### Author:  [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2009, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-keep-their-toenails-trimmed-before-clippers-were-invented/503478/1 "2009-07-18T22:20:01Z")
The title should be self-explanatory but I wonder what people did with their toenails before proper clippers were available. You can bite your fingernails but biting your toenails is literally beyond the reach of most people (although I did it once). There must be many cultures around that have to deal with this issue.
How do they do it?
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### Author:  [@lemac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lemac)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2009, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-keep-their-toenails-trimmed-before-clippers-were-invented/503478/2 "2009-07-18T22:30:25Z")
I just pull off pieces with my fingernails…
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### Author:  [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2009, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-keep-their-toenails-trimmed-before-clippers-were-invented/503478/3 "2009-07-18T22:37:53Z")
> [@lemac](#):
>
> I just pull off pieces with my fingernails…
\ Yuck.
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### Author:  [@J\_Cubed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J_Cubed)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2009, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-keep-their-toenails-trimmed-before-clippers-were-invented/503478/4 "2009-07-18T22:42:25Z")
My dad uses a box cutter on his toenails. So, if you have the technology to make a straight razor, you can trim your nails. And if you don’t wear shoes, I bet your toenails don’t get too long.
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### Author:  [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2009, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-keep-their-toenails-trimmed-before-clippers-were-invented/503478/5 "2009-07-18T22:45:24Z")
Well I don’t use any tools either. So there. It’s easy enough to get it started with a thumbnail, and then peel it off.
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### Author:  [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2009, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-keep-their-toenails-trimmed-before-clippers-were-invented/503478/6 "2009-07-18T22:54:21Z")
Grind them down with a stone, similar to filing them down, which would have come into vogue with the invention of files.
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### Author:  [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2009, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-keep-their-toenails-trimmed-before-clippers-were-invented/503478/7 "2009-07-18T22:58:50Z")
Scissors.
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### Author:  [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2009, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-keep-their-toenails-trimmed-before-clippers-were-invented/503478/8 "2009-07-18T23:07:01Z")
Chew them off. If you can’t reach your own feet, have your friend chew them off.
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### Author:  [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2009, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-keep-their-toenails-trimmed-before-clippers-were-invented/503478/9 "2009-07-18T23:10:40Z")
We used scissors.
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2009, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-keep-their-toenails-trimmed-before-clippers-were-invented/503478/10 "2009-07-19T00:00:10Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#):
>
> . . . biting your toenails is literally beyond the reach of most people.
That what slaves were for.
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### Author:  [@Gbro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gbro)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2009, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-keep-their-toenails-trimmed-before-clippers-were-invented/503478/11 "2009-07-19T02:10:21Z")
I would think they were worn down and or broken in most cases.
An old friend used a jack knife on all his nails. Of course he was an exceptionally limber old gent, he could sit in a chair with his legs folded under him at 80 years old.
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### Author:  [@SSG\_Schwartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSG_Schwartz)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2009, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-keep-their-toenails-trimmed-before-clippers-were-invented/503478/12 "2009-07-19T04:09:57Z")
Pluck at it with your fingers and then peel it off. Then you take the removed portions and use them for a toothpick.
SSG Schwartz
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### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2009, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-keep-their-toenails-trimmed-before-clippers-were-invented/503478/13 "2009-07-19T05:56:05Z")
> [@Chimera](#):
>
> Grind them down with a stone, similar to filing them down, which would have come into vogue with the invention of files.
I thought I would be the only one to post about my toenail stone.
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### Author:  [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2009, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-keep-their-toenails-trimmed-before-clippers-were-invented/503478/14 "2009-07-19T06:18:35Z")
You use clippers? All I’ve ever used is scissors. My favorites aren’t even the little curved “nail scissors,” I like sewing scissors for both finger and toenails.
Now if you’re asking about before the lever was invented, you may want to ask at the zoo.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2009, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-keep-their-toenails-trimmed-before-clippers-were-invented/503478/15 "2009-07-19T07:44:40Z")
I’ve almost never used toenail clippers in my life. I generally would just peel them off with my fingers. When I was a kid, it was with my teeth. Some of my girlfriends didn’t like this, so they would do it for me, properly with clippers. But, more usually, just fingers.
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### Author:  [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2009, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-keep-their-toenails-trimmed-before-clippers-were-invented/503478/16 "2009-07-19T10:31:40Z")
I’ve never used a clipper or scissors to trim my toenails. When they get too long (it takes a good while), I simply peel the extra off. Never thought it would be an issue to not have clippers.
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### Author:  [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2009, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-keep-their-toenails-trimmed-before-clippers-were-invented/503478/17 "2009-07-19T12:29:21Z")
It’s much easier to peel them after you’ve soaked them in the bath for a while.
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### Author:  [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2009, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-keep-their-toenails-trimmed-before-clippers-were-invented/503478/18 "2009-07-19T13:50:13Z")
I had a foot massage in China that included having my toenails trimmed by a guy with a scary looking knife that was a little like a smaller version of the curved Eskimo knife. I assume that was an lod way of doing it.
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2009, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-keep-their-toenails-trimmed-before-clippers-were-invented/503478/19 "2009-07-19T19:08:21Z")
I once had to go to a podiatrist for something. In addition to treating the immediate problem he also trimmed my nails, along with a monologue about how people cannot trim their own nails short enough. He actually trimmed them so short that they hurt for several days, and two of them actually bled a little.
Now that I’m getting older, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to trim my own nails, but I still manage. I’d rather let them get a foot long than go back to that guy.
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### Author:  [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)
#### Post date: [July 19, 2009, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-people-keep-their-toenails-trimmed-before-clippers-were-invented/503478/20 "2009-07-19T21:27:14Z")
My son used to bite his. When I was growing up, we used cuticle scissors. Now my nails are thick and gnarly and I go to a podiatric nurse every couple months. Since I was diagnosed with diabetes I was advised never to trim my own nails. I still do it, though, after I have been in the ocean for a half hour or more.
Once I saw an small ant make off with a large clipping, but that’s another story.