Proper blade alignment for hair clippers is one of the most crucial factors when it comes to efficient and comfortable hair grooming.
Without a well-aligned blade set, you might experience hair pulling, tugging, accidental nicks, uneven cuts, skin irritation and so on.
That’s why you must learn how to align clipper blades at home without seeking professional help and paying for the service.
My six step guide should take care of this procedure and it’s friendly for both experts and new groomers altogether!
Signs Your Clipper Blades Are Misaligned
The following signs and symptoms are going to tell you whether your clipper blades are misaligned or not.
- Your hair will start pulling or snagging
- Trims will result in uneven cuts
- Your visual inspection will show an overlap between blade teeth
- Hair clipper will produce excessive noise or heat
- Skin might irritate or itch after trimming
If you observe one or more of such symptoms with your hair clipper, it’s probably time for you to re-align the blades.
Tools You’ll Need
Let me give you a set of tools to keep at your disposal while aligning your clipper blades. Almost all of these tools are going to be necessary for the steps.
- Small screwdriver (depending on your blade screw)
- Blade cleaning brush
- Blade oil
- A well-lit, clean workspace
- (Optional) Magnifying glass for precision
Once you have all of these gathered, it’s time for you to hop on to the alignment steps!
Step-by-Step Guide to Align Clipper Blades
Here you’ll find the 6-step guide to align your clipper blades from scratch to finish, and within a few minutes you’ll get to enjoy smooth sailing on your scalp!
Step 1: Power Off & Unplug
To begin with, you should turn off your hair clipper and unplug the cord for safekeeping. If your device has a removable battery, you should undo that as well.
Since you’ll be working with the blades, it’s essential for you to keep the device turned off. Otherwise, you’d be vulnerable to accidents, electrocutions and similar hazards.
Step 2: Loosen the Screws
Loosening the screws doesn’t mean you’ll have to take off the entire screws. Rather, you’d have to loosen those just enough to let the blade teeth move freely while remaining attached.
It’s better to have a screwdriver that matches the blade screws. Because in some cases, I’ve ruined my clipper screws for the worse by using a mismatched screwdriver.
Step 3: Align the Blades
Since your blade teeth are still connected by the loose screws, you’ll get to move them around to readjust the alignment.
Initially, place both of the blade teeth against a flat surface or something even so that the teeth are evenly matched.
Check closely to see if any portion of the blade teeth is sticking out or if the teeth are seemingly parallel.
Let the inner blade teeth be slightly indented evenly by 0.5-1.0 mm if you want to keep some safe room. Your clipper won’t be zero-gapped, but it’ll give you an added safety.
If you have something like a blade alignment tool or hair clippers like BaBylissPRO GoldFX that comes with such tools, this alignment would be a much easier process.
Step 4: Check for Overlap
As part of your inspection, make sure to confirm two things. One, the top blade tooth should in no way exceed past the bottom tooth.
Secondly, you have to ensure that the both corners of the bottom blade tooth are slightly behind the top tooth, that should suffice.
Step 5: Tighten Screws Securely
Now that you have got everything in place, hold the blade teeth firmly without disrupting the alignment and put the screws back.
If this proves to be difficult to do alone, it’s never embarrassing to ask for someone’s help. Start fastening the screws with your screwdriver.
Make sure never to tighten the screws too much as it causes the blades to heat up. As you keep tightening the screws, keep checking the blade teeth.
Because there’s a tendency for blade teeth to shift from one another while you tighten the screws.
Step 6: Test the Clipper
After getting the screws done, it’s time for a test drive. Turn on the clipper and check it against your fingers whether it feels oddly sharp or back to the regular state.
Should the motor sound be alright, this indicates you can try a minor trim. Take it step by step – check for evenness, comfort on skin and so on – you’ll know your alignment is now corrected.
Why Blade Alignment Is Important
I could tell you a number of reasons why aligning hair clipper blades is important. If you’re not convinced, scroll through my discussion here:
- Enhances Cutting Efficiency
- Ensures safety
- Extends durability of the clipper
- Delivers professional-grade grooming results at home
Maintenance Tips to Keep Blades Aligned
Having aligned your hair clipper blades successfully, it’s laid upon your consideration to maintain your device so that the blades don’t get misaligned so easily again.
For that, you should regularly clean your hair clipper and lubricate the blades. These additionally prevent rusting and threat of misalignment.
Do your best to avoid dropping your hair clipper. The best practice tells you to attach the blade guard while putting it away at safe storage locations.
Periodically check for the blade alignment – say, once every two weeks. It’s mostly important after you replace your clipper blades.
When to Seek Professional Help
I’m not expecting you to solve all of the hair clipper problems only by aligning the blades. There are times you must visit a professional, and let me tell you when those times might be.
- If your hair clipper still snags or pulls after alignment
- If there’s any visible damage to the blades
- If the motor vibration is excessive
- If the blade or housing heats up
In these scenarios, a professional will most certainly be able to help you out.
Final Thoughts
I hope this article has helped you find the answer to ‘how to align hair clipper blades?’ for most parts.
From part time to frequent groomers – most have faced the issue of misaligned blades from time to time.
Yes, it’s not pleasant but the solution is actually very simple and can be completed at home within a very limited time.
If you want me to make a video on this, don’t hesitate to let me know in the comment section or via email!