Dog Grooming Clipper Blades-Everything You Need to Know

So you want to give your dog a haircut, but you're confused about all these blade choices and brands. What blades and brands should you use to clip your dog? What's the difference? Are all blade sizes safe to use on any coat type? Stay put. I got the answers you're looking for. Thank you for joining me today. I am Amy Lee, certified professional pet groomer since 2003, but more importantly, it is absolutely my pleasure to share with you the secrets of the grooming industry so that you can provide quality care for your beloved pets at home. Let's get started. Clipper blades. Which ones should you use to clip your dog? Well, it's simple, but it starts with what breed you're trimming first. You will find two links in the description of this video. This is the perfect place to start by reviewing the clipping guide and the blade recommendations for the breed you're trimming for your dog. For example, let's say you're trimming a miniature schnauzer. You could use a four blade, a five blade, a seven blade on the body to set the pattern. You would use a 10 on the pads of the feet and in the sanitary area and on the ears. You could use attachment combs for the legs and the furnishings, or you could hand scissor that, but you don't have to hand scissor because you can use snap-on combs. That's next week's demo. Speaking of schnauzers, I have an amazing schnauzer breed standard trim video on my channel. It's my most viewed video on my channel. I'll link it in the card for you right now, guys, if you're interested in watching it. It's a good one. Okay, back to it. So what's the difference between a four blade, a five blade, a seven blade? The higher the number, the shorter the clip. Let's remember that. It's simple. For instance, a seven is shorter than a five. A 30 is shorter than a 15 blade. The higher the number, the shorter the clip. Now you may be wondering, what is the difference between blade brands themselves? Andis, Wahl, Oster, Geib. There's no difference. They're the same. Each blade manufacturer uses different metals, sharpening techniques, different finishes on their blades, and it's just a matter of preference as to which one you choose to use, which one you want to work with. All detachable pet grooming clipping blades are universal. All of them. And those blades fit most all clipper brands such as Andis, Wahl, Oster, Laab. What is my favorite choice of clipper blade to use? My favorite is the Wahl clipper blades by far, especially the competition series. I've tried every brand of blades. Andis, Oster, Geib, Wahl. My favorite are certainly the Wahl. I'm not getting paid to say that. I'm just telling you because I share my secrets. You guys know that. I'll tell the truth. I like Wahl because they seem to maintain sharpness longer than their competitors as long as you practice proper blade maintenance. So stay tuned till the end of this video because I'm going to teach you proper blade maintenance on your clipper blades so that you can prolong the life of your blades and get the best out of them. Most for your money. Bang for your buck. Also going to show you what products to use to clean those blades and keep them in tip-top shape. You may have also noticed that there are ceramic edge blades. What are they? The cutting part of a ceramic blade is ceramic. Ceramic will maintain a sharp edge longer than a metal blade. I've used ceramic blades but I did not notice an exceptional longer life. But what I did notice is my blade sharpening service frowned upon sharpening ceramic blades. Claiming that they're nearly impossible to renew to a factory edge like they can with a metal blade. And many blade sharpening companies won't sharpen ceramic blades. Therefore they're not worth the extra money the extra cost to purchase them. I stay away from ceramic blades for that reason. The Wahl competition series is definitely the blade choice for me. That's what I use every day in my salon. Quick reminder again next week we are going to go over snap-on comb attachments in depth. Be sure to subscribe to GoGroomer and ring the bell for notifications. You're not going to want to miss that demo guys. It's the great follow-up to this one on blades. I'll be sure to link the card when it's up on YouTube for you. Back to blades. Are there dangers to the dog's skin with certain blade sizes? Yes there absolutely are dangers to the dog's skin and coat with certain blade sizes. My personal recommendation is to never use a blade size shorter than a seven on a dog's body. Blades shorter than a seven on the body can seriously irritate the follicle, the skin, causing a skin infection. It could, didn't say it would, but it can. And quite honestly you wouldn't want to clip their coat any shorter than a seven because their coat protects their skin from things such as allergens, sun, and insects. Their coat is also the key element that regulates their body temperature. Even a seven blade in my opinion is too short because it leaves their skin and coat vulnerable. Also never go any shorter than a 10 blade for sanitary or around the ears, the head, otherwise you can cause irritation. Another danger with clipper blades is catching the skin in areas such as the armpits, the flank, the ears, where the ear connects to the head. Those are danger zones. Yes you can cut a dog with a clipper blade. Don't forget that guys. Detachable clipper blades are the only type of clipper blades that you want to purchase if you're using a professional pet clipper such as Wahl, Andis, Oster, Geim, Lab, all those. Conair even has detachable. They're all universal blades but they will only work on a clipper that is made for detachable blades. Note there are many types of clippers on the market. Clippers for humans, there are five in one clippers like the Arco and the Bravera. You want to make sure that you're purchasing blades that are for a detachable clipper or you'll be disappointed when your blades arrive because they won't fit your clipper. Now we've learned pretty much everything I think we need to know about blades except for one very odd type of blade, the skip tooth blade. Skip tooth blades look exactly like they sound with every other tooth being short. The purpose of these blades is to cut through coats that may be matted, tangled, or very thick. Because of the spacing of the teeth you can easily make a mistake with them guys and you can cut your dog. I do not recommend these blades. I think a 7F is fine. I don't use the skip tooth but I thought I should let you know about them. Don't forget to refer to those links in the description of this video because it's going to explain to you what blades are suggested for what types of trim, what dog breed you're trimming. You can use various blades but they're going to tell you the suggestions and the safest blades for those trims. Those are some pretty good references. I hope you guys go check them out. So now let's move on. How do we take care of these precious blades that we bought? Well I'm going to show you right now. This is Andis Cool Care Plus for clipper blades. It's a 5-in-1 coolant, disinfectant, lubricant, cleaner, and a rust preventative. You can also purchase this on Amazon. Link in the description below. The first thing you want to do is just use a toothbrush. I pick them up at the dollar store really cheap and get all the hair off of your blade. Out from everything that's stuck in between everywhere in the blade. Turn your clipper on. Reseat your blade. Grab your Cool Care which is made by Andis and spray the whole back of your blade including the clipping edge. While the clipper is running and the blade is running, we are wiping off any excess oil or cleaner but you do want the product to run through the clipping surface of your blade. I clean my blades before and after every use. Now we're going to oil our blade. I use Andis Clipper Oil and I love it. Let's put one drop at each corner of the clipping blade and then we're going to run a bead of it right along the clipping surface just like this and let it run. It's important to keep your blade well lubricated and cleaned. Both. Both are very important. So these two products are very important for taking care of your blades. If you do so, you will get tons of life out of these blades guys. Now grab a rag or a paper towel and let's wipe any excess oil or cleanser off of this blade and it's ready for the next use. Andis Cool Care and Andis Clipper Oil. That's all you need guys to take care of these blades and a toothbrush. Don't forget that next week we will dive deep into snap-on comb attachments that will save you time and produce professional results. I hope you guys like it and share it and subscribe to my channel if you haven't already because I would love to share more of these secrets with you.