Vent: Old timer told me to stop using clipper oil on my blades

Guy named Jerry who's been cutting since the 70s at the shop on Broadway told me clipper oil just attracts dust and gummed things up. I switched to a dry lubricant spray he recommended and my blades run way cooler now. Has anyone else tried ditching the oil?

3 comments

3 Comments

paige_bell814d ago

Wait, isn't that dry spray basically just teflon dust that's gonna build up way worse than oil ever did? I've been cutting with standard clipper oil for like 15 years and never had a blade overheat once, even doing back to back fades all day. Honestly, Jerry sounds like one of those old heads who thinks everything new is bad just because it's new. Ngl, if your blades are running cooler it's probably because the dry lube evaporates so fast you're basically running them dry. I'd rather wipe my blades down every night and keep them properly oiled than risk seizing up a $200 blade set mid haircut.

caseywalker4d ago

Jerry's been cutting since the 70s so he probably remembers when clipper oil was mostly mineral oil that turned to sludge in a week. The dry spray stuff works different but not necessarily better. What nobody's talking about is the motor bearings inside the clipper itself. Oil soaks down into those bearings and keeps them happy. Dry spray just sits on the blades and evaporates. I had a Wahl that started screaming at me after three months of nothing but dry lube. Opened it up and the bearings were bone dry. Had to replace the whole motor. A little oil on the pivot points every few cuts keeps that motor humming for years.

jesse_smith104d ago

Hold up - three months of dry spray and your bearings were completely dry? That's wild. I had no idea the oil actually soaked down into the motor like that. I always thought the whole point of clipper oil was just for the blades sliding against each other. Now I'm kinda scared cause I've been using that spray for like 6 months on my Oster and it's been sounding fine but maybe I should crack it open and check. Man I bet that Wahl scream was brutal before you replaced the motor.