By Jonathan David
June 1, 2020
When I was a younger man with a full head of hair (bald guy here, in case you didn’t know) I had a favorite brush and comb that I would use to style my hair. Oh yeah, I was that guy; I couldn’t get my hair just right unless I had my favorite brush and comb. You know—the ones that help you achieve the exact style you’re envisioning in your head.
Well, as pet groomers, we’re the same way—but tenfold! Brushes and combs are two categories of tools that we all know are essential to pet grooming, but the overwhelming truth is that we have so many different brushes and combs to choose from, it can be confusing and intimidating. but why are there so many different types of brushes and combs and what are they all meant for?
Well, the short answer is, there are so many different coat types, textures, lengths and requirements for specific grooming needs so we have brushes and combs to match. but the real answer is so much deeper than that. There are a variety of brushes and combs that are designed with specific needs and desired results in mind to help pet stylists achieve the best grooming—whether you’re showing your dog, competing in grooming competitions or doing everyday salon grooming.
Brushes
Let’s start with a breakdown of the brushes and what they’re best uses are, but not limited to. Experiment sometimes and you may find some tools very versatile!
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Slicker Brushes
The most commonly used brush in our industry is the slicker brush. They come in many sizes and shapes, some made of plastic, others made of metal and some made of wood, but the basic principal is the same. They’re a brush with a rubber backing and a uniform cluster of dense, fine pins usually bent but sometimes straight with varying lengths. They’re most commonly rectangular in shape but can be found in round, square and triangular shapes, and some are double–sided with pins extending from both sides. The tension of the rubber backing, number of pins per square inch and length of the pins affect the resistance of the pins against the coat, changing the end result.
For example, some slicker brushes are dense with short, very stiff pins with very little flexibility. This type of brush is meant to remove short, tight undercoat from shorter–coated breeds by gripping a lot of the shedding undercoat and pulling it up and away from the healthy guard hairs. This brush against longer, softer coats would not glide through with ease; it would grip and pull the hair, and you risk breakage and damage to those longer, softer coats.
Slicker brushes are a great tool for fluff drying a dog’s coat, and using the right slicker for the coat type will affect the way the hair looks when it’s been completely dried. I prefer to use a slicker brush with less dense pins and some flexibility of the pins when I fluff dry pet trims with two to three inches of coat to achieve a nicely blown–out coat without causing damage or breakage. If the coat is a trimmed coat and is already cut shorter and I want to get it as straight and fluffed out as I can, I would choose a slightly stiffer slicker that will grab the coat and pull it up straight during the fluff drying process.
Another style of slicker brush that you’ll commonly see is one that has long pins; some as long as 2–3” that are not very dense and typically the pins are very flexible. They’re designed to be gentle on the coat, causing the least amount of breakage. They’re commonly used for fine hair that breaks easily but still needs to be fluffed straight, like that of Poodles, Bichons, Bedlington Terriers or dogs with similar coats.
The various shapes of the actual brush are a matter of choice and purpose. perhaps if you’re doing a smaller dog, a smaller slicker brush would maneuver around the dog’s body and legs more easily. and you could use a small, triangle–shaped slicker brush for getting in between the eyes with ease or in between legs without having to move the dog around as much.
The thing to remember though is that slicker brushes do cause some amount of breakage or thinning of the coat when using the wrong one for the coat type or from overly aggressive brushing on dry coats. brushing with too much force can cause breakage and thinning rather than detangle the hair. I always recommend using a brushing spray to reduce static electricity in the hair and to help condition and protect the hair from the metal pins of the brush. brushing dry coat can be very harsh and you’ll find that your brushes will glide through and detangle hair more easily with less breakage with the use of a detangling or brushing spray.
Pin Brushes
The second most commonly used brush is a pin brush. A pin brush is typically made from wood, is paddle–shaped, either oval or rectangular of various sizes and have long, straight pins that are much thicker than the pins of a slicker brush. Pin brushes also have a rubber backing that afnullnull