How to Maintain Your Hair Clipper

Hair clippers are an investment that will pay for itself if you use it to cut your hair or even someone else’s. Having said this, you do need to use it correctly and maintain it well in order to ascertain its long life.

Read on as we discuss a few tips in which you can use and maintain your hair clipper.

The Correct Way to Use Your Hair Clipper

First, let's look at how to correctly use your hair clipper for cutting your own hair at home.

Understand the Blade Guard’s Numbering System

You must have noticed how with clippers, there are numbers. These numbers refer to blade guards that represent the length of your hair. For example, 0 means you want a barely-there hairstyle whereas, an 8 would mean a 1-inch cut. Take care to figure this out as it'll be very helpful for you in the future. There are professionals who use a combination of the blades to get that perfect haircut. But, if you're still a novice, stick to getting a feel of the hairstyling tool before you start experimenting.

Getting the Hair Ready for the Clipper

Always use the hair clipper after washing your hair. This will give you tangle-free and clean hair making it easier for the hair clipper to glide through.

There are a lot of people who prefer to use the clipper when their hair is wet, while others like their hair to be dry. Whether you would want your hair to be dry or wet depends completely on you so stick to what works best for you.

Using the Blade Guards for Cutting

Here comes the main part. Remember to be careful and precise while giving your hair a cut. Use the hair clipper starting at the base of your head and gently work towards the top. Once you move to the sides of your head, start at the base again and move forward to the sides protecting your ears. You can bend your ears inward to make sure you don't accidentally clip your ear.

In the case of the top of the head, start from the forehead working from the hairline backward towards the top. The idea is to get as level a cut as possible.

Remember to always work against the direction of hair growth. This will help you get a more even cut. A common mistake that people make is not holding the clipper in a tight grip. The pressure should be gentle but firm as well. You can even use a comb while you keep moving the tool against the hair growth. This will make it easier as well.

The Correct Way to Maintain Your Hair Clipper

If you are going to regularly use a hair clipper, it will require some level of maintenance. Here's what you'll need to know.

Clean the Hair Clipper

After you cut your hair, hair strands, as well as dirt, can get accumulated between the blades of the clipper. The clipper usually consists of a bigger and outer blade as well as a smaller and inner blade. The former is stationary whereas the latter is movable.

Unscrew the blades taking note of how they fit to help you during reassembling. You might just forget, so be careful in this case.

Use a cleaning brush or a wet cotton pad to remove any hair that is stuck between the blades. You can also place the blades in a container of water and soap solution. While it's not necessary, we advise you use alcohol to disinfect the blades. Also, if you notice any rust forming on the blades, we suggest you throw them out and get new ones instead.

Sharpening the Hair Clipper

Move the blades of the clipper on a sharpening stone or whetstone having a grit surface of 4000. Take care to place the blade at a 30 to 45° angle and repeat this movement about 10 times. The end result should be shiny and even looking blades. If they don't look good enough, repeat the process.

Lubricating the Hair Clipper

After you reassemble your hair clipper, apply a few drops of clipper oil to prevent any wear and tear of the blades. You can also use a dropper for this purpose. Try to apply the clipper oil after every 3 to 4 operations to prevent your hair clipper from overheating.

Don't try to completely wet the machine in the oil. Just a little bit is needed to make sure that the clipper works efficiently.

Resources— Hair Clipper AdvisorSwanky Man

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