Modern Quilter’s Review of the LDH Midnight Edition Rotary Cutter

Have you got a rotary cutter in your sewing room?

If you quilt, then I’m guessing the answer is yes!

Where would we be without our rotary cutters, right?

But having tried several models out, I know they’re not all cut from the same cloth 😉 I remember the first rotary cutter I picked up lasted for a bit, but the blades quickly seemed to dull and the handle didn’t have the best feel in my hand.

Which is why I’m sharing my thoughts on the LDH Rotary Cutter after having used it for the last 6 months or so. I’m hoping this review will help you narrow down the best contender in your quest for finding the right rotary cutter for you!

Read on for all the quilty details!

DISCLOSURE

This is a sponsored post by LDH Scissors. All comments and reviews are 100% my own and it’s what I would tell you whether I was being compensated or not 😉 I always like being transparent with you, which is why before we dive in, I wanted to let you know that LDH Scissors reached out to ask me to write this review. Accepting sponsors from brands I regularly use is one of the ways that helps me bring you free content.

With that said, let’s dive into the fun that is rotary cutters!

HOW THE LDH ROTARY CUTTER CAME ON MY RADAR

Ursula and I connected way back when on Instagram. I know, it seems like most of my quilty connections happen over there! In any case, at that time, Ursula and her husband Roy had recently taken a big step to bring her husband’s scissors family business – LDH Scissors – to Toronto, Canada. From the first time we connected, I’ve always loved how honest and down-to-earth Ursula is. You know those people who are just super easy to connect with? That’s how it’s been.

So, I wasn’t surprised when I read that LDH stands for Love Dedication, and Happiness. You can read more about the meaning behind their company name here.

I love it when I share a similar ethos with a fellow business owner and since I also love supporting local businesses, I was happy to have the chance to collaborate and support one.

But I’ll be honest and say I thought shears were shears.

If you’ve picked up a pair and found them…lacking…when you got them home, then you know exactly what I mean when I say I found most to be lackluster.

So, when Ursula asked if she could send me a pair of her *Matte Black Fabric Shears back in 2019 I was a little skeptical.

Turns out those babies cut like buttah and are pure joy to cut with.

Seriously.

They changed my impression of what good scissors should be!

Skip forward a year and Ursula and her family had just released their Midnight Rotary Cutter. I’d seen some pictures shared on IG and I was definitely curious.

Needless to say, I was super excited to get to test drive their *Midnight Edition Rotary Cutter with Straight Handle when the opportunity arose.

I love testing out new notions for you. It gives me a chance to bring them into my studio, try them out in a few different ways and see if they hold up to their claim to fame.

WHAT I LOOK FOR IN A ROTARY CUTTER

Before diving into the LDH rotary cutter features, I wanted to first share what I look for in a cutting tool.

First and foremost, the blade needs to be sharp.

I want there to be little to no resistance when I slice my strips and blocks up.

The handle should fit comfortably in my hand and feel almost second nature. You know that feeling of having a properly fitted thimble? You can almost forget it’s there it’s so comfortable. That’s what I’m after in a rotary blade handle.

The tool should be light and streamlined. Meaning, I don’t want a bunch of excess material unless it’s necessary to the functioning of the tool.

Essentially, I want my rotary cutter to feel like an extension of my hand allowing me to execute precise cuts without needing to force or use extra pressure. It should glide through the materials leaving a sharp clean cut in its wake.

FEATURES OF THE LDH ROTARY CUTTER

I’m a rotary cutter lover at heart. My *Matte Black Fabric Shears have given me a new appreciation for using scissors for trimming my quilts and such, but I think rotary cutters are the niftiest thing since sliced bread. The precision and speed you can get with a rotary cutter paired up with a quilting ruler is quite spectacular. Even when I’m going for a more wabi-sabi look, I still reach for my rotary cutter, just sans ruler 😉

In either quilty situation, the *LDH *Midnight Edition Rotary Cutter with Straight Handle performs like a champ.

Here are some features that I’ve noted from using her over the last 6+ or so months:

The blades are SHARP. I mean most rotary cutter blades are, but these are extra sharp. They also seem a little thinner than your standard rotary cutters. Not by much, and I may be off, but that’s the impression I get. What this means is that your slice is even more precise and skinny. I love that.

Just like the shears cut like buttah, the rotary cutter slices through with such ease. No resistance. No skipped fibers. Just a nice smooth clean cut. Love that!

Again, that’s because the blades are SHARP. I could feel how sharp the blade was with my first use. I remember noting to myself “oh, that’s sharp!”. Having dropped open rotary cutters on my hand before I know the damage they can cause, I especially took note of juuuuust how sharp these are so that I’m extra, extra careful!

I’ve been using their classic *45mm Carbon Steel Rotary Cutter Blades, but they also have their *45mm Midnight Edition Rotary Blades. Both blades are made from industrial-grade carbon steel, but the Midnight edition features black carbon steel, the same material featured in their Midnight Fabric Shears. I’m not a carbon steel expert, but my understanding of the difference is that the black ones are galvanized, and the others are not (meaning they’re more prone to rust). I haven’t had any issues with rusting 😉

The handle is thicker than most rotary cutters that I’ve tried. More on that in a minute.

The handle has ridges on one side to help prevent your hand from slipping.

Retracting the blade feels very noticeable. Meaning, there’s a clear ‘kaklunk’/click/ ping that occurs when it’s fully locked open or locked close. I like that. Since I close my blade most of the time without even looking at it, the noise and feel I get is sensory reassurance of my rotary cutter blade’s opened/closed status.

I love that the blade retracts into a protective case on all sides. Pips (my cat 😉) loves to hang out with me when I sew and I’m acutely aware of his presence and where my rotary blades are at all times. Knowing the blades are fully enclosed on all sides gives me peace of mind that even if Pips can get to it, there’s zero chance of him getting anywhere near the rotary cutter blade.

This has nothing to do with performance, but I do love that it’s black. I like my fabrics to be the star of the colour show and prefer muted notions to keep distractions at bay.

Bottom line – she just works.

Ultimately, that’s what I’m looking for in my quilting notions – a tool that works when I need it to.

ROTARY CUTTER DRAWBACKS

I’ve yet to test a sewing notion that doesn’t have some form of drawback and here are a couple I noted during my use of the LDH Rotary Cutter.

The handle is larger than most I’ve tried. This is a drawback for me since I have small hands and also suffer from tendonitis. For some reason, I found my hand tired out more quickly due to my hand having to grip around the larger handle. Let me preface by saying most rotary cutters tire my hand out. This is probably not an issue for most, but I mention it in case you have smaller hands or deal with any form of tenderness. I also want to mention that I tend to ‘grip’ things (probably one of the reasons that led to my tendinitis), and I’ve classified myself as an ‘aggressive cutter’ – ha!

Initially, I quite disliked the ridge that’s formed by the protective rotary blade case. It kind of dictates how you need to position the rotary blade against your ruler. The way it’s designed, it almost sits on top of your ruler and helps you keep the right angle for cutting. It got me thinking that perhaps I had bad-cutting form as I had to adjust my cutting habits. Now I’m so used to it that the positioning helps me confirm I’m cutting at the right angle.

BEST FEATURE?

The best feature for me of the LDH *Midnight Edition Rotary Cutter with Straight Handle is the blades themselves as the thinner super sharp blade gives me amazing precision. I quilt a lot, which means I cut a lot of fabric and I’ve found the LDH *45mm Carbon Steel Rotary Cutter Blades hold up nicely. I haven’t found myself replacing them as often as I have with other brands, which is such a nice bonus! An extra bonus is that all of their blades have a universal fit and can work with any rotary cutter you might already have in your studio!

This *Midnight Edition Gift Set Roll would be perfect if you’re on the hunt for a new set of tools or have a new stitcher in mind, especially with the holidays coming up 😉

What’s the number one feature you look for in a rotary cutter? Share it with me in the comments below 😊

xo,

Shannon

PS In case you want to understand more about the metals LDH Scissors uses in their products, they’ve got a great post about the difference between carbon steel and stainless steel.

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