Why Shears Are a Must-Have Tool in Minecraft
Shears are one of the most useful early-game tools in Minecraft. Whether you want to collect sheep wool, leaves, vines, cobwebs, beehives, ferns, pumpkins, or seagrass, shears help you extract items without breaking them.
They are also the most efficient way to harvest wool, giving up to 3 blocks of wool from a single sheep compared to killing it — making them essential for survival mode.
The good news?
Shears are extremely easy to craft — you only need two iron ingots.
Here is the complete guide to crafting and using shears properly.
Materials Needed to Make Shears in Minecraft
To craft shears, you only need:
- 2 Iron Ingots
If you do not already have ingots, you must gather Iron Ore and smelt it first.
How to Get Iron Ore (Updated Locations)
Iron Ore is one of the most common resources and can be found in:
- Caves & ravines
- Underground (Y-levels 16–256 depending on biome)
- Mountains & cliffs
- Hillsides
- Underwater caves
Tip: Iron is more abundant in mountain biomes in the latest versions.
Mine the ore using a stone pickaxe or better.
How to Make Iron Ingots
Once you have Iron Ore:
Method 1: Furnace
- Place a Furnace on the ground.
- Add Iron Ore in the top slot.
- Add fuel (coal, charcoal, wood, lava bucket, etc.) in the bottom slot.
- Wait for the ore to smelt into Iron Ingots.
Method 2: Blast Furnace (Faster)
- A Blast Furnace smelts ores twice as fast as a normal Furnace.
Other ways to get Iron Ingots
- Chests in villages, temples, shipwrecks
- Zombies and husks (rare drop)
- Trading with villagers
- Loot in strongholds and mineshafts
After collecting two ingots, you are ready to craft shears.
How to Make Shears in Minecraft (Crafting Recipe)
Follow these steps:
1. Open the Crafting Table
Use the 3×3 crafting grid.
2. Place the Iron Ingots Diagonally
Arrange them exactly like this:
[ ] [I] [ ]
[I] [ ] [ ]
[ ] [ ] [ ]
I = Iron Ingot
3. Collect the Shears
The shears will appear in the output box on the right.
Drag them into your inventory.
That’s it — your shears are ready!
Uses of Shears in Minecraft (Complete List)
Shears have more uses than many players realize. Here is everything they can harvest:
1. Collecting Sheep Wool
The primary use of shears is wool harvesting.
Benefits:
- You get 1–3 wool per shear
- Sheep regrow wool after eating grass
- Much faster than killing sheep
- Wool is needed for:
- Beds
- Banners
- Carpets
- Paintings
- Decorations
2. Harvesting Blocks Without Breaking Them
With shears, you can safely collect:
- Leaves
- Vines
- Tall grass
- Ferns
- Seagrass
- Cobwebs
- Dead bushes
- Glow lichen
These blocks cannot be collected normally without shears.
3. Beehives & Honeycomb
Use shears on a full beehive or bee nest (honey level 5) to collect:
- 3 Honeycombs
Tip: Place a campfire under the hive so bees don’t attack.
4. Carving Pumpkins
Right-click (Java) or tap (Bedrock) on a pumpkin with shears to carve eyes and mouth.
This is also necessary for crafting:
- Jack-o’-Lanterns
- Snow golems
- Iron golems
5. Shearing Mushrooms
Using shears on a Mooshroom turns it into a normal cow and drops:
- 5 mushrooms
6. Breaking Cobwebs
Only shears can break cobwebs efficiently and drop string.
7. Removing Wool From Snow Golems
You can shear a Snow Golem to reveal its pumpkin-less head.
Shears Durability (Updated 2025)
Shears have a durability of:
238 uses
Each block harvested counts as one use.
Enchantments that improve shears:
- Unbreaking
- Mending
These drastically increase their lifespan.
Minecraft Bedrock vs Java — Shears Differences
| Feature | Java Edition | Bedrock Edition |
| Carve pumpkins | ✔ Yes | ✔ Yes |
| Collect cobwebs | ✔ Yes | ✔ Yes |
| Shear Mooshrooms | ✔ Yes | ✔ Yes |
| Efficiency enchant | X No | ✔ Yes (Bedrock allows Efficiency) |
| Breaking leaves faster | Slightly | Faster with Efficiency |
Bedrock allows slightly more flexibility with enchanted shears.
FAQs — Crafting & Using Shears in Minecraft
How do I make iron ingots?
Smelt Iron Ore in a furnace or blast furnace.
You can also find ingots in dungeon, village, and shipwreck chests.
Can you shear cows?
Not regular cows — but you can shear Mushrooms to turn them into normal cows.
How do I make a bed using shears?
- Use shears to collect 3 wool.
- Collect 3 wooden planks.
- Craft using:
W W W
P P P
Can shears be enchanted?
Yes, with:
- Unbreaking
- Mending
- Efficiency (Bedrock only)
- Curse of Vanishing
Do shears work on bees?
You use shears on bee nests to collect honeycomb, not directly on bees.
Final Thoughts — Shears Are a Top-Tier Utility Tool
Shears are one of the most versatile tools in Minecraft. With just two iron ingots, you can create an item that:
- Saves resources
- Gathers rare blocks
- Helps manage animals
- Supports building & decoration
- Aids progression in early and late game
Whether you’re crafting wool for a bed or collecting leaves for your next mega-build, shears are a must-have item in any player’s toolkit.
