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Electric hair clippers are an essential piece of equipment for barbers and commonly used by individuals at home for facial hair, a quick line-up and more.
Since these hair clippers are used relatively frequently, it can come into contact with a host of bacteria that can spread diseases. To prevent that from happening, you should clean your hair clippers thoroughly before use.
Here is a table and list of what items you should have at your station:
Disinfectant Supplies
| IMAGE | PRICE | FUNCTIONALITY | WHERE TO USE | WHY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
  | CHECK ON AMAZON | Spray Clippers before, during, and after every client. | Clipper blades, guards, shears, combs, brushes, clips, straight blades. | To ensure safety of Client and yourself. |
  | CHECK ON AMAZON | Submerse guards, clippers, combs, brushes, straight blades. after every client and end of the day. | Clippers, guards, combs, brushes, straight blade handles. | To ensure safety of Client and yourself. Kill all blood borne pathogens. |
  | CHECK ON AMAZON | Wipe down the seat before and after every client. Wipe Station. | Barber Chair, station, and Clipper Casings. | To ensure safety of Client and yourself. Kill all blood borne pathogens. |
  | CHECK ON AMAZON | Wipe down Station and clipper casings. | Any surface that is non porous. Chair and Station. | To ensure safety of Client and yourself. Kill all blood borne pathogens. |
  | CHECK ON AMAZON | Use to spray alcohol on them to wipe down chair and station. | Chair, Station and Clipper Casings, Shears. | To wipe away any bacteria, hair and residue. |
  | CHECK ON AMAZON | Use to wash your hands before every client and to sanitize your tools before submersing. | Hands, guards, combs, brushes, straight blade cases. | To kill 99.9% of Bacteria aka SANITATION. |
  | CHECK ON AMAZON | Use a squirt before, during and after every client. | Hands and Forearms. | To kill 99.9% of Bacteria aka SANITATION. |
  | CHECK ON AMAZON | Disinfects submersible tools. | Combs, Brushes, non porous tools. | To ensure safety of client and to disinfect the tools properly! |
  | CHECK ON AMAZON | To spray the alcohol on surfaces and tools. | Barber chair, non porous surfaces, clippers, and mirrors. | To ensure safety of client and to disinfect properly. |
Aside from disinfecting and cleaning your hair clippers, you should also properly maintain them to prevent them from breaking down easily.
With the right amount of maintenance and frequent cleaning, your hair clippers will last you for quite a while, and you won’t have to spend extra money to purchase new ones.
So, how do you go about disinfecting hair clippers?
Below, we’ll give you a detailed guide of how to go about making sure that your hair clippers are squeaky clean.
How to Disinfect Hair Clippers
- For your own safety, you must first make sure that the hair clippers are unplugged from the wall outlet, you should also disconnect the cord from the unit if the unit is Cordless Clippers.
- After that, you’ll need to remove any loose hair inside the hair clippers. You can take a thick brush or toothbrush to brush off any hair on the head plate as well as inside the top of the clipper. Most of the remaining hair is usually found bunched together within a small square hole that is the space between the stationary and the cutting blade.. To loosen the smaller hairs in the hair clipper, you can place the blades and clipper head in blade cleaner for a few minutes. Or you can use Oster Blade Wash, which also works.
- Once the loose hairs have been removed, you can use a clipper cleaning brush to get rid of those tiny hairs. Then, wipe down the surface of your hair clippers with an alcoholic wipe. Alternatively, you can use a blade-cleaning solution instead to brush the head and blade until it’s clean.
If you don’t have any solution or alcoholic wipes, consider using a mixture of half water and half white vinegar instead. Dip a rag into the solution and clean over the surface of your hair clipper. Do not dip the blades into the solution. Once you’ve cleaned the head and blade, dry it with a towel and allow it air dry for a couple of minutes.
- Once the blade is dry, you can disassemble the trimmer using a Phillips screwdriver. Start by removing the two screws on the top of the clippers before using your fingers to remove the head and blades to separate them. Depending on the model of the hair clippers, the process might vary.
- The final step can differ depending on which you prefer. You can either use liquid disinfectant or choose to oil your blade. If you pick the liquid disinfectant, it’s known to be the most practical way to disinfect your hair clippers. All you have to do is follow the label and drop your accessories in to soak. MOST DISINFECTANTS (SPRAY OR SUBMERSIBLE) REQUIRE 10 MINUTES OF WAITING TIME TO PROPERLY DISINFECT CLIPPERS.
OIL THE BLADES
To oil the blade, you’ll have to make sure that the head and blade are dry before reassembling them. Thereafter, point the clippers downwards and put a few drops of hair clipper oil across the blades. Be careful not to add too much.
I good rule of thumb is to put 5 dots of oil. One on each side of the blade, one in the middle and one on each side of where the stationary and the cutting blade meet. Then, turn the clipper on and let it run for a few seconds to allow the oil to spread evenly. Finally, remove any excess oil off the hair clippers.
Once you’re done, with this final step, you’ll have a perfect pair of clean hair clippers.
If you prefer, you can also choose to reassemble the hair clippers first, turn the clipper on and give each side of the blade about three or four sprays with a disinfectant product like Oster Spray Disinfectant. or Barbacide Spray Disinfectant. After you’re done spraying, turn the hair clippers off and allow it to dry before oiling your clippers.
Using the Spray Disinfectant is the most common practice of barbers between each client. It makes it easier and much faster to quickly brush of excess hair from the clippers then spray the Disinfectant directly on to the blades with them turned on.
When taking your hair clippers apart and cleanin and disinfecting them thoroughly, you do this every time after every work day to ensure you are keeping your clients safe every day that you work. If you would like to see a step by step guide check out this great Infographic that I created to disinfect your tools and implements aside from your hair clippers.
Tips
- Don’t clean your hair clippers with water as it could cause your hair clippers to rust.
- Do not submerge any electrical components of your clippers
- Make sure that your hair clippers are unplugged during the cleaning process
How often should you disinfect your hair clippers?
It’s important to disinfect your hair clippers after each use as it’ll keep the hair clippers sharp for a longer period of time and will also concurrently get rid of any germs. Every client deserves the best, so you must disinfect with atleast the Spray Disinfectant before each client.
Pieces of hair that are lodged in the hair clippers can also be harmful to the equipment as well as your skin. Hence, it’s crucial that you have a disinfected set of clippers every time you use them. The Oster Spray Disinfectant is great to have on hand so you can disinfect before each client.
Easy hair clippers maintenance tips
The following are just a couple of tips to help you maintain your hair clippers properly.
This is especially useful for individuals that use hair clippers to cut their own hair or other people’s hair at home.
Professional barbers are usually well-versed in proper clipper maintenance since they would’ve learned it in barber school.
Ensure your blade is properly aligned
Every time that you use your clippers, remember to take a look at it sideways and check the length.
The blades should be properly aligned and not have any protruding teeth. Any crooked blades or stray teeth could end up cutting you or the person that’s receiving a haircut.
To adjust the hair clippers, you can use a screwdriver to loosen the blades so that you can set them back in place.
Take extra care when you’re tightening back the screws so that you don’t offset the cutting blade.
After you’ve tightened the screws, you can give the hair clippers another visual check to make sure it’s aligned correctly. There are also alignment tools that are new to the industry which allow you to align the blades as correct as possible. You can use
Use clipper spray
In the US, it is a legal requirement for barbers and salons to use Clipper Spray as it helps in keeping the blades cool to the touch and prevents the client from getting burnt from the hair clippers. Clipper Spray will also help in disinfecting the hair clippers, protects the blades from rust, and reduces any wear and tear.
Conclusion
By properly disinfecting and maintaining your hair clippers, you’ll be practicing good hygiene and will have a sturdy pair of hair clippers for many years to come.
You will be following guidelines and protocols that are in place by that state, that will ensure the safety of your clients as well as for yourself if you are a DIYer and cut your hair yourself at home.
As always if you have any questions or comments leave a comment down below or contact me directly in the About Us page where you can find my email. Thanks guys practice practice practice!!
