how to clean clipper blades

I know many of you use blade wash to clean your blades, I personally never use it and haven't for years. It is oily, messy and can ruin a clipper if you are not careful and allow it to run into the clipper. I only clean my blades periodically but I make sure that all dull blades get cleaned, oiled well and tested on a dog before being sent off for sharpening because I have had sharpeners tell me that the blades I sent in were not dull, they were dirty. Sharpening a blade that does not need it costs you money in more ways than one. You pay the sharpener to sharpen an already sharp blade and you take some of the life off the blade meaning it will need replacing sooner.

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Dirty blades will not cut well and they are harder to oil because the hair and dirt that accumulates on the blade make it drag through hair giving the illusion of dullness. I use water and dish soap to clean my blades, but you can also use a bathing system if you have one. Leftover shampoo is great for cleaning the blades. A recirculating washer with a bit of dish soap works fabulously and a Prima type system or Hydrosurge Bathmaster also work well by applying soapy water at high pressure allowing the hair and dirt to wash right off.

So how do you clean blades with soapy water without ruining them? Easy!

I take a small plastic container and fill it with soapy water. I usually use Dawn. Then put your blades in the water and agitate with your hands for a minute or so and them let them sit for a few minutes to allow the soap to work it's magic.

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Then rinse the blades off with clean water.

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Put the blades on a towel to dry and then to be oiled. I usually put them on my drying table. Blow the blades off with a high velocity dryer. You don't have to get them completely dry but simply remove the excess water and any hair that may still be on the blades.

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After drying them, oil them and let them sit overnight before using. Letting them sit permits the oil to penetrate the blade and I get better results after doing this. I use sewing machine oil or WD40. There are brands of oil that are labeled for blade use, but sewing machine oil is easily accessible and is slightly lighter than most clipper oil I have seen and it works great. Whatever you decide to use make sure you move the cutter to the side and get the oil under the cutter onto the rail that it moves on. I usually move it to the left and then again to the right. This should slide easily and if it doesn't it will need to be adjusted. Don't ask me how to do that, because I send them off for that type of thing, but at my shop, if I find a blade is really hard to slide the cutter on I label the blade and send it in to my blade guy.

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When oiling the blades put the oil in the areas that move. Under the cutter, along the rails. Do not put oil on the flat surface, only the moving parts. By sliding the cutter after oiling it will ensure that the oil is on the part of the blades that need the oil.

Before using the blades, I wipe off excess oil onto a towel. If you leave blades sitting wet without oiling them, they WILL RUST but as long as you blow the water off and oil them after washing, they will not rust and they will last you a lot longer between sharpening.

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