Answers for Holly

A fellow groomer had left some questions for me the other day, and I promised her that I would finally answer them tonight.

No ranting in this post. :)

Here are her questions:

1. Blades: How are you liking your wahl blades you bought a while ago? I have been using buttercut and know you are not a huge fan of them why? I recently have been slowly purchasing Andis Ultra Edge and feel it is not as smooth but it may just take some time.
2. Shears: What lengths/brand of shears do you use? (I was only given a 7.5" curve shear and a 46 tooth blender in my beginner kit) and now I am finally revamping my tools.
3. Clipper Vac: Have you ever used one? I just began using one and love it for comb blades and reverse cuts except when I use them with my blades, cutting with the grain it seems to leave lines, it could be my blades but when I cut without the clipper vac it leaves no lines. Any thoughts?
4. How are you liking your "Chunkers"?
5. When pulling out undercoat on a double coated breed have you ever used the marrs coat king or anything similar?
6. Hand Stripping: Do you know how? you probably do so do you advertise it. I have heard so many controversial things about shaving breeds that should be hand stripped (skin irritation, coat color/texture changing, etc.) vs. hand stripping is mean. 

The answers that I will be giving to these questions are my opinion.

Other groomers may not agree, or may use, or like other tools.

Every groomer should use tools that are comfortable to them.

Another groomer may absolutely hate a brush, or blade, or clipper that I love.

That does not mean that either one of us is wrong in our thinking, we just like different things.

So, as you read my answers to these questions, keep an open mind.

Don't worry if I don't like something that you use, that's okay, if you like it, and it works for you, that is all that is important.

1. Blades: How are you liking your wahl blades you bought a while ago? 

I like them.... My daughter does not like them, and only uses them if she has to. I have noticed, that even though my daughter and I have the same exact make of clippers, that the blades do not cut the same on each clipper.

Sometimes when she borrows a blade from me, that is working just fine on my clipper, but it does not cut nice on her clipper. 

The same tends to happen when I borrow a blade from her.

I am sure that it has something to do with the way the blades were set after sharpening and the way the lever is wearing on the clipper.

I have to say, I bought those blades a few months ago and have not had to have them sharpened yet. (or course I only clip clean hair with them)

It's amazing, I have collected quite a number of blades over the years, Oster, Andis, and Wahl.

I have my favorites that cut just the way I want them....then I send them to the sharpener, and when they come back, one or two of those blades that I really liked to use regularly don't cut as nicely as they cut before, but others do.

I guess that it is all in the way they are sharpened.

Who knows, I may send these new Wahl blades out to be sharpened and not like them when they come back, and my daughter may love them.

It's crazy. 

  I have been using buttercut and know you are not a huge fan of them why?

I don't know.

Well, that 's not entirely true.  

For some reason my Buttercuts just don't cut right on either my clippers or my daughters.

They seem to glide over the top of the hair and not cut to the length they are supposed to.

I'll be honest, we just kind of tucked them away and haven't tried using them recently. 

Maybe I should send them out to be sharpened again (I changed sharpeners) and try them again when they come back. 

  I recently have been slowly purchasing Andis Ultra Edge and feel it is not as smooth but it may just take some time. 

You do tend to get used to the way certain blades cut.

There have been times when I have been using a blade and then I pick up another blade (the same brand and same number length) and the second blade seems to cut shorter and smoother than the first. 

The first blade was not dull, it just didn't cut as short as the second blade.

Of course that could be due to how far up the cutting blade was placed by the sharpener. 

Sometimes brand new blades need to be sharpened. 

I know....they are new, they should be sharp already, but they may cut smoother for you if you send them out to be sharpened.

Oh wait...try cleaning and oiling them first, if they still are not cutting right for you have them sharpened. 

 2. Shears: What lengths/brand of shears do you use? (I was only given a 7.5" curve shear and a 46 tooth blender in my beginner kit) and now I am finally revamping my tools.

I can tell you what I use, but shear are such a personal tool. 

I love using 10" shears.

I use them more than any other shears.

I like using 7.5", or 8.5" shear on faces and small dogs.

I also use both straight and curved shears.

I have so many scissors, I tend to buy one or two new ones a year.

I used to buy Monks, because they were so light.

A heavy shear would make my wrist hurt.

For a while they stopped making Monks and I started to buy Heritage shears.

They are a nice light weight shear without being overly expensive.  

It is just me, but I just can not bring myself to drop $200 or $300 on a pair of shears.

I am sure that they are wonderful to cut with, but I would brake down and cry if a dog knocked them out of my hand and they hit the floor. 

I bought a $100 pair of shears once because a fellow groomer raved about them.

I have used them twice...I don't like them. 

I like the Heritage Stiletto and the Sure Grip "88".

I have them in the 8.5" and 10" curved and straight.

Here is a link to where I buy mine if anyone is interested in checking them out:

The Groomers Mall 

 3. Clipper Vac: Have you ever used one? I just began using one and love it for comb blades and reverse cuts except when I use them with my blades, cutting with the grain it seems to leave lines, it could be my blades but when I cut without the clipper vac it leaves no lines. Any thoughts?

Funny you should ask about the Clipper Vac.

I used a Clipper Vac for 20 years.

I first bought one when my daughter was born to keep hair down in the shop.

I didn't want my baby around all of that hair.

I really liked the Clipper Vac.

So, why did I stop using it?

I stopped when I started using my cordless clipper.

At the time Clipper Vac did not have a attachment for the Moser, and I loved the way the 5in1 blades cut faces and feet.

I also started using a Andis clipper, and back then, you used to have to glue the Clipper Vac attachment to the clipper...I didn't like that at all.

So I slowly got away from using the Clipper Vac. 

I found out that they now have an attachment for the Bravura cordless clipper.

You also no longer have to glue the attachment to my Andis clippers.

So I have been planning on replacing some parts and using it again.

As for clipping dogs with the Clipper Vac, I found that when using the #4f, #5f, or #7f with the grain, the best way to get a nice smooth clip was to keep the regulator hole wide open while clipping.

Also, do not clip in long strokes.

Clip in short overlapping strokes.

I hope that that makes sense.

I have also read that a lot of groomers use the Clipper Vac against the grain.

They will use a #4f against the grain to get a #5f clip.

I have to admit that I have never tried that. 

 4. How are you liking your "Chunkers"?

Mmmmmmm.

I have only used them twice.

Does that answer your question? lol

I don't know, the ones that I bought just seem way too aggressive. 

I think that they leave a too choppy finish.

I like a crisp, sharp finish on my dogs.

As I said before, it  is all in the preference of the groomer.

I will probably use them again, just not as often as I thought that I would.

 5. When pulling out undercoat on a double coated breed have you ever used the marrs coat king or anything similar?

I use my Mars Coat King quite a lot.

I used it twice today.

I use it more for thinning a coat out than for removing undercoat.

As I said I used it today on a Pom and a CollieX.

But, I didn't use it until I already had all of the undercoat that I could get out out. 

Because the Mars Coat Kings are a number of  small curved blades, I don't like using it to remove undercoat, or mats.  

I want to remove the entire undercoat not cut it.

As for mats, I worry that the skin could be pulled into the blades, along with the mats, and cut the skin.

 

I like to remove most of the undercoat with the HV dryer.

Whatever undercoat is left after bathing and drying I get with my slicker brush, mat brush, or comb.

 

 Once all of the undercoat has been removed, I use the Mars Coat King to thin out areas where my comb is not gliding smoothly through the hair, like the main, the hips, or the rear feathering.

It also helps to thin out these areas. 

 

This is what the Poms coat looked like after using the Coat King.

 6. Hand Stripping: Do you know how? you probably do so do you advertise it. I have heard so many controversial things about shaving breeds that should be hand stripped (skin irritation, coat color/texture changing, etc.) vs. hand stripping is mean.

Yes, I know how.

I am in no way an expert on the subject.

No, I don't advertize it, or offer it.

It is very time consuming and hard on my hands.

I don't seem to be able to use the hand stripping tools right. (maybe it is because I am left handed)

I also prefer stripping with my fingers and not tools.

I hand stripped my TerrierX until she was about 16 then it was too much for her.

When you hand strip a coat it does leave a beautiful finish and the coat is different.

I have found, over the years, most pet owners don't want to pay the price for hand stripping, (the cost of hand stripping should be considerably higher than clipping) or have the patience to wait for the right time for the coat to be stripped.

I very rarely ever have anyone ask me about hand stripping.

I will admit, I have a long time customer that have just gotten a Welsh puppy.

He has a gorgeous coat, and I have already done a little stripping on him. :/

I have to say, that I have clipped a lot of dogs whose coats could have been hand stripped if the owners had wanted, and have never seen any skin problems because of clipping.

Yes, clipping does change the texture and sometimes the color of the coat on some dogs.

I hope my answers helped. :)

✂ Happy Grooming, MFF ✂