How to remove plastic snaps

Lately I use a lot the plastic snaps for closing my pouches and sometimes I make mistakes (usually, pieces of the snap installed on the wrong side of the piece or snaps that do not close easily, due to an imperfect installation). So those snaps must be removed; there are removal dies that fit the plies used for inserting the snaps, but I don’t have these dies. So I had to find something else to do the job.

There are jewelry or floral (wire) cutters/pliers like the ones below; you have to put the blades under the snap and slowly squeeze the pliers to separate the two parts; make sure you don’t pinch the fabric underneath the blades.

At the hardware store you can find many pliers, the one below works even better than the one above.

But in spite of my care, sometimes damage to the fabric happens so I had to try something else.  I used the above pliers…

… and here is what you have to do: start by cutting small pieces from the cap of the snap.

Take your time and cut a small piece at a time.  Protect your eyes by covering the pliers with the other hand, because those small pieces fly everywhere.

In this way you will have better access to the center of the snap and the chance to cut the fabric reduces considerably .

Last time, with both blades under the plastic piece.

And here is the result!

I hope this helps! I made a few mistakes on some of the pieces below, and thanks to this technique, there was no damage!
These are pieces from my latest patterns- click here for details.

Happy sewing!