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How you guys trim the buds? Spring shears are killing my hands...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Extraspeedman
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How you guys trim the buds? Spring shears are killing my hands...

Extraspeedman 23 Replies 3,784 Views
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Extraspeedman

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Sep 3, 2025
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#1
Hey everyone—brand-new grower here. I just trimmed my first home crop with a pair of cheap spring-loaded snips, and after about an hour my thumb and wrist were shot. Resin cakes up on the blades fast, so I’m doing constant ISO dips and it really kills my pace.

Is that just how trimming goes, or am I missing a trick? What do you actually use and how do you set it up? Any manual methods you swear by to keep things from getting so sticky? Do you rotate two pairs while one soaks, or have a better rhythm that makes it easier?

I also see some electric trimmers around—any real-world takes? Do they actually help, or do they get loud and mess with control? I’d love to find a more efficient way to get through a long trim without wrecking my hands. Thanks!
 
#2
Have several pairs of scissors.
Rotate in ISO., I Prefer denatured alcohol.

Some buds are worse than others, for resin build-up. Had some that cleaned up easier without scissors, for some reason. Just lightly rubbed the buds with a finger tip, and the leaves came off clean. Had to scrape my fingers, but left a nice good ball for the pipe. 😂
 
#3
Hand trimming like that is always going to be a torturous experience. The electric ones have a tendency to rough the buds up more than I personally like and are generally a royal pain to clean. I personally prefer the older-style ‘dome trimmers’. They have a hand crank on top that's geared to spin a thin blade across the bottom of a wire rack while a series of rubber fingers roll the buds over the top of the rack. The key to success with these is to trim your crop wet immediately after cutting it down. Buck the flowers off the stem until 80% of the surface is covered. 16-20 spins of the handle and it's done looking better than the average person's hand trimming. Wet flowers wont shed all the crystals off when they are handled or bumped against one another. With another person, once you establish a flow, you can easily trim five or six pounds in an 8-hour shift.
Placing the buds on the drying rack immediately after not only preserves the glandular trichomes on the flower's surface. It also results in dry smokable bud in 3-5 days from the time you cut the girls down instead of the old ways of hanging whole plants for weeks, then buck them down and wait again, finally trim some knocking crystals off everywhere.
 
#4
Hand trimming doesn't have to be so damn soul crushing?

Scissors aren't great for efficiency trimming weed requires a lot of concentration aiming/guiding/operating the scissors points to make each cut that prevents progress at any decent rate, cleaning with a pointy tool is kinda like writing/drawing full stops/comas it's much quicker/easier requiring less input for more removed.
Using scissors prevent me getting into a comfy position I need to sit forward with my arms out front and unrestricted instead of sitting back with my arms in a rested position.
20230101 222950

Fwiw I can average 150g per hour that's flying through it for me.
20230101 222743

Even dreadworthy foxtails are a breeze.
20230101 223038

20230101 223017

Give it a try you might love it 🙏
 
#5
Try this type scissors.

So so so much better than spring loaded, imo.
Just make sure all 4 fingers fit into the handles
Have multiple pairs and swipe out of iso cup/jar,
as frequently as needed.


Also, trim dry.

Dry whole plants, then put into totes to start
curing, as you trim at your leisure. You only
have to burp the one tote vs many jars/bags.
The leaves left on, make for a more even dry
and cure, while protecting the trichs until trim.
Most undesirable leaves easily snap off and
don't even need to be cut. (I will be trying
@Coconutz stick trick, using this method.)

No hurries no worries. Just trim a branch or
two, as needed.


Little pricey for good scissors from grow stores,
but well worth it, imo 👍
 

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  • Screenshot 2025-09-03 at 23-09-39 Amazon.com trimming scissors cannabis.png
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Last edited:
#6
Call me weird but am I alone in enjoying that WHAM you get smoking freshly dried flower?
I never really had much luck leaving it sit around for half a year “to get better” while the cannabinoids and terpenes are oxidized into oblivion. ( Yes, I said it exactly because I know how much blowback it will generate from the three-part-flora-grow crowd.)
 
#7
IMG 5326

I use these. I have big hands. Plus 40+ years of banging nails as a carpenter killed my fingers. Cheap on eBay. All scissors are so small.
 
#8
ktram said:
Call me weird but am I alone in enjoying that WHAM you get smoking freshly dried flower?
I never really had much luck leaving it sit around for half a year “to get better” while the cannabinoids and terpenes are oxidized into oblivion. ( Yes, I said it exactly because I know how much blowback it will generate from the three-part-flora-grow crowd.)
Click to expand...
Nope not alone at all I love a fresh 10 day dry bud straight into a joint or bowl no jar 😂 curing quiets the smell down untill u crack a bud open of course👍
 
#9
I bought 5 trimmers based on input from diaries. I was not going to be stopping and cleaning fricken trimmers.
First 2 plants 7.5 oz did fine did not have to clean.
Last plant was only 65 grams but by then wife had decided she needs my trimmers. So 2 trimmers.

Then I finished a plant like it is supposed to be finished. Icy frosty scissors clogging buds. OMG what a pain. I too am looking for a new trimmer idea. Canna brush looks like an idea. I understand you freeze the brush and that helps pull the trim off.
 
#10
Hossgrows said:
Have several pairs of scissors.
Rotate in ISO., I Prefer denatured alcohol.

Some buds are worse than others, for resin build-up. Had some that cleaned up easier without scissors, for some reason. Just lightly rubbed the buds with a finger tip, and the leaves came off clean. Had to scrape my fingers, but left a nice good ball for the pipe. 😂
Click to expand...
Hey man, appreciate the reply. If you could spec a compact handheld electric trimmer, what would your must-have features be? I’m thinking swappable heads—one base with five blades—so you can switch tasks without breaking stride.
 
#11
ktram said:
Hand trimming like that is always going to be a torturous experience. The electric ones have a tendency to rough the buds up more than I personally like and are generally a royal pain to clean. I personally prefer the older-style ‘dome trimmers’. They have a hand crank on top that's geared to spin a thin blade across the bottom of a wire rack while a series of rubber fingers roll the buds over the top of the rack. The key to success with these is to trim your crop wet immediately after cutting it down. Buck the flowers off the stem until 80% of the surface is covered. 16-20 spins of the handle and it's done looking better than the average person's hand trimming. Wet flowers wont shed all the crystals off when they are handled or bumped against one another. With another person, once you establish a flow, you can easily trim five or six pounds in an 8-hour shift.
Placing the buds on the drying rack immediately after not only preserves the glandular trichomes on the flower's surface. It also results in dry smokable bud in 3-5 days from the time you cut the girls down instead of the old ways of hanging whole plants for weeks, then buck them down and wait again, finally trim some knocking crystals off everywhere.
Click to expand...
Hey man, appreciate the reply. If you could spec a compact handheld electric trimmer, what would your must-have features be? I’m thinking swappable heads—one base with five blades—so you can switch tasks without breaking stride.
 
#12
Coconutz said:
Hand trimming doesn't have to be so damn soul crushing?

Scissors aren't great for efficiency trimming weed requires a lot of concentration aiming/guiding/operating the scissors points to make each cut that prevents progress at any decent rate, cleaning with a pointy tool is kinda like writing/drawing full stops/comas it's much quicker/easier requiring less input for more removed.
Using scissors prevent me getting into a comfy position I need to sit forward with my arms out front and unrestricted instead of sitting back with my arms in a rested position.
View attachment 2515887
Fwiw I can average 150g per hour that's flying through it for me.
View attachment 2515888
Even dreadworthy foxtails are a breeze.
View attachment 2515889
View attachment 2515890
Give it a try you might love it 🙏
Click to expand...
Thanks for getting back to me! Imagine a small powered trimmer—what would you want it to do? For example, a single handle with five quick-change blades so you can keep trimming with zero downtime.
 
#13
FloridaMike said:
Try this type scissors.

So so so much better than spring loaded, imo.
Just make sure all 4 fingers fit into the handles
Have multiple pairs and swipe out of iso cup/jar,
as frequently as needed.


Also, trim dry.

Dry whole plants, then put into totes to start
curing, as you trim at your leisure. You only
have to burp the one tote vs many jars/bags.
The leaves left on, make for a more even dry
and cure, while protecting the trichs until trim.
Most undesirable leaves easily snap off and
don't even need to be cut. (I will be trying
@Coconutz stick trick, using this method.)

No hurries no worries. Just trim a branch or
two, as needed.


Little pricey for good scissors from grow stores,
but well worth it, imo 👍
Click to expand...
Cheers for the response. If we built a pocket-size electric trimmer, what should it look like and what functions should it have? Maybe quick-release heads—one tool, five blades—for fast swaps.
 
#14
Leste said:
View attachment 2515994
I use these. I have big hands. Plus 40+ years of banging nails as a carpenter killed my fingers. Cheap on eBay. All scissors are so small.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your reply. Suppose there’s a compact handheld trimmer: which features matter most to you? E.g., interchangeable heads (one unit + five blades) so you can move between cuts instantly.
 
#15
Justlovetogrow said:
Nope not alone at all I love a fresh 10 day dry bud straight into a joint or bowl no jar 😂 curing quiets the smell down untill u crack a bud open of course👍
Click to expand...
Appreciate the note—if you could design a mini electric trimmer, what would you include? Thinking snap-on blade options—one tool with five heads—to keep the workflow smooth.
 
#16
JIMKSI64 said:
I bought 5 trimmers based on input from diaries. I was not going to be stopping and cleaning fricken trimmers.
First 2 plants 7.5 oz did fine did not have to clean.
Last plant was only 65 grams but by then wife had decided she needs my trimmers. So 2 trimmers.

Then I finished a plant like it is supposed to be finished. Icy frosty scissors clogging buds. OMG what a pain. I too am looking for a new trimmer idea. Canna brush looks like an idea. I understand you freeze the brush and that helps pull the trim off.
Click to expand...
Hey bro, thanks for getting back to me. If there were a small handheld electric trimmer on the market, what would you want it to be like or what features would you want it to have? For example, swappable heads—like one tool with five different blades—so you can switch on the fly and keep trimming without losing time.
 
#17
Aside from the Trim Daddy electric cannabis trimmer I saw a seven year old youtube vid of a simpler cool design, search yt, "fastest automatic bud trimmer on the market..." I'm a day away from a four plant trim, considered the AC Infinity 16" bowl trimmer, but didn't, as yet, though I did search high and low for a brush to replicate the cannabrush without the ridiculous price, so I'll see how I go knocking back the bud leaves.
 
#18
Extraspeedman said:
Hey man, appreciate the reply. If you could spec a compact handheld electric trimmer, what would your must-have features be? I’m thinking swappable heads—one base with five blades—so you can switch tasks without breaking stride.
Click to expand...
I'm good with scissors and a dental pic.
 
#19
I've got a vevor bowl trimmer with a dry trim grate it seems alright, I've only trimmed a handful of lower buds with it.
20241216 213205

20241221 035918

I'm delighted with the job so far, if it trims lowers it's safe to assume it'll trim the bigger buds.

@SlingShot check out a silicone basting brushes they're very similar to canna brushes.
 
#20
Extraspeedman said:
Hey bro, thanks for getting back to me. If there were a small handheld electric trimmer on the market, what would you want it to be like or what features would you want it to have? For example, swappable heads—like one tool with five different blades—so you can switch on the fly and keep trimming without losing time.
Click to expand...
Well as I use a trimmer on my skull every few days I would love to hear your idea on what kind of guide your trimmers will use to prevent scalping of the flower on use.
Just come up with a coating on scissors that sheds the chemical components of the plant instead of holding onto them. I have gotten slight ( very ) success by chilling the trimmers but as soon as they warm ( 30 seconds ) they just clog up again.

My idea is a mini lathe. You chuck your bud up and spin it using a cutting tooth to peel off trim. Flower is trimmed in frozen condition to hold together.
 
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