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Had a clipper die mid-haircut and learned a dumb lesson the hard way
I was in the middle of a fade on a regular client last Tuesday at my shop in Tulsa, and my trusty Wahl Senior just stopped mid-pass. No warning, no weird noise, just dead. I had a backup but it was a different model and the blade gap was all off. I spent 15 minutes cleaning out a massive wad of hair and dust that had built up around the motor vents. Turns out I had been slacking on my regular maintenance for like 3 months because I was busy. The client was cool about it, sat there on his phone, but I felt super unprofessional. Has anyone else had a tool fail like that when you least expected it, or am I just the only one who gets lazy with cleaning?
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emma_lee224d ago
Three months without cleaning? Man, that is wild to me. I clean my clippers after every single haircut, I don't even like letting hair sit in the blades overnight. Hearing someone go three months without digging out that packed mess just gave me a little anxiety honestly. I'm glad the client was cool about it though, most people would get annoyed sitting there waiting. What kind of backup clipper do you keep around just in case?
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fionanguyen4d ago
Clippers dying mid cut is annoying but calling it a dumb lesson is a little harsh on yourself. Three months without cleaning is not that bad honestly. I do mine every two months or so and have never had a failure like that. The real issue is probably the buildup got into the motor bearings more than just the vents. A lot of barbers I know go way longer between cleanings and their tools hold up fine. Wahl Seniors are built to take a beating but they do need some basic care. Maybe the lesson is more about having a backup that's ready to go with the same blade gap.
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craig.olivia4d ago
Told a barber friend this story and @emma_lee22 she said her clippers died mid fade after four months of no cleaning.
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