By Jeff Andrews
Today, blade manufacturers are painting blades with a certain kind of paint to make them glide through coat. When the blades are used for an extended period of time, the paint starts to flake off because dog hair is very coarse and aggressive. These paint chips are hard to get out of the coat, short of washing the dog again.
Here is a technique that I’ve used for years before painted blades were a thing. It’s an “Old School” method that we did years ago to help our blades go through coat when we roughed in before the bath. Back then, with 30 plus dogs in the shop every day, we didn’t have time to bath them before shaving them down. We called it “Waxing The Blade”.
The wax I use can be found just about anywhere and you can’t mistake the can. It’s a paste wax that contains 100% Carnauba Polymer Wax. It’s thick and it stays on longer. You can use car wax from the garage but regular car wax dries to a crusty finish.
You can use a Q-tip to get the wax out of the tin and spread it on the back of the blade. Another way is to get bold and just dig out some on your finger tip. This is the best way to smear it all over the back of the blade. Getting it in the screw holes will help and won’t hurt anything. Try not to get it in the teeth of the blade, it won’t help getting it in there but it does wipe off easily. This is better than cleaning those paint chips out of the coat, right?
If you’re using regular car wax it will dry to a crusty finish, this paste wax doesn’t dry hard. Leave both on for about 10 – 15 minutes. Then get an old rag and wipe the residue off until you feel it get slick and shiny. This should last about 5 or 6 dogs, maybe more if you washed them first. I assume a waxed blade will fly through coat on a wet shave down. Back in the day this is all we had to help speed that blade through mats and tangled coat. It’s something worth trying!
Have a great day grooming, and please read those labels. ✂
Jeff Andrews is a World Class Sharpener and owner of Northern Tails Sharpening, Inc. He is an author and pioneer of many equipment maintenance videos and how-to articles that are appreciated by groomers worldwide at no cost. Jeff is a Certified Groomer of 30+ years, and is a member of NDGAA, IPG, and NAPCG. Jeff still grooms at his shop in Mobile, AL. 251-232-5353 http://www.northerntails.com
