Dog Grooming Equipment

This page will cover your dog grooming equipment such as a good pair of clippers, assorted blades, and at least one pair of quality shears. Don’t skimp on these items.

The Tables, Dryers, etc. page will cover some of the stationary dog grooming equipment that will be used such as the dog grooming table, tub, dryer, and cages.

Your equipment will be the center of your business and needs to be good quality equipment that can withstand long term use.

Clippers

Get a good pair of pet grooming clippers. Not the cheap things you pick up from a department store in the pet isle, but from a reliable dog grooming equipment supplier. My personal preference is the Andis brand clippers, but there are also Oster, Wahl, and several other brands of clippers available.

Blades

You will need several blades ranging in several sizes to get started. Your most commonly used blade is called a #10 blade. As the numbers gets smaller, the blade length gets longer. Your #5 blade will leave hair 1/4" and the #10 will leave the hair 1/16”.

If you are starting a dog grooming business from scratch, I suggest having the following blades to start with. Then as the need grows and your budget permits, you can add more sizes, types, and clip on guide combs to your dog grooming equipment inventory.

  • #40, #35, or #30 -- Have at least one of these for trimming the pads of the feet.
  • #10 --Have at least two of these so that you will have a second blade to use while the first one cools off. The #10 is the most commonly used blade.
  • #7F -- Have at least two of these so that you will have a second blade to use while the first one cools off.
  • #5 -- Have at least two of these so that you will have a second blade to use while the first one cools off.
  • One set of clip on combs for longer lengths.

Purchase quality blades that fit your clippers properly and will hold a sharpening for a long length of time. The money you save purchasing cheap blades you will lose in the cost having to sharpen them more frequently.

Blades Get Hot!!!

The coolant falls more into the dog grooming supplies category than it does dog grooming equipment, but I felt it was necessary to cover its importance to the blades section.

Friction from the blades cutting motion causes the blades to get hot. Depending on the speed of your clippers, you have 2 or 3 minutes before the blade starts getting hot. Check your blades very often as you use them, by touching the inside of your arm with the flat side of the blade as you are working with them. If the blade feels hot, then you need to change them. You can cause severe burn damage on your dog if you don’t monitor your blades closely. You will need to change your blades often and cool them down before reusing them.

A “must have” on your grooming table is a blade coolant. I recommend a spray on coolant that you can spray on your blades in between uses to quickly cool your blades and clean them at the same time. Choose a coolant that cools your blades, disinfects, lubricates, and cleans. Andis has a 5-In-One called Cool Care that I really like. According to how many blades you have, you might also get a piece of marble to lay your blades on to speed the cooling process.

Shears / Scissors

I call them scissors, but the some call them shears. Whichever you prefer to call them, make sure they are high quality and light weight.

Scissors come in a wide variety of sizes from long to short, straight or curved. My favorite is my short curved scissors but most people prefer the short straight scissors. Make sure you have at least one good pair of scissors for trimming around eyes, ears, feet, and other areas you cannot get to with the clippers.

Curved scissors are great for rounding off the heads and the pom-poms on the poodles. Logically, large curved scissors work best on the large dogs where as the short curved ones work best on the smaller dogs.

Straight scissors are great for trimming the front legs on dogs since the clippers don’t always leave them “pretty”. I have a pair of nice long straight scissors for trimming the legs on Standard Poodles. They work so much better than the short straight scissors with half the effort.

Brush and Comb

Personally, I prefer a slicker brush. It does a much better job than a pin brush. Since the slicker brush requires a technique for proper results, I might suggest a pin brush to a customer instead of a slicker brush for the dog’s benefit. A dog is less likely to get scratched with a pin brush.

As far as combs go, I have one recommendation, get a good medal Collie Comb. It will last forever. When I first met Kara, she had the same comb she bought 16 years prior. It is still in perfect condition and works great. Your dog grooming equipment soon becomes and extension of your hands. You will want to make sure your tools are comfortable in your hands and are not too heavy, bulky, or hard to use. It may take a while for you to find the brands that suit you best, but the last thing you want to be is annoyed with your dog grooming equipment while trying to style a dogs hairstyle.

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For questions or comments, you can contact me @Animal Ark Grooming or in my NEW Facebook comment section below.

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