How to Sharpen Clipper Blades With Sandpaper

When your clipper blade goes bad, you don’t always have to go to the store and get a new one. If you have the right means, you may improve your clipper blade and save some cash on it. To sharpen a clipper blade that has gotten blunt, all you have to do is use some sandpaper over it.

Sandpaper is not only the easiest but the best solution for old clippers. Although there are many other methods to go for, as sandpaper is easily within reach, people go for it. There are many ways in which you could use sandpaper as a sharpening tool. Keep reading to know more!

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Maintaining Your Clipper Blade

It should be noted that not all clippers require a lot of maintenance. You may come across several blades that sharpen themselves. You see, as the clipper blades get going with their regular trimming job, they are made to incline to a certain angle.

The angle to which they are inclined makes the blades glide against not only each other but the skin too. This movement caused a sort of friction between the two blades. Therefore, due to friction, the blades keep sharpening themselves.

Despite this characteristic, maintaining a clipper blade and its sharpness is important. The method mentioned above does work but may wear out after some time. And in the long run, it becomes necessary to either change the clipper blade or simply sharpen it again.

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Preparing Clipper Blades for Sharpening

If you simply take the clipper blades and start rubbing sandpaper on them, the result might not be very satisfying. To improve the blade even more, you could use some of the preparation methods mentioned below.

Old Toothbrush

An old toothbrush is what you need for cleaning the clipper blades. You cannot use any other equipment or tool as they will not have bristles to properly clean metallic surfaces like blades. Toothbrushes also help to remove any unwanted particles on the blades’ surface.

Screwdriver

A screwdriver will be required to open up the screws of the blade. To do this, you will need a screwdriver that is the size of the blade’s screws. Without this tool, you will not be able to open up the blades. And therefore, cleaning them would be difficult.

Cleaning Agent

A cleaning agent such as vinegar or a soap solution would be good. However, an acidic solution such as vinegar would act strong and show results quickly. However, if you don’t have white vinegar available, you can use any other strong cleaning agents too.

Lukewarm Water and Towel

Lukewarm water or even hot water will help you clean the clipper blades thoroughly. Warm water lets you remove all the dirt and dust from surfaces quite easily. A towel would come in handy when you are done with cleaning and want to dry the blades. This is also important so that no rust comes on it.

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Steps to Clean Clipper Blades With Sandpaper

Cleaning

The first part of the process is to clean the blades thoroughly. This will help you in sharpening the blades at a later stage. Make sure to follow the steps mentioned below to get improved and satisfying results.

Step 1

The first step is to take a screwdriver of the right size and use it to open up the screws of the blade. If you are new to this, you may need some help from a regular user. Most blades keep their screws on the lower surface of the clipper blade.

Step 2

Once you have the blades out of the clipper, you can easily sharpen them up. For now, you will have to clean the clipper blades properly. To do so, you need an old toothbrush with blunt bristles. Very sharp bristles might just scratch up the entire blade surface.

Using the brush you have, start to rub the surface of the blade and remove any dust or dirt on it. Your blade may some hair left on it, too, which is very important to remove.

Step 3

Prepare a bowl of the cleaning solution you possess. The way to do this is to mix the lukewarm water you prepared with the cleaning solution you want to use. This will make sure to clean up all the dirt left on the blade and prepare it for the sharpening process properly.

For a cleaning solution, you could also use some ready-made blade wash products available in the market. However, not many of these work well with your blades. Therefore, using a home-made solution that you could trust should be chosen.

Step 4

When you have all the steps ticked, you can dip the old brush into the cleaning solution and scrub the blades again. Once done, let it stay for a minute or two and then wash it with clean water. Dry the blades quickly so that they don’t start to corrode.

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Steps to Sharpening Clipper Blades With Sandpaper

Once done with the cleaning process, you can start to sharpen your clipper blades with sandpaper. Although it is no rocket science going by the right methods makes your job easier and better.

Read below to know the exact steps to follow while sharpening your clipper blades with sandpaper.

Step 1

To start with, lay down your perfectly cleaned clipper blades on a smooth or flat surface. Cleaning your blades on a piece of cloth would work better and keep your surroundings clean.

Step 2

Now take good quality sandpaper that you could easily get from a nearby store or stationary. Once you have it, you can start to rub it on the blade slowly at first. You could make a circular motion while rubbing the blades. Keep repeating the motion and do it for at least twenty seconds.

Step 3

The key is to try all the angles and ways you can rub the sandpaper on the blade. This will sharpen your blade properly and give you high-quality results. In this step, you need to repeat the first step but reverse the roles.

Lay down the sandpaper on a smooth surface and start to rub the clipper blades on it. By doing so, you are polishing the blade even more and making it shine better.

Step 4

This step is very important. In this step, you need to make sure that when you start to use these blades again, they will glide on your face smoothly. For this, you can use any oil in very minimal amounts.

Step 5

Time to test your almost new clipper blades. For this, screw the blades to the clipper again by using a screwdriver. Make sure you fix the blade very tightly so that they don’t come out. Use the clipper on hair. The blades would feel much sharper now. However, if you want them to be sharper, repeat the process.

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In the End

Sharpening your clipper blades is an interesting process that saves you money as well. Go by the steps mentioned above and make your clipper blades as good as new again.

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