Maintaining a stylish, groomed look requires a bit more than spending time in front of the mirror every morning. One of the most crucial aspects of beard trimmer and hair clipper maintenance is oiling it regularly.
Here is everything you need to know in order to oil your most important grooming products with trimmer oil, and keep them in the best condition. After all, having a good working beard trimmer and hair clipper makes the difference between a messy look and a clean cut.
Why Does One Need to Oil His Beard Trimmer/Clipper?
An electric razor of any sort is essentially a small mechanical device with lots of tiny moving parts. Lubricating these parts regularly ensures that the razor does not fall apart after just a few months of use. A high-quality razor should last you a few years at least, if maintained regularly. Pain during shaving, for example, most likely indicates that the razor was not oiled properly or frequently enough. Also, failure to oil a beard trimmer makes it more prone to rust.
What Type of Oil Can Be Used?
A good razor will typically come with a small bottle of trimmer oil that will last you for quite a long time if used conservatively. If yours did not come with trimmer oil or you have misplaced the bottle, buy a bottle from a trusted manufacturer, like Wahl or Remington.
The oil produced by these companies is thin enough to get into all the tiny crevices in between and around the blades. Alternatively, stores that offer a large variety of grooming products in your area will most likely have the oil you need.
What Type of Oil Shouldn’t Be Used?
Ignore any advice that tells you to use oils with heavy viscosity, such as WD-40 or extra virgin olive oil. Heavy oils can potentially ruin your device because they were made for large mechanical parts, not the tiny blades on your electric shaver. Any thick oils made for heavy machinery should not be used, stick to thin oils or the particular trimmer oil that came with the product.
What Will You Need For Oiling?
In order to clean and oil your beard trimmer or hair clipper thoroughly and properly, there are a few things you will need.
- A clean brush or clean toothbrush: A lot of shavers already come with a brush. This tiny brush should be used before applying the oil to clean out any hair or gunk that has built up as a result of frequent use. If you lost the razor’s small brush or your razor did not come with one, a toothbrush will work just as well. Just make sure the toothbrush is clean before use.
- Lubricating oil: It would be impossible to oil your trimmer without the proper lubricating trimmer oil! Remember to buy razor-specific oil or oil made for small mechanical parts, as the alternatives could permanently damage your device.
How to Oil Your Beard Trimmer (Step by Step)
The process to oil a beard trimmer is quite straightforward and easy, even if you have never done it before. Here are the step by step instructions.
- Make sure your beard trimmer is clean: Applying trimmer oil to a razor that has been used without being cleaned will make a mess out of the maintenance process. Any hair lodged in between the blades will not come out when you apply oil. In fact, since oil sticks to hair, oiling a freshly used and uncleaned beard trimmer or hair clipper will cause the machine to cease working optimally. If the sound of your razor is not as strong or loud as it once was and you oil it regularly, failing to clean it with a brush first may be the problem.
- Make sure that the trimmer is off first when using oil: Do not turn on the razor before applying the oil. The machine should be off before the application. Once you have applied it, however, turning it on for 10–20 seconds will help get the oil in between and around the blades very well.
- Before using any trimmer with oil, make sure you check your manufacturer’s warranty, if you have one: Some manufacturers’ warranties become void if you use oil different from the one that came with the product, so read the manual and check if this is the case beforehand. In many cases, the trimmer oil that was provided by the manufacturer will last you well past the warranty expiration.
- Apply a small amount of oil: One of the biggest mistakes people make when oiling their beard trimmers is using way more oil than necessary. The goal is not to coat the blades in oil. Apply a single drop to the center of the blades (where they meet) and a drop on either end of the machine where the blades connect to the motor. You should only be using a few drops during every clean, any more than that is unnecessary.
- Wipe the excess: Using too much oil can make you accidentally coat the shaver motor in oil, which is most likely a bad idea if the product is not waterproof. Regardless of how much you use, get a clean cloth to wipe off any excess oil after application.
Also Read: 6 Essential Parts of an Electric Shaver Explained
How to Oil Hair Clipper (Step by Step)
Oiling a hair clipper is very similar to the process of how to oil beard trimmer. Here is how it’s done.
- Make sure the clipper is clean: To clean your clipper, you can use a small toothbrush or run small amounts of rubbing alcohol on the razor head. However, do not use water since water does not necessarily get the hair of the blades as well as a brush or alcohol would.
- Turn the clipper on to help work the oil in: In order to properly lubricate your clipper, turn it on after applying to oil to ensure it gets into all the tiny crevices in between the blades.
- Run the clipper and allow the oil to penetrate for 20 seconds: 20 seconds should be more than enough for the oil to lubricate everything it needs to, there is no need to leave the machine on for an extended period of time.
- Turn it off: Turn your hair clipper off after application. The oil will keep your razor lubricated for your next use.
- Wipe any excess oil: Make sure none of the oil gets into the motor of your hair clipper, some of them are not waterproof and could be damaged if you allow this to happen. Do not use toilet paper or paper towels to clean it off, the tiny particles of these flimsy papers could get stuck in your clipper and make it stop working. A small cloth or the end of a towel works best.
Also Read: How to Sharpen Your Razor Blades for Easier Use and Smoother Effect
Warnings
It does not matter if you lubricated your beard trimmer or hair clipper before putting it away. If it has gone unused for an extended period of time (a month or more), chances are the razor has lost its lubrication. This is why it is important to oil these hair grooming devices before each use, even if it has been lubricated in the past. Oiling is a continual maintenance process, it is not something to be done once.
Conclusion
Although it may be a hassle to properly lubricate after every use, doing so will ensure that you have a wonderful shaving and haircutting experience to have your own hairstyle at home. Hopefully, this article has helped you see how important oiling is and has taught you how to do it properly so that you are satisfied with your grooming products for years to come.
