were designed for left-handed users.
Right-handers, how about you take the L?
To reduce the gap between left-hander prevalence and suitable scissor availability even further, I recommend all right-handed people switch hands when using scissors. It’s really not enjoyable. If you have any left-handed friends who’re unaware of the better options available to them, you now have a lovely gift idea.
Anonymous and I discovered the joy of frustration-free twine-cutting far too late in life. It’s one small snip for scissors, but one giant leap for 10.6 per cent of humanity.
The scissors question
Do we have more left-handed readers here than the worldwide average? And if so, how many?
- I'm left-handed and own left-handed scissors.13%
- I'm left-handed and don't own left-handed scissors.33%
- I'm right-handed and don't see the problem.49%
- I'm right-handed and own left-handed scissors.5%
The competition has ended.
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Michael Restin
Senior Editor
Michael.Restin@digitecgalaxus.chSimple writer, dad of two. Likes to be on the move, shimmies through everyday family life, juggles with several balls and occasionally drops something. A ball. Or a remark. Or both.
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