Is it common to finish multiple grooms using mostly clippers/5 in 1?

[marysol]

There's a groomer I work with that rarely used scirrors, even mostly uses guard combs on the faces before doing minor touch ups and cutting the ears with scissors. About 90-95% of the work is with clippers. Thoughts?

 

[barnabasp]

@marysol I just find scissors give a much nicer finish. There are also certain coats/lengths that I find I have to go back over with scissors to even out. The bulk of it is done with clippers.

 

[marysol]

@barnabasp That's what I do. They just more focus on getting it done quicker than worry about the details.

 

[barnabasp]

@marysol There are definitely groomers out there who do this and there are clients who don't care, they just want the hair gone.

 

[marysol]

@barnabasp I wish I could be better about keeping that in mind. Gotta get faster.

 

[genna]

@marysol I knew a groomer that had been grooming 10+ years and certain dogs she would just skim the dog all over with a 40 blade. Like just hover the blade and do tight outline trims that way and did minimal scissoring. The dogs looked great. Some people are just very skilled and as long as the dogs look good then all the better.

 

[sunshinerayz]

@genna Damn what a steady hand she must have had

 

[genna]

@sunshinerayz Yeah she did. Of course the dogs behavior is a big part too. She didn't do that unless the dog was also still.

 

[marysol]

@genna Honestly love doing outline trims this way! Barely use my scissors for outlines. Doodles are a different story for me lol idk if my blades aren't sharp (they should be) but I can't get most of the lumps and stragglers without my scissors at this point , I can't tell which stray hairs I should cut and which ones to ignore.

 

[anton_james]

@marysol Some groomers do amazing work with clippers. Personally, I avoid using them on the face as much as possible because try as I might, I just can’t get a nice blended look like I can with scissors. If she’s able to make her grooms look nice using a clipper in that way, good for her.

 

[marysol]

@anton_james I just nitpick, I can't stand the lumps and stray hairs that get leftover. I'm trying to get faster so I need to learn how to just get it done without stressing.

 

[lindalou55]

@marysol I use clippers as much as possible before going in with scissors to reduce the pain in my hands from arthritis/carpal tunnel.

 

[jen4him]

@marysol I dont even understand how you can use clippers on some smaller dogs' inner and lower bony leg areas. I'm new, so I mean this as a question: how is it even possible to do a dog entirely with clippers? If I could I would, because it takes a lot longer to do scissor work on all the legs but... I don't get it. Can anyone explain? Thanks

 

[baothy2201]

@jen4him It really depends on the hair, but I usually go reverse on insides of legs, or reserve legs all over with two or one step higher than if I was going with grain if it has a good hair type. Wouldn't suggest that with drop coats unless they want a short hair cut. But I also go reverse on neck and chin, skim the muzzle to take bulk off to scissor, small things that add up if just scissoring. Good clean clipper work will reduce the time on scissoring but also provides a good smooth foundation to scissor your dog nicely. My boss competes and has won so many awards and has drilled me on My clipper work for years lol

 

[mutambo]

@jen4him Yes, it's possible. There's actually a grooming competition where you only use clippers (my mentor won one of these with an American Cocker). They will use a clipper to skim in place of scissors. I think it's a cool comp to show off clipper skills, but I wouldn't recommend doing it on average pet dogs. If they move while you're skimming, you can make some pretty bad mistakes (like taking a chunk out of the coat by accident).

 

[jen4him]

Thank you for your replies. I'm new and trying to figure out how to work quality but still not take forever on every little thing.

 

[cathya]

@marysol How do the grooms look? You can get pretty decent results with a clean, sharp, high quality blade and good drying.

I use a “dirty” blade (aka my Andis) for pre-clipping and reserve my buttercuts for post-bath only. The results are quite nice, hardly anything left to scissor.

 

[marysol]

@cathya Well for starters, when she does the pre-shave, after the bath she does clean feet on dogs getting 7b or 5b with the 5in1. Honestly, I can't tell at this point if I'm just being nitpicky or if random tufts hairs are fine here and there.

 

[patrick_andrei]

@marysol I use clippers all over even on faces. I only scissor the eyes/ears/muzzle/paws/tail. I feel more confident with clippers bc I can’t go too short then I just touch up quickly with scissors. I think if I used scissors too much it would take me forever.

 

[clearfix]

@marysol No, there's no way they're doing a good job on the face alone with just clippers.