Home hair clippers – best option?

I am fed up of the cost of haircuts and gradual deterioration of appearance between cuts(!), so am thinking about getting some clippers and doing it at home for a while.

People who do this, what clippers do you use – what are a good option for price / quality?

Edit – I’m talking number 2 all over type thing, I’m not planning on trying anything fancy!

I got a Remington ceramic set about 15 years ago and they’re still going strong. Mine are mains only but have a few different combs for different lengths, and came with a VHS (yep they’re that old) instruction video which was laughably bad. I’d guess everything’s rechargeable these days. IIRC when I was looking ceramic blades had the advantage of not needing oiling/lubeing, but again technology may have moved on.

IMO there’s no point splashing big money on posh salon type models – they’re probably designed to take more use in a week than I’ve given mine since I had them.

Rechargeable beard trimmer sized multi-trimmer. Cost about a tenner from TKs, you’ll find reputable brands like Wahl or Remington for that sort of money. I’m bald on top and use the blade only option to take it all down to the wood every couple of weeks.

It also has a beard trimmer attachment to trim my beard, and one of those ear and nostril reamers….

I also have a pair of mains Wahl clippers left over from when I only wanted a buzz cut, but being mains means you have to rig up extension leads and related nonsense in order to use the bathroom mirror.

Do not bother with cordless rechargeable ones. The batteries are very cheap, resulting in lower clipping power and then not lasting very long. (As in the cells are knackered in a year)
There’s plenty of decent clippers under £20, I got some from tesco. I’ve been doing my own hair for 20 years or more now.

Edit – I’m talking number 2 all over type thing, I’m not planning on trying anything fancy!

Exactly what I do! Wahl. Mains powered. Think I paid about £12 or so from Boots.

Ok, good pointers people. So we’re saying it’s not worth forking out more cash for the fancy Wahl type efforts? Thinking that would cover a couple of haircuts so might be worth it!

Got some basic Wahl clippers from Argos a few years ago they were £25-ish. All the attachments grades 1-6, scissors, comb, instructional DVD even a cape. Blades last at least a year with a cut every 3-4 weeks. Exchange blades from Wahl are £6.

They work just like the ones in the barbers you cant go wrong. Professional results with minimum hassle.

Grade 2 all over is no more hassle than having a shave

Exactly what I want to hear – sounds like it’s going to be on the cards after pay day!

Another vote for Wahl mains powered clippers here. My set got used once a week for about 3 years. Grade 0 all over head and face, job done. They are still in perfect working order, I just decided to go back to having hair for a while.

If you’re doing it yourself, go cordless, its much easier.

mains powered wahl here – grade zero all over for the last 20 years or so
they cost about £20 for the basic model these days I think

I tried cordless, cos I liked the idea of being able to take them into the bathroom or wherever to get the best light or make use of a mirror etc

I discovered that it’s probably best to just put up with the hassle of the power cord

Yep. Mains Wahl is the way to go.

I did dabble with re-chargeable and waterproof clippers thinking that cutting my hair in the shower would be a good idea. It wasn’t. And then they packed in after about 12 months due to the problems PP mentioned up there^

I find it quite theraputic buzzing myself every couple of weeks ( No.2) – feels clean and tidy.
Never had an issue with mains / rechargable – Both work well enough.
Chris

yep, mains Wahl here, from Argos, can’t remember how much they cost but was less than £20.

Ok, thanks to all. Have found some
Wahl Chrome Pro on Amazon for c.£25.

Reckon they’re the ones. Looking forward to it!

I do my own with a battery powered remmington (i think) set. No where near as good as a mains one, think its due to it using ni-cad rather than li-ion as they were cheap.

I’d also say its worth getting someone to square your neck off and tidy up the sides and round your ears, looks far less ‘home hair cut’. 8)

I’ve done mine this way for around 10 years. Mine are cordless ceramic ones (not sure what make) but next set will be the basic mains Wahl ones – around £12 for amazon I think

Funny, for the first time only a couple of weeks ago I reached same decision.

I bought a cordless powered remington thing from Chavsda. Cat ate the oil which then ran over some important documents and as soon as you unplug it from mains, power drops dramatically.

Conclusion: Don’t know, I’ll ask the cat. Shaver good when plugged into mains.

I have used this for the past 13 years twice a month with Wahl clipper lubricant, I think the cordless is less durable …

There are two models being made but look exactly similar one made in the USA while the other made in China. The latter is half the price as I found out while in the far east.

Wahl Super Taper

Some good selections here … scroll down the page for professional.

Check them out

“blades last a year” whut?! 12 years on mine – didn’t know I could buy new blades!

Wahl Super Taper here too for the last 14 years. Great quality, long cable, good cut. Buy right, buy once!

Wahl Supertaper, end of.

Tried it for a few months, mains clippers. The combo of being blind as a bat when I take my specs off and taking my specs off to do bits of my buzzcut was frustrating at best, so I went back to paying the £3 (£4 inc 33% tip!) at the barber.

Aye, Wahl.

Worth upgrading to get some decent metal and plastic comb/grade attachments over the included plastic ones.

It’s the clipper equivalent of having a tapered steerer and bolt-through; stiffer, more precise, more ‘gnar’, etc., etc…

Can anyone trouble-shoot this: got the Super Taper but found the cut to be worse than my cheapo Remington ceramic, which I have been increasingly going back to, even though it’s too ‘grabby’ to cut on comb-less. The Super Taper seems to cut ever so slightly unevenly, giving the hair a kind of bushy look, whereas the Remington gives a sharp completely uniform cut. Is it the blades (fairly new, only 5-10 cuts down), the combs, or a design fault?

The mysteries of clippers! The Super Taper’s my fourth – the other ones have all let me down somehow, but none as bad as one completely ‘off’ set from Wahl that just grabbed and pulled the hair rather than cutting it.

househusband – Member

Aye, Wahl.

Worth upgrading to get some decent metal and plastic comb/grade attachments over the included plastic ones.

It’s the clipper equivalent of having a tapered steerer and bolt-through; stiffer, more precise, more ‘gnar’, etc., etc…

Thanks, that helps a lot! 😀

Wahl mains.

About 10 years old. No problems at all never been cleaned apart to rub off hair after each cut never been oiled.

Reckon they owe me nothing after all this time. Beard and hair done every 3 – 4 weeks.

Wahl Supertaper here, No. 1 all over courtesy of Mrs Rusty.
Great for that escaped convict/US marine look.

So the supertaper is worth the extra dollar over the one I posted up there ^^^? Not sure about spending the extra, but I suppose it’s recouped quickly if I get into the habit…

bump just for last contributions. 🙂

26 yrs of barbering says Wahl Supertaper. The cheap version lack the ribbing on the lower blades that gives them strength and longevity.

Drop of oil every cut and they will last you forever.

If you do your own, how do you do the back?

If you do your own, how do you do the back?

Get someone else to take the fluff off, or go to a barbershop once in a while.

If you do your own, how do you do the back?

Skill

I’ve actually got a Phillips rechargeable jobby, around six-seven years old and still going strong.

Battery is still good as well.

If you do your own, how do you do the back?

it’s pretty straightforward (backward?) once you give it a try

What does your barber use 100% he’ll have some wahl sterling plus a bigger clipper, the super taper is good but a bit lumpy I prefer the wahl bellisima cordless. Check the wahl website.

I’ve used my Remmington ceramic cordless every 2 weeks for the last 10 years. Batteries don’t last like they used to but I still get 6 cuts (3 months) out of it between charges.

Late in.

Wahl and cordless. The hassle of extension leads are a hassle and having a cable wrap around you makes it overly difficult. I cut my hair every week and the battery last for 3-4 cuts between charges.

Re the back, get a small hand mirror and do the mirror-to-mirror think facing away from the, erm, mirror. It takes a few times to get the hang of it but it will come to you.

Caution: bits of hair get everywhere and will annoy the other person in your life should you be so lucky to have one. I actually stand in the shower when cutting my hair just to keep the peace, and it makes clean up a lot quicker.