Clipper Vs Trimmer – What’s the difference?
When it comes to buying grooming tools for personal grooming, there is a lot of confusion surrounding the topic. What type of grooming tools should you have?
For grooming purposes, clippers and trimmers tend to be the most common ones. One of the main causes of confusion is not knowing when to use a clipper versus a trimmer.
There are corded and cordless clippers and trimmers available. Several models are available in clippers that are powered by a rotary or pivot motor. The following variants can also be found in many trimmer models.
Many such resemblances exist between clipper segments and trimmer segments. There are also differences based on how they look, the accessories they have, and the applications.
Table of Contents
Difference Between Clipper And Trimmer
Difference Between Clipper And Trimmer
Feature |
Clipper
|
Trimmer |
---|---|---|
Uses |
A clipper is used for haircuts.
|
A trimmer is used to make stubble, make a shorter beard, or alter the length.
|
The clippers cannot be used to style mustaches | A trimmer can be used for both trimming the mustache and beard, as well as for finishing off the haircut. | |
Blade width | With clippers, the blades are wide. This extra width results from the spacing between the teeth. | You may notice that the cut on a trimmer blade appears slightly narrower since the teeth are closely spaced. |
Accessories | Clippers may be used with guards or guide combs. These attachments are useful when clippers are used. Standard comb sizes are also available. If you don’t use them, the clipper leaves one-eighth inch on the head after the cut. | Many trimmers are available with single comb attachments as well as with dials or knobs that let you adjust clipping length. With the adjustable length feature, you can choose the appropriate size from a range of pre-sets. |
Applications of Clippers and Trimmers
With a clipper, you can cut bulk hair nearly on the skin, but it does not cut down low. Alternatively, a trimmer is only suitable for small areas like around the ears, the back of the neck, and around sideburns, as well as for dry shaving and light shaping. In general, trimmers are used on an animal’s paws, ears, muzzle, and any tight areas that are hard to reach with the larger clipper blade. Trimmers cut closer than clippers.
Clippers
Your barber might start a haircut with a device that looks like a trimmer but has deeper blades. This is referred to as a clipper.
For haircuts, clippers are commonly used because they cut hair smoothly even with long hair. Any professional hair clipper or even a simple home hair clipper comes with multiple varieties of comb attachments to deliver a different length of hair cut.
It is helpful to know the clipper guards’ sizes so that you can tell your barber what length you want to achieve so that you do not end up with a shorter cut than you anticipated.
With a clipper, the smallest cut possible with a guard number 0 is a smooth finish that is similar to a close shave. If you use the blade without the comb on a number 0 then one hair would be one-sixteenth of an inch in length.
The 1 to 8 guards can be used to deliver different lengths of hair. Number 1 is the length delivered by the comb and from there the length drops from 1/8 inch (the comb length delivered by number 8) to 1 inch (the comb length delivered by number 8 guard).
You can count on the corresponding length of the numbers and the brands and models of clippers to be the same, so you can find one to suit your needs.
Using hair clippers can eliminate the need for scissors during haircuts. Since the teeth are widely spaced, a comb is not necessary while using clippers. Make sure that your hair is brushed according to the manufacturer’s instructions and that no tangles remain.
Trimmers
Several trimmers come with attachments, but not all of them use the same size or finish. There is no universal guide to the sizes of the trimmer attachments and the finishes correspondingly.
Using a trimmer without any attachment will allow you to closely shave the hair right next to the sideburn and thus to create a nice shape.
Trimmers are designed to be used with their guards, which allow you to easily change the length of the cut. Combined together, these two elements make it easy to get the desired stubble finish.
You can also use trimmers to adjust the mustache length and to refine the edges. Trimmers can have removable combs that stay in place allowing you to select the proper comb for the desired stubble length according to the blade position.
Consequently, clippers are used on head hair. But they can also be used on beards that need trimming but are too long for a clipper.
Those with trimmers, on the other hand, can use them to create stubble and can even help reduce the length of the hair before shaving with a foil shaver and achieve the cleanest shave possible. In addition, it can be used on the surface of your head for fine details when working on edges.
Conclusion
There are so many choices available in each of these segments, choose the one that is best suited to your hair cutting and beard trimming needs. Have a different understanding of the clipper and trimmer now that you have discussed their differences? Are you now ready to start shopping for the grooming tools for your collection?