How to Clean and Sharpen your Wahl Hair Clippers

Written By: Joseph Makar
  • Comments: 24
How to Clean and Sharpen your Wahl Hair Clippers

Difficulty

Easy

Steps

9

Time Required

30 minutes

Introduction

The guide will teach you how to take apart, sharpen, and reassemble a Wahl hair clipper. It is recommended to clean and sharpen your clipper every 3 or 4 uses.

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    • Take your Philips head screwdriver and loosen the set screws by turning them left. This will allow you to separate the blades from your clipper.

    Kk, did that & my blade cane out in 2 separate pieces. How do I put back together

    Michele Sawyer -

    Took apart to clean & sharpen. Came out in 2 separate pieces, how do I put back together?

    Michele Sawyer -

    Yes, there are two blades. All the photographs show the fixed blade. The photograph in Step 2 shows the white plastic part which is where the moving blade goes. My clippers have a black part but the idea is the same. This part drives the moving blade from side to side to operate the cutters. Sharpen both blades the same way as shown for the fixed blade. The instructions don't say to wet the sharpening stone but you should do - I spit on it but you can use oil. Clean and dry the blades after sharpening. I prefer to oil them afterward re-assembling the cutters to avoid messy hands.

    See Step 7 for my comment on re-assembly - not enough room in this comment.

    Ian Downie -

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    • Take a fine hair brush and sweep it across the clipper base. This will remove any hair debris.

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    • Fully immerse and soak your blade in 90% isopropyl alcohol to remove any rust that might be present. The blade should soak a minimum of 5 minutes.

    Isopropyl alcohol does NOT remove rust.

    Weirder Al -

    That's right. IPA will clean oils, dirt and germs, but not rust. In fact it can encourage rust. If you need remove rust from your clippers, use something like "Evaporust"

    Joe -

    Alcohol won't "encourage" rust, but whatever water that has adhered to it will. 🙄

    Sean Brannon -

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    • Take a clean lint free towel and dry the blade. While drying rub the blade in all directions applying light pressure and this will remove residue and polish the blade.

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    • Run your blade left and right in a horizontal direction across a Whetstone honing stone. First on the coarse side to sharpen the blade then on the finishing side to smooth out the blade.

    No good choice of sharpening stone. This kind of stone is too soft and too coarse even on called “fine grit” side. Softness of stone lead to distortion of flatness of the blade which is critical. Must be sharpened both blades simultaneously. Best way is to use flat (grinded by surface grinder) cast iron plate and lapping compounds 600 and 800 grit sequentially. Also could be used so called “reamer stones”, but usually they are too small to do this job.

    vladintool -

    @vladintool How do you sharpen both blades simultaneously? Leave them coupled on top of one another and sharpen like that? Or decouple and sharpen side by side?

    For anyone else wondering, a lapping compound is: a grease mix abrasive for cutting, smoothing and finishing of metal surfaces and for the precision mating of metal parts.

    CantBelieveIHadtoMakeAnAccount -

    CantBelieveIHadtoMakeAnAccount, You should not leave them coupled. Decouple them and sharpen side by side.

    Vladimir Kunin -

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    • Rinse the honing stone under water and rub the stone back and forth the same direction you used to sharpen your blade. This will clean your stone and remove any debris.

    Back and forth in same direction?? Contradictory instructions. You either do back and forth. Or, in same direction. Which is it?

    TT nNaples -

    Back and forth in the same direction you used to sharpen them. Meaning in a parallel direction as before. Not perpendicular. It makes perfect sense.

    Mark Martindale -

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    • Place your blades back into position and insert your set screws into the proper holes. Take your Philips screwdriver and turn the screws to the right until you feel them completely tighten. Be careful to line up your blades correctly.

    How do you align the blades? Seems like a pretty important part of the procedure.

    Robert Perry -

    Hi, I have placed it back and it makes noise, seems to be not in exact place. Any solutions? Thanks

    ניצן מנשה -

    The instructions for Step 7 are a little simplified, to say the least. Place the moving blade carefully over the plastic part with the flat side upwards, then place the fixed blade over it with the flat side downwards. Take care that the plastic part is engaged with the moving blade when tightening the screws - it's very easy for it to be dislodged. It's best to tighten the screws loosely first, tight enough to allow you to adjust the fixed blade so that the teeth of the two blades are aligned. My clippers have a lever which allows the relative position of the two blade to be changed, and I move the lever to the extreme forward position, then adjust the position of the fixed blade till the teeth are level with the teeth of the moving blade. Tighten the screws and view the blades side on to make sure the plastic part is still engaged with the moving blade - if not, loosen the screws enough so you can engage it. You shouldn't be able to see it when the screws are fully tightened.

    Ian Downie -

    Thank-you for this info. If it were not for your response Ian Downie, I would still be lost on the vague instructions given by the guide. You have no idea how much you are appreciated.

    Vickie AndTater -

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    • Apply oil to the base of your blades before first use. Blades should be oiled after every 3 or 4 uses.

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    • Your clippers are ready for use. Plug them in to let them run for a few moments before your first use.

    Bal adhar nahi cut raha hai to kya kare

    Abdul Rahman -

Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

Author

Joseph Makar

Member since: 07/02/19

729 Reputation

8 comments

What kind of oil? wd40 ?

zoobee22 -

No. WD40 is not a lube and won't last. WD = Water Displacer.

Use mineral oil from your drug store.

Joe -

Much more easily said than done. I am extremely mechanically orientated and have tried three times to sharpen them. They are almost useless (Wahl animal Pro Series) after only two cuts.

Barry Jameson -

Barry, read my comment to the step 5 - you’ll find how to do it correct.

vladintool -

My shaver after popping the head off to clean stop cutting.what steps can I take to fix this problem?

mdearl54@yahoo.com -

How do I reassemble the clippers?

Jim Harbaugh -

Wahl CT12 5GG used once to trim my beard. Next it does not cut at all. I cleaned and oiled it. Left it few days then I hoped it will do the job,regretfully it's running fine but not cutting at all.

My daughter lost the receipt from Asda and without the receipt nothing can be done!!!!?

Mohammed el-Awdeh -

I’m terrified to do this to my clippers. I don’t want to ruin them. At the same time I still would like to be able to cut my husband’s hair for him. My biggest fear is that I will cut my husband with the clippers after sharpening them and he will bleed out 🫢😩😢

Bon -