Hi @Fred123, you now have your answer. 1 member likes Wahl, 2 like Andis and one suggest you look into Oster. @meltam has provided you with criteria to look for. You just need decide which of these are must haves or nice to have, given your usage will be much lower than a hairdresser. As for the ceramic blades, if you can go there or replace the blades during grooming as suggested.
Good luck and as they say on the Oster website “Happy Pets, happy people”. Good luck.
Oster or Wahl. Pet quality is much better than ones made for humans - quieter and variety of blades.
Go for a model that lets you easily change the blade (snap on and off rather than needing a screwdriver).
Get blades that suit your type of dog and how you want to clip them. For example one length for body, a shorter length for face/feet, narrow blade for in between toes of wooly dogs such as poodles, maybe even a wide tooth blade for the initial work that has to deal with long hair/wool that has knots in it).
A corded clipper is as easy to use as a battery clipper I think, and doesn’t run out of torque.
Remember that when clipping an animal you are going to be turning the clippers on and off repeatedly - are the controls easy to use?
Hi @Albie. I appreciate what you are doing trying to help @Fred123.
I would like to be clear that I didn’t suggest people look at Oster. I answered your question about what brand I thought we used in our hairdressing business a decade ago. As I said in an earlier post
I do recommend that people go out and research because as evidenced by the Choice testing the quality of brands and products can vary markedly over time.
I have the Wahl Arco SE 5 in 1 professional pet clipper for my toy poodle that I groom myself. It is a cordless clipper that comes with 2 batteries, charger & 4 various length combs that fit over the blade.
I previously owned a corded Andis professional clipper so have had the benefit of using both types.
I found the Andis which cost around $300 was awkward to use with the cord getting in the way and the blade became very hot very quickly. I even had 2 blades that I interchanged to keep the heat under control.
The Wahl Arco is cordless and at $160 is a far better performer in my opinion. It is quiet and stays cool. I use the bare blade for the face, feet and base of tail and add the combs for the rest of the coat (ranging from 3-12mm). It gets a lot of use as I trim her every 3-4 weeks and has not let me down in the 18 or so months I’ve had it. It is so convenient & light to use and very versatile. I have even groomed her while sitting on my lap. I’m happy to answer any questions you have but highly recommend the cordless Wahl Arco.
