The ArthritisFoundation’s Ease-of-UseCommendation recognizes products proven to make life easier for people whohave arthritis and other physical limitations. These products are independentlytested by experts and evaluated by people with arthritis. I have been asked toreview a number of Ease-of-Use products during May, Arthritis Awareness Monthin the US. My mother, who has osteoarthritis in herhands, is helping by testing some of these products, as well.
When I first started the background research for thescissors, I found this on the Fiskars website:
"The Original Orange-Handled Scissors. Introduced to the world first as a quality fabric scissors,the scissors caused quite a stir. Not only was the design radical compared toforged scissors, but also much lighter and more comfortable. The cuttingperformance was so good forced many of home seamstress to declare the scissorsoff-limits - the same still holds true today."
Instant flashback! My mother used to sew and she was good atit - in fact, she used to sew her own clothes, as well as mine when I waslittle (by the time my sister came along, life prevented too much sewing). AndI remember the orange-handled scissors - they were an integral part of mychildhood. In fact, I don't remember any other scissors, other than my ownstunted baby scissors. They may even have been involved in one of the mostembarrassing stories that exists about my childhood. My mother had bought abeautiful, expensive piece of fabric for a suit and was halfway done. In thosedays, we lived in a tiny little house. My room was adjacent to theliving/dining room and right outside my door was our dining room table, whichserved as my mother's sewing table after dinner. One day when I was about fouryears old, I got up before everyone else and apparently decided to be helpful.When my mother got up, her beautiful half-done suit was cut to pieces and theway she tells the story, I was very proud about helping her make her suit. Theonly thing I remember about this incident is sitting underneath the dining roomtable, being very upset because I had done something bad while my mother stoodin front of it, no doubt weeping.
Anyway! The Fiskars EasyAction Scissors are a new generation ofscissors, made especially for fabric. They have what's called a "springassist," which automatically opens up the blades, designed to make cuttingeasier. You only have to squeeze the scissors shut and they open themselves.The Softgrip® handle is designed to reduce hand fatigue and the bent handledesign is supposed to keep materials flat while cutting, improving accuracy.The website says that the scissors can cut a wide variety of materials,including denim, silk and multiple layers of fabric. They have a lifetimewarranty.
Both my mother and I love these scissors
! They areincredibly well thought out, both as a tool and (mostly) as a tool for peoplewith arthritis. They are sharp as anything - we didn't have any fabric around,but tested them on paper compared to regular pair of scissors and they cut likea dream. Very sharp, very accurate - something in the design clearly lived upto the goal of cutting accuracy, because even though I had some trouble usingthem (see below for details), I could still cut in a straight line. That wasquite something.
The handle is amazing. There is room for four fingers on onehandle and the other rests in the space in your palm between your thumb and theknuckles of your other fingers. This means that when you squeeze the scissorsshot, you are doing so with four fingers placed comfortably on one side, easingthe strain on each individual finger. On the other side, you're using yourpalm, instead of your thumb joint. I don't uses scissors much anymore, but Iremember that one of the most difficult things about it was the way my thumb,especially the base joint, always hurt afterwards.
Another thing that protects your fingers from strain is thespring-action. Granted, it takes a bit of getting used to this having thescissors opening on their own, but not long and when you do, it was very, verygood. One of those "why didn't anyone think of this before?" momentsmixed with "I'm so glad someone finally did!" I have a pair of scissorsthat I use for pretty much everything, but which are usually limited in my usingthem for things that only need one cut. If it needs more than one cut, I haveto squeeze the blade shut with my right hand, then use both hands to open themand repeat as necessary. It's a pain in the arse and I usually save cutting formy attendants or The Boy. I am completely in love with the spring-actioninvention. We need more scissors with this design! Hurrah for independentcutting!
My mother and I had two concerns specifically related to handsthat have moderate to severe arthritis. The first is the lock that holds thescissors closed. We both really liked that you have to disengage the lock oneach side of the scissor, which increases safety around small hands that mightpotentially want to assist with making a new suit. A-hem. However, it was verytight - again excellent preventative strategy for wee ones who shouldn't playwith something this sharp, but also a barrier for fingers that hurt.
Secondly, they are a large pair of scissors. My mother hasfairly large hands and used them comfortably. I, on the other hand, have smallhands and did not. I could barely get my hand around them – partly due to myhand size, partly due to deformities. However, I do want to point out that whenI did use them (not as open as they could get because my hand/grip is too small),I could use them to cut because of the spring-action. That was pretty amazing. Thereare a number of other scissors in this design, but I don’t know if any of themare smaller. If not, I’d like to suggest to Fiskars that they make two or threeof these scissors in different sizes. Because I'd very much like a pair.
Bottom line? A solid A. Make some in different sizes andfind a way to deal with the lock issue and they’ll get an A+.
Other bloggersinvolved in reviewing Ease-of-Use products are Felicia Fibro, Peachy Pains and Dog in the Dorm: Life withHolden.
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder