How Often Should You Oil Your Clippers (Revive Blades Today)
Our Hair clippers need oiling. For them to perform at their best, frequent oiling is required.
But how often should this be done? What at the dangers of not oiling our blades?
Don’t worry, in this quick article, we’ll dissect the topic of how often you should oil your clippers to keep them at their best for longer.
So with that said, take a look at the table contents, and let’s begin.
How Often Should You Oil Your Clippers
Quick answer on how often to oil clippers:
How Often to Oil Hair Clippers:
That’s (mainly) remember. Oiling your clippers consistently will get the longevity you want out of your blades.
In the rest of this article, the beautiful benefits consistent oiling has on your hair clippers but also the expensive consequences of not oiling your clippers.
With that said, let’s begin.
The Importance of Oiling Your Clippers
There are many benefits to oiling your hair clippers regularly. These are some of the main points:
- Keep blades sharp
- Improve performance
- Reduce friction on the blades
- Prevent damage to blades
- Stop hair and debris from becoming stuck in your blades
- Makes hair cutting simpler (no pulling hair)
- Keeps high blade hygiene
The best barbers have blades that extract all of these benefits. However, it only comes from constant oiling.
Later on, I will guide you on how to oil your hair clippers right so your blades can work at their best.
But you must understand the benefits of each point above so you can have a thorough understanding of hair clipper oiling.
Keep blades sharp/ improve performance
Performance. That is all we want from our blades. From when we bought them all we asked them to work at their best.
Oiling your clippers regularly helps this. Having oil on your blades keeps them smooth. Hair clipper oils leave a layer of oil that protects the blade from moisture and rust.
Rust is the fastest way to dull your blades. Heck, it can make them completely useless. – title box
Dry blades with no oil are exposed to moisture and oxygen and if this is the case for your clippers, rust and blunt blades aren’t far away.
When your top cutting blade/ front cutting rail blade is smooth, they simply glide past each other, performing miracles on hair.
I will expand on this next.
Reduce friction on the blades / Prevent damage to blades
Friction kills. I’m talking about your blades.
Heavy friction on clipper blades wears them out. If not handled quickly, your blades will not only become dull but will become weaker and get hot very easily.
If your top cutting blade and front cutting rail blade slide across each other whilst dry over a long period of time, they can begin to chip away at each other.
This may be incremental at first, but over months/ years, the friction can wear the blade to the point where it’s too weak/ unstable to cut.
Also at this point, the blades will steadily heat up very quickly. This ruins the metal quality of your blades, damaging them to the point where it’s irreversible.
Oil your clippers regularly to avoid this fate.
Stop hair and debris from becoming stuck in your blades
Hair clipper oil doesn’t just oil. It can be clean too.
Hair clipper oil is a very light oil. It gets in and out of your clipper blades without leaving behind any residue or odor.
But on its way out, it also picks up micro hairs or hair stuck in difficult-to-reach places. It almost acts as a passive cleaner.
If you consistently oil your clippers, hair trapped in your teeth can be swept away without you knowing.
You still should thoroughly clean out your hair clippers don't get me wrong but you can’t do that every day, so regular oiling provides a little assistance, in your busy schedule.
This can keep the hygiene of your blades as high as they can until you have thoroughly cleaned and sterilized your clippers.
It's a tidy helper and I'm sure your clients will appreciate it too.
There’s another way oiling makes your life easier.
Makes hair cutting simpler (no pulling hair)
Everything is better when simple. This goes for cutting hair.
Honestly, why would you want to struggle?
Oiling your blades regularly prevents these issues from becoming critical problems.
Neglecting clipper oiling will not imply producing you with the worst haircuts but you will possibly find yourself at the store sourcing new clippers/blades if it doesn't become one of your biggest priorities.
But don’t be scared, it’s not over. Oiling your clippers is simple and you can start today. I provide the full process below.
How to oil your clippers
Before you oil your clippers, you must have the right oil. Just throwing any ‘oil’ onto your blades can do more damage than work to your blades.
I will always advise you to use a petroleum-based lubricant on your blades. Mineral oil and baby oil can be decent short-term alternatives.
However, if you want the best results and oil that will last, the oils I recommend below, do just that.
WAHL HAIR CLIPPER OIL Best overall
ANDIS HAIR CLIPPER OIL Rust prevention
OSTER HAIR CLIPPER OIL Quick spreading
I explain my reason for this is my best hair clipper oil guide.
Now you have the best oil for your blades, you can start bringing them back to life.
Time needed: 1 minute
The simple steps to blade longevity.
- Step 1
Turn off your hair clippers
- Step 2
Place 3 drops of oil across the front cutting row of your hair clipper
- Step 3
Place a drop of oil on either side of your hair clippers
- Step 4
Turn on your hair clippers and let your hair clippers run for 15 seconds allow the oil to work around the blades
- Step 5
Turn your hair clippers off and turn them upside down.
- Step 6
Any excess oil that drops off the blade is wiped away with a cloth
Conclusion - How Often Should I Oil My Clippers?
In this article, we asked the question, how often should you oil your clippers?
Oil them every 2-3 uses used casually.
Oil them every 3-4 uses when used frequently.
You should also know the benefits of oiling your hair clippers which are:
- Keep blades sharp/
- Improve performance
- Reduce friction on the blades
- Prevent damage to blades
- Stop hair and debris from becoming stuck in your blades
- Makes hair cutting simpler (no pulling hair)
- Keeps high blade hygiene
And you have the full process of oiling your hair clippers to get these benefits.
FAQ
You should oil your Andis clippers every 2-3 uses if you use them casually. If you are a barber and use them more frequently, look to oil them every 3-4 uses.
You should oil your Andis clippers every 2-3 uses if you use them casually. If you are a barber and use them more frequently, look to oil them every 3-4 uses.
Not oiling your clippers allow your clippers blades to become dry. This allows heavy friction which allows your blades to heat up quickly and make the metal weak. Dry clippers are also exposed to moisture which can develop into rust, this overall kills hair clipper performance.
Should I oil my clippers before or after use?
Hair clippers can be oiled before and after use. However, it is to oil your hair clippers after you have cleaned and sterilized your blades. This allows the oil more surface area to lubricate your blades
If you have found this article helpful, please leave a comment on your experiences and check out some of the other articles below to put away your doubts about hair clipper oil.
