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, October 29, 2013

Tuesdays Tip #55 A Product Review

The Sav-Ur-Fur nozzles.

I have gone through so many different sprayers in the past 30 years.
I wish that I had the money back that I spent on all of those sprayers.

For the first few years of grooming, I used a kitchen sprayer.
Yep, that little plastic sprayer that a lot of kitchens sinks have.
I have to say that I am amazed that I got dogs rinsed well with those things.
Boy, did I go through a lot of them.
They don't hold up well to dropping them in the tub, or big dogs stepping on them.

I kind of forgot about using those sprayers till I was at my Vets a couple of weeks ago.
When I went in the back to help him with something, I noticed that he was using one of those small kitchen sprayers in his tub.
Funny how that little sprayer brought back memories.......

Oh, sorry, back to my post.


For years and years now I have been using garden sprayers in my tubs.

I liked garden sprayers because of the different spray settings they had.

I would also only buy the sprayers that had the sprayer control in the front.

 It was easier on the hands to squeeze.

This is the latest sprayer that I had been using.

I really liked it, because the water control was a variable pressure leaver that you pushed up and set, I did not have to squeeze anything.


I really did like that sprayer.
There was just one problem.
Actually there were more than one.
The leaver would eventually get so tight that it was very hard to turn off and on.
Also, the sprayer would start to leak out of a side seam.
I went through several of these in a very short period of time. :(
I really did like that sprayer.





A while back I bought a Sav-ur-fur nozzle.

The one advertized for removing undercoat.

Because the nozzle was adjustable, I was hoping to use it for all bathing.

I did not like it for all bathing.

I felt that it was too powerful for some dogs.








 I thought that this Collie would be a good test for the nozzle.




This is the undercoat of the Collie above.

He had a pretty good amount of undercoat.





 He had been shaved by another groomer a few years ago.

Ever since then his undercoat does not come out easily, even when he is blowing it.






Even though the owner always has me scissor his feathering short and tight, he always comes back in with is rear feathering packed and pelted with mats.

I felt he was a good test for the Sav-ur-Fur undercoat nozzle.






The Collie went straight into the tub.

I soaked him up with Best Shot Shampoo (UltraMax).



Then I started to rinse him with the Sav-Ur-Fur nozzle.

I didn't quite use the nozzle at its full pressure right away.

I wanted to see how it worked at a medium pressure.

I wanted to see if the nozzle would still push out undercoat with a medium pressure for smaller dogs.

I wasn't sure that I would want to use the full pressure on a smaller dog.

The medium pressure did remove undercoat.






I worked in a back and forth motion, aiming the water stream downward to push the undercoat out of the coat.





Even at a medium pressure, you can see in the picture, the amount of undercoat that was removed.



After applying Best Shot Conditioner,
 I turned the nozzle to its full pressure for the final rinse.

You can see that it is a powerful, straight stream of water.

Again I worked it back and forth on the coat, pushing more undercoat out.


 





This is the same rear feathering that is pictured above.

The nozzle not only removed most of the undercoat, but also loosened most of the matting.






The nozzle removed a lot of the undercoat, but not all of it.





As you can see, there is still undercoat in the dog.

This is him after towel drying.









This is the rear after towel drying.

Time to HV dry.


The rest of the undercoat came out with the HV dryer.

The nozzle did help to loosen up all of the undercoat and matting.

The nozzle really helped with this particular Collie.

Most of the time I still have some stubborn undercoat to brush out after the drying, I didn't this time.

 






I was pleased with the results of this nozzle.

But, as I said before, I did not want to use it as an everyday, every dog nozzle.






So, I ordered Sav-Ur-fur's other nozzle.

The S Nozzle.

I use the quick-connects so that I can switch between the nozzles fast and easy.







The male piece of the quick-connects is attached to each nozzle.








The female part is attached to my hose.

All I have to do is push down on the female attachment to remove and switch between nozzles.

Any hardware store should carry a type of quick-connects in their garden department.







This is a picture of the different heads on the two nozzles.



This is what the S-Nozzle looks like when it is connected to the hose.

I will spare you my sons nick name for this nozzle.

Lets just say that he laughed his a** off when I took it out of the box.

Just think like a 19 year old young man would think and you will know the nick name. :)






This nozzle is also pretty powerful.

Too powerful, when used as is for some small dogs and faces in my opinion.

The pressure pictured here is not even full pressure.







The S-Nozzle is not an adjustable nozzle.

I happened to have an open and close connection attached to my tub hose.
(sorry, I don't know the technical name)











I found that by adjusting the open and close switch, I could control the pressure of the water coming out of the nozzle.









The open and close switch works great for when I want to lower the pressure to rinse faces, or rinse smaller, scared, sensitive dogs.






Tip: When used at full pressure, the water tends to back splash.

I put the nozzle right up against the dogs skin and work through the coat.

It tends to keep the back splash down to a minimum.




Sav-Ur-Fur Nozzles:

             Pros:                                                 Cons: 
~Good pressure                    ~ A little heavy (but I got used to it quickly)
~Easy to handle                    ~ Must be careful with the high pressure stream
~Made well                           ~ Tends to back splash when used at high pressure
~Rinses dog well and fast
~No handle to squeeze
~Price not bad considering 
the numberof other sprayers
that I have bought over 
the years.


I am not a spokes person for this product.
I do not get anything for reviewing their product.
My business bought both of the nozzles.

I do personally recommend these nozzles.
I like them, especially the S-Nozzle.

Oh, by the way, I ordered the purple S-Nozzle from the website.

The nozzle I received sure does look pink to me.
They don't show a pink nozzle on their website.
Considering the reaction that I got from my kids, they think it looks pink also. :(
Oh well, I still like it....even if I do have to listen to my sons nick name for it.  :)

Happy Grooming, MFF

14 comments:

  1. Those look very interesting, especially the nozzle that got out some of that under coat. I'll have to give those a go at some point. Though I do admit the pink (purple) one does look like a you know what ;) lol.

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  2. I have recently discovered the garden nozzle variety called 'firehose'. It basically just dumps the water out, for lack of a better description, without being an intense stream on the dogs skin. I love it, cuts rinsing time down so much! Here is a link to a couple different types. The handle on top is great for ease of use, but breaks with use. I am using the twist on off type right now and it works good too. http://www.zorotools.com/g/00065872/k-G1116726?srccode=cii_9324560&cpncode=33-192456237-2&=&utm_source=channel_intelligence&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=nextag

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    Replies
    1. Wow Miriam,
      Way out of my price range! Thanks for the info though. :)
      Lisa, MFF

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    2. Lol! What the heck? I didn't even look at the prices on that link, holy smokes, um? those ones made out of gold and platinum I guess, ha ha. You can get them at Home Depot for about $15 :)

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    3. Haha! I had a feeling that they were not the ones you were talking about. :)
      I have seen the one you ARE talking about a Home Depot.
      Lisa, MFF

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  3. Thanks for the great information! I do most of the washing and this is very helpful! Every once in a while I give him the whole doggy spa experience at the groomer though. I've been thinking about taking my dog to the place that does pet grooming in Des Moines IL. He's gotten pretty scruffy!

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  4. Thanks for the info! I've never even heard of it before now. The black one sounds awesome, can't wait to try it. This is the one I was planning on getting. I like the functionality I'm just not sure if it will last with constant use. Although for that price, it can't hurt to try :)

    http://www.amazon.com/Nelson-Rezimar-Seven-Pattern-Control-50130/product-reviews/B0015AUOQY/ref=cm_cr_pr_hist_5?ie=UTF8&colid=1HYTXD8JZJFAB&coliid=I16K16SW4FT7DV&filterBy=addFiveStar&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

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    Replies
    1. Hi Kasi,
      I actually have a couple of those sprayers in my Self-Serve. They do the job, but they do not hold up as long as I would like them to.
      Lisa, MFF

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    2. Wow I'm so glad I posted the link! lol Are you planning on using these new nozzles exclusively? Or are you still looking for an all-purpose sprayer? I will be grooming in my family's boarding kennel when I graduate. They used to have a groomer working there but it's been years so the bathing room is a bit outdated. It's been good enough for the family dogs but for it to be used nearly all day, everyday it needs an upgrade.

      Oh! Btw...my teacher said to me today, "You have great scissoring skills." Woot! I was so proud of myself. Obviously she means for a beginner but at least I know I have potential. :D I took your advice and decided to give scissoring a try when I could. Most of our dogs are cut short with 5F and 4F blades so if I have time I've been scissoring then shaving it off. I had my first Bichon today and I got a chance to put my practice to the test. It was so much fun! Thank you for the encouragement :)

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    3. Hi Kasi,
      First of all.......Whoopee!!!!! (happy dance). A wonderful compliment from your grooming teacher. I love scissoring. I am sure that the more you scissor, the better you will get and will also love it. :)

      As for the nozzles, I think that I will be sticking with the Sav-Ur-Fur nozzles. There is really nothing to wear out and break on the S nozzle, other than maybe having to replace the inner washer once in a while. The undercoat nozzle has moving parts,so over time it could possibly need to be replaced, but it is a pretty sturdy nozzle and should last for a very long time. Much longer than any of the garden nozzles. I don't think that you would be sorry if you invested in them. Yes, I would get both.
      Lisa, MFF

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  5. I've heard nothing but rave reviews about both the nozzles and the bathing system from them, but I have never seen one in person, or knew you didnt have to buy the whole system! Thanks for your review! -Jessica

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  6. Why shape a collie with scissors?

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    Replies
    1. Because the owner wanted the dog shaved. I talked him out of that by talking him into a tight shape up all over with scissors. If he were my dog he would not have anything but his feet scissored.....he is not my dog.
      Lisa, MFF

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  7. i'm a professional groomer and i love the deshed adjustable nozzle. if you look at the whole bathing system that its designed to work with, it has flow regulators so you can turn down pressure, thats why it doesnt have adjustablilty.

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