Cut Through Styrofoam With Ease Using the Best Hot Knife Cutters
Styrofoam is a pretty interesting material. It’s light and easy to carry and great for packaging, but it’s also quite fragile. If you’re not careful, you can easily snap styrofoam in half without much effort, and this can be a problem if you’re working with styrofoam on some personal project. Standard cutting and slicing methods don’t apply with styrofoam, so how do you cut it and work with it?
The answer is with a hot knife cutter. Hot knife cutters use the power of heat to melt through the styrofoam, cutting the material precisely without damaging the styrofoam in any accidental way. So whether you’re working on a personal art project or preparing styrofoam for packing, these high-quality hot knife cutters of 2024 are sure to make your life at least a little easier.
Our Top Picks
Comparing the Best Hot Knife Cutter of 2024
Best Overall
This first foam cutter deserves the top spot for a few reasons. Firstly, the cutter uses a unique handle design that’s quite ergonomic, something that you don’t often see with electronic tools. It’s got a few extra blades that you can replace the base blade with if it breaks or loses its original quality. You even get a brush to clean the blade with after every use. All things considered, it’s an excellent cutter with enough extra parts to make it a complete set. It’s definitely one of the best overall picks on this list.
Pros
- Contains an entire kit with accessories
- Ergonomic blade handle
- With brush for regular maintenance
Cons
- Very pricey for a foam cutter
Best Sharp Hot Knife
Styrofoam isn’t the only material that you can use a hot knife on. One niche yet useful example would be with pumpkins — carving a pumpkin is a fun pastime for Halloween or any other time of the year if you’re in the mood. However, novices may have trouble effectively carving out shapes, especially if their blade is somewhat dull. This hot knife has a sharp edge that makes carving a breeze, and you can use it to make all sorts of neat shapes and patterns on your pumpkins and styrofoam without trouble.
Pros
- Works on pumpkins
- Sharp edge makes it easier to cut
- Can be used on nylon rope
Cons
- Not great in terms of build quality
Best Budget Option
Affordable foam cutters do exist, even if some of them can be quite expensive. Take this cutter by GoChange as an example. It costs just under $20, less than half the price of other hot foam cutters. This particular cutter isn’t a knife, however — in fact, it has no sharp edges whatsoever. Instead, the cutter uses a hot rod that uses pure heat to melt through the styrofoam. The lack of a sharp edge means that it’s not very useful for a broader range of applications, but if you’re just working with styrofoam, it’s more than enough to suit your needs.
Pros
- Works especially well on styrofoam
- No sharp edges
- Very cheap compared to other cutters
Cons
- Limited usage outside of styrofoam
Best for Styrofoam
Our next cutter is very similar to the previous one we just reviewed. It’s also a cutter that uses a thin metal rod that heats up to melt through plastic. However, it’s slightly different in this case as you can actually replace the tip of the cutter with a couple of other options. You have a shorter, more precise tip that’s ideal for carving out details, and you have a saw-like head that’s great for cutting large chunks of styrofoam at a time. All of the tips have their own uses, and an experienced user can make the most out of all three in any given scenario.
Pros
- Comes with three different heads or tips
- Allows for diverse methods of cutting styrofoam
- Very easy to swap between heads
Cons
- Can take some adjustment
Best with Case
If you need a hot knife that’s durable and can be used in just about any situation, you’ll probably also want a good case to go along with it. Topcommander sells this nifty set of electric hot knives that also come in a nice sturdy plastic case. Inside the case, you have everything you need to get started — the knife itself, some extra blades, a cleaning brush, and even a cutting sled for a unique way to cut through styrofoam. The entire kit will set you back a few dollars short of $90, but the features and the completeness of the kit make the price well worth it.
Pros
- Includes a special cutting sled
- Comes with a carrying plastic case
- Has everything for a complete knife kit
Cons
- The most expensive kit in our roundup
Hot Knife Cutter Buyer’s Guide
Hot knives can be a little difficult to work with at first. Learn more about these special tools in this quick buyer’s guide.
The Limitations of Regular Knives
Knives are the de-facto method of cutting things into smaller parts. Of course, they’re not the only thing you can use for cutting and slicing — you’ve got scissors, saws, and other tools too. But the general idea stands — you use a sharp and solid blade to cut through the material and turn it into smaller parts. This principle, however, is not without limitations, and this becomes incredibly apparent when trying to cut open styrofoam.
If you’ve ever worked with styrofoam before, you may know how difficult it is to use and cut. Styrofoam is light and easy to break and is sometimes made out of many smaller styrofoam puffs. These puffs make it very difficult to get a clean cut of styrofoam. And even if the styrofoam is made in one piece, getting a clean cut from top to bottom takes patience and skill, with one simple mistake ruining the entire cut.
That’s why hot knife cutters exist. They take advantage of another element to break things apart — heat. While styrofoam isn’t very easy to work with when using regular knives and scissors, it obeys hot knives quite well, splitting and cutting in half cleanly and efficiently.
Types of Hot Knife Cutters
General-purpose hot knife cutter
These hot knife cutters are made to cut more than just styrofoam. They work on other plastics such as nylon and can be used as a general cutters. Do note, however, that they should be used especially carefully around flammable objects, so if you intend on cutting something like cardboard with it, know what you’re doing first.
Styrofoam cutter
Styrofoam cutters are cutters that are more suited for, well, styrofoam. They don’t have a sharp edge, and while they can be used to cut things other than styrofoam, they’re designed with styrofoam and styrofoam only in mind. As such, these types of cutters have very limited use outside of styrofoam cutting.
Tips When Using a Hot Knife Cutter
Only plug it in when you’re about to use it
You probably already know this tip if you’ve used a soldering tool. Though it can take a bit of time to heat the blade, it’s best to only plug the cutter in when you’re about to use it. Less time powered means less time heated which also minimizes the chances of you getting into an accident.
Find a safe place to rest it when not in use
Hot knife cutters can cause fires due to them being able to heat materials with ease. As such, you’ll want to keep the cutter safe and away from surfaces that you think may get burned easily. Try not to place it directly on the floor or on flat surfaces either, and keep the blade away from any direct contact, so nothing gets damaged.
Hot Knife Cutter Price Range
Hot knife cutters can vary quite a bit in price. For example, some hot knife cutters can cost just around $20, whereas a complete set with extra blades, a carrying case, and more will set you back around $90 or so. The extra materials and features often result in higher prices, though you shouldn’t have to spend more than $100 on a good hot knife cutter set.
People Also Asked
Are hot knife cutters dangerous?
Hot knife cutters use heat to cut through materials, so they are quite dangerous even if you’re experienced with them.
When should I use a hot knife cutter?
Hot knife cutters are ideal for situations where you can’t just rely on sharpness and force alone and need heat to go along with a sharp blade.
Are hot knife cutters only usable on styrofoam?
Though some cutters are made specifically for styrofoam cutting, other hot knife cutters can be used to cut a wider range of materials, including nylon ropes and even certain plastics.