About Me:

I am a professional Pet Groomer. I have been grooming for 28 years. This Blog is a kind of diary of my work. I wish I had started years ago, writing some of the experiences I have had while grooming. Most days are fun, some can be sad, some can be just down right crazy. If you are a pet owner and come across this blog, I hope it helps you understand how your pet is groomed. If you are a Pet Groomer, I hope you can relate to some of the stories. Maybe even learn a grooming tip or can leave a friendly grooming tip for me. There is always something to learn, no matter how long you have been grooming.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Chunkers....Just Not Crazy About Them.

A couple months back I talked about the Chunkers that I bought at Intergroom.

I have used them chunkers several times, but I am not impressed with them.
Well, at least I am not impressed with the pair that I have.
Maybe a more expensive pair would be nicer....I don't know.

I personally feel that they are too hard on my hands, and that I can get the same finish with my scissors, much more quickly.

I have a grooming friend that told me once that she was taught to scissor everything with her thinning shears.
She did all of her topknots with only thinning shears.
I couldn't believe it.
I remember my hands and wrists hurting just thinking about it.

Today I decided to test my belief that I could get the same look that the chunkers leave with my scissors.



This pretty girl gets all of her feathering and flyaway hair scissored up tight and neat.

So, I decided to use my chunkers on one side and my scissors on the other side.

I groomed this side first with the chunkers.









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  The chunkers left a nice soft finish.

But, my hand was tired and hurt while scissoring with the chunkers,  and going back and forth, and back and forth over areas to make sure to get all of the hair was time consuming.











Now the other side with only scissors.









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 I still had to do some more touching up after this photo, but I really don't see that much difference between using the chunkers and using my scissors to get the same look.

It is most definitely quicker and easier on my hands with the scissors.

I can always come back and use the chunkers or thinning shears to quickly soften up any sharp lines I don't want.


I know that there a lot of groomers out there that love using the chunkers and/or thinning shears over scissors.....more power to you.
I like my scissors. :)

There was one thing that I did notice as I was finishing up this dog.
The side of the dog that I used the chunkers on....the cut just didn't stand up to the dog moving around and sitting down.
When the dog would shake,or stand back up the hair looked messy and uneven.
The scissored side stayed looking nice and even.

As I have said before in my posts, these are just my opinions.

I would love to try a couple of the chunkers that I saw at Intergroom.
They felt really nice and smooth in my hand
Much smoother than the one that I bought.
But, I most likely never will try them, because I can't bring myself to drop $300 to $400 on them.

If I got them home and found that I didn't like them either, I would just have to sit down and cry.

I did without chunkers for 29 years.....I'll survive. :)

Happy Grooming, MFF

3 comments:

  1. I agree. My scissors are faster and a smoother finnish. I only use chunkers for corrective blending / softening of sharp lines.

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  2. I am not a groomer but I do conformation with my Brittany's. I have never used chunkers , so my question is this...do chunkers take out a lot of coat w/each cut ? Are they used for blending and thinning. Would they be appropriate to use to the the coat on the back of his neck and shoulders. My male carry's a thick, straight coat across his shoulders and neck..I need to thin this way down and I currently use a grooming stone and thinning shears. Thank you in advance

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    Replies
    1. Hi,
      Chunkers take out large chunks of the coat with each cut. I personally would not use them on your Brittany to thin out the neck.
      I would use either thinning shears by sliding the thinning shears up under the coat, doing one or two cuts at a time, (depends on how much hair your thinning shears cut with each cut) (also be careful of getting too close to the skin when sliding the thinning shears under the coat), then combing out the thinned coat. Repeat as many times as needs till the area is tinned enough. You could also use a CoatKing rake to help thin out the neck.
      Lisa, MFF

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