A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2004 thorny rose bush

Hi again all,
i'm not sure if this is the right place to post this Q, so hostesses, please move it as needed.

We've been in our house since Oct, and now the four rose bushes are starting to bloom. Fortunately I've a little experience with roses, and was able to cut them all back this winter. I don't think the previous owner had EVER cut them back, I had to use tree branch pruners on the two larger bushes.
Anyway, the red rose (don't know variety) has started putting out wonderful HUGE blooms that are extremely fragrant. Is there a tool that florists use to dethorn roses? Where can I get one? Is there any other good/easy way to remove the thorns?

What I've done so far is bring the flowers inside and use a pair of household scissors to remove the tips of the thorns on the stem that will be above the water line in the vase. I'm hoping there's an easier way to go about it.

found a couple of sites for thorn strippers..

http://www.wildflower-seed.com/rosestripper.html

http://www.arenaroses.com/ama/cgi-bin/dc.pl?html=full&key=GPRC3

personally I just break the thorns off with my fingers as I strip the leaves with a pair of good leather gloves..

thanks! i did a search, but didn't know what to call them and found nothing. appreciate the help.