One of the best ways to save money on pet grooming is to get your pair of dog grooming clippers and do the work yourself. You’ll save yourself from paying someone else to do a job that a good pair of dog clippers essentially do themselves. You have plenty of options for the type of clippers that you get and you’ll be able to clip your dog’s fur using simple grooming techniques, whether you’re dealing with thick coats or thin coats.
Once you get your pet clippers, it’s a great idea to make sure you maintain them to extend their life and get the most out of your clippers regularly. As long as the blades are sharp, the motor is clean, and your clippers are properly powered, the grooming process will always be much faster and easier than dropping your pet off at the groomer. Pet parents all around the world can learn the grooming process and getting a good pair of clippers is the first step toward saying goodbye to the expense and time a pet salon requires.
Best Corded clippers
No matter what kind of dog hair you’re dealing with, the best-corded clippers are going to make short work of it and you just have to know a little bit about them to make sure you have the right ones. Corded clippers let you forget all about battery life and you never have to worry about charging them the night before you plan on using them. Most of these clippers will have two-speed options to choose from, along with a heavy-duty cord that will never fray or break apart, keeping them safe to use.
The biggest benefit to using corded dog grooming clippers is that they’re always going to be more powerful than cordless clippers, and that’s going to get the grooming job done faster and more efficiently. On top of that, you won’t have to worry about the battery life of battery-powered clippers, which includes the amount of time the batteries can be charged before they have to be completely replaced. As long as you have an outlet nearby, corded options are going to last longer and give you more power for all of your dog grooming needs.
Blade Type, Material, and Size
No matter which kind of clippers you choose, the right blade is going to make a big difference in how easy they are to use and how quickly you can get the job done. Your dog’s coat is going to tell you a lot about the size and type of blade that’s best for your pet and there are handy guides to give you all the information you need. While making your selection, be sure to get blades with a ceramic edge that will last a long time and give you a smoother finish and better ease of use.
Even with the ceramic finish, your blades will wear down over time and have to be sharpened or replaced. Andis blades tend to last a very long time and will have to be replaced far less often than some of the other options, so they’re a great place to start your search. The size of the blades will determine the length of the cut with smaller blades being the best choice for the more sensitive areas of your dog’s body.
Corded vs. Cordless
With all the benefits that come along with a corded clipper, there are plenty of reasons to look into a cordless set, as well. They come with both one-speed and two-speed options and will work great, no matter what your dog’s breed happens to be. These options also tend to be quieter than the corded clippers, so if your pet doesn’t like loud noises, these will be the best ones for a painless grooming session.
Their smaller size and lighter weight also make them a great option for grooming cats and other pets with sensitive skin. Guide combs will help you make sure that you’re not getting too close to the skin for a safe trim with reliable clippers. Add a new blade, or a maintained sharp one, and you’ll never have to worry about nicking your pet’s skin and causing pain and harm when you just want to trim their fur.
Oil your Blades\
One very important step in extending the life of your clippers is to make sure you always oil your blades and keep them lubricated before and after every use. This will keep the blades running smoothly while you’re clipping and is especially important when you’re using them in sensitive areas, like the paws, ears, and other small areas. Trimming the hair in these areas on any animals can quickly lead to nicks and the noise can make your pet react negatively.
That’s why oil is so important when you groom and it’s something you want to stay on top of. It’s best to oil your blades before every use so the blades don’t get stuck and pull on your pet’s hair, rather than cutting it like scissors. Blade oil is easy to find and you can shop for accessories online and get them shipped right to your door for much less than the cost of a veterinarian groomer.
Keep Blades Free of Hair
Keeping your blades free of hair is just as important as oiling them and combs are the best tools to make sure you’re cleaning the inside areas, including the shorter lengths of cut hair that can easily be overlooked. The more hair builds up in your blades, the more difficult it becomes for them to move, it builds up heat that can shorten the life of your clippers, as well as harm your pet. Using combs on your blades should be a part of the cleanup process, just like when you vacuum the fur where you’ve done your grooming.
Grip your clippers and use your wrist to get into the crevices with your combs. A snap motion will allow you to flick out the hard-to-reach hair and ensure that you fully clean it out. This will keep your blades and your clippers durable for many years, no matter which dog or cat breed the hairs are coming from.
Store your Clippers Safely
One often overlooked aspect of extending the life of your clippers is the way you store them and where you keep them when you’re not using them. It’s easy to read reviews from people who improperly store their tools and end up with broken clippers that rolled off a surface or fell out of a cabinet. It’s always a very good idea to store your clippers on a tool mat to keep them from skidding off the surface and landing on the floor, getting broken or cracked in the process.
It will also do you a lot of good to keep your clippers away from a spot where they can easily get hit when your dog wags her tail or jumps up onto the table to see what’s going on. The more thought you put into where your tool should go, the safer it will be and the longer will last you. Plan out your grooming space and make sure you have the proper storage to keep your investment safe when it’s away and you’re not thinking about it.
Hygiene is Important
Just as cleaning the hair out of your clippers is important to their performance, keeping them hygienic will stop build-up from slowing them down and creating heat and tension in the motor. After cleaning out the hair, coat your clippers with a cleaning solution to kill any bacteria and wash away any oils from your pet’s fur. The longer you go without this step, the more it will build up and negatively affect the performance of your clippers.
This step is even more important if you have multiple dogs that you’re grooming regularly. Cleaning away any bacteria from one pet will keep it from transferring over to the other and will keep them all healthy and happy with the grooming process. It’s something that all pet parents should be doing and both your dogs and your clippers will thank you in the end.
Blade Sharpening
Blade sharpening is an important part of the maintenance of your clippers and should be carried out by a professional unless you have experience with it. Professionals who use their clippers on multiple breeds every day, all day, have to get their blades sharpened every four to six months. Most pet parents don’t use their clippers anywhere near as often, so it’s very easy to go a full year before you need to get them sharpened.
Sharpening your blades will make it easier to use your clippers and cut through the fur on your pets. Remember that dull blades are going to pull and tear the hair out, rather than cutting it like scissors and that’s going to cause a lot of pain to your dogs and cats. When you keep your blades sharp, you’re keeping your pets safe, saving them unnecessary pain, and making the entire grooming process faster and easier on yourself.
Clipper Cases
Another overlooked aspect of clipper care is the case that you use when you put it away and store it in between your pet grooming sessions. The case you use for your clippers is no time to cut back on quality because it’s the last line of defense that you have to keep your tool safe and secure. Using soft cases to store them can easily lead to damage to your tool, especially if you drop it or it falls to the floor.
No matter what kind of clipper tool you buy, you always want to keep them in a hard case to give them every chance of surviving a fall and to keep the blades safe from being hit by other items. The higher the quality of your hard case, the better off your clipper tool will be and you won’t have to worry about your investment getting damaged while you have it stored. It’s always important to leave as little to chance as possible, and a hard case is going to offer you a lot of protection for not a lot of money.
Blade Protectors
Whenever you buy blades for your clipper tool, it will come with a plastic protector to keep it safe during shipping, and it’s something that you should hang onto and use whenever you put your tool away. It’s extremely easy to dull the blades on your clippers and it’s the biggest reason that pet parents lose efficiency in their clippers. The worst thing you can do after cleaning, oiling, and disinfecting your blades is to simply put them away without any protection to keep them sharp.
The cutting edge on any blade is always its weakest point and it doesn’t take much pressure to damage it and make the grooming process more difficult than it has to be. Using a simple plastic cover will keep the edges safe and is an important thing to remember whenever you put your clipper tool away. It only takes a second but will add months and years to the life of your blade.
Save Money with Proper Care
When you put the time into maintaining your clipper tool and its accessories, you’ll always end up saving money on costly replacements. Keep maintenance on your mind whenever you groom your pets and your clippers will last you a very long time and serve you well.
While the clippers may be an initial investment, they’re going to save you thousands of dollars on grooming services throughout their life. Professionals using their clipper tool every day can get many years out of them, so pet parents using them much less often can make them last an entire lifetime. Stop wasting money you don’t have to spend and do your own grooming!
