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Forum -> Parenting our children -> Toddlers
How do you properly trim tzitzit?



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medola




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, May 11 2012, 12:09 pm
My 3y/o DS's tzitzit are SOOOO LOOONG and it just makes me crazy. I try to tuck them in but they always come out. I did not grow up orthodox and I just find that no matter how cute I dress him, the tzitzit ruin the whole look - sweeping the ground as he walks. He even had a cat come close to attacking him because the cat thought he had on a human wearable cat toy...

Anyway, I know people do trim them. However, I've heard that you're not supposed to do it with metal blades/scissors because metal is associated with instruments of war or something. There may be other 'rules' I don't know about... I tried googling 'wooden scissors' but got nothing besides decorative wall scissors, wooden scissor holding racks, and maybe some metal scissors with wooden handles. I've also heard that some people trim them using their teeth. I had DH do this with one particularly long string, but I can't imagine him or me sitting there chewing off each string one by one.

Please don't suggest that I to buy the tzitzit in a smaller size. DS is wearing the smallest size I could find, and he has both the "undershirt" and regular versions, and they're both super long.

What to do? Please help me appreciate this custom and not secretly loath it! (Because after all, if a man's not wearing a 4-cornered garment - and most shirts are not made like that, these days - then they really don't have to wear these ridiculous stringy things at all!)
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syrima




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, May 11 2012, 12:23 pm
ask your LOR as I guess there are different customs.
It is really hard with a young kid to keep them tucked in. My husband lets me trim them with a regular scissor as long as the string part is still as long as the entire knotted part. Makes a big difference.
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Faigy86




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, May 11 2012, 1:38 pm
Do they need to hang? Some people tie them to either side in a bow and tucked in and that doesn't look messy (but if most of the children where you live wear them out - it won't help).
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goforit




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, May 11 2012, 3:06 pm
you can cut them with a piece of glass. we took a snapple bottle broke it and used it to trim it. btw if you dip it into boiling hot water it tightens the ends.
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Pandabeer




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, May 11 2012, 3:39 pm
Before my ds's wear them I cut them with a scissors. According to my DH the part that's hanging should be twice as long as the knotted part.I also put on nail varnish on the last knot to keep them from opening up
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medola




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, May 11 2012, 4:29 pm
Wow great ideas! Thanks so much!!
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Shuly




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, May 31 2012, 1:34 pm
You can try cutting them with a plastic knife.
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medola




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, May 31 2012, 3:46 pm
I finally got fed up and just cut them with regular scissors. I think I had tried a plastic knife and it didn't work for me. Sometimes if there's a stray one I missed, I bite it off. The broken glass idea seemed really smart but I don't have any broken glass around and didn't feel like breaking any, at the time. Oh well. He'll survive!
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markmywords




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, May 31 2012, 5:04 pm
Don't the undershirt one's have small pockets that you can stuff each one into when you are washing them?
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medola




 
 
    
 

Post Thu, May 31 2012, 5:06 pm
markmywords wrote:
Don't the undershirt one's have small pockets that you can stuff each one into when you are washing them?
Hmm, is that what those little squares are for?

Well anyway, my issue was not with washing them. It was that they were so so long and would reach the ground and drag around. I couldn't stand the look and wasn't sure how to shorten them...
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amother


 

Post Thu, May 31 2012, 5:48 pm
Pandabeer wrote:
Before my ds's wear them I cut them with a scissors. According to my DH the part that's hanging should be twice as long as the knotted part.I also put on nail varnish on the last knot to keep them from opening up


My dh used to put on nail varnish until someone told him it wasn't allowed and showed him the source.

To OP, you can sew the top part of the garment, by the shoulders. That way the string can be the right size, but the material's smaller.
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