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Posts: 8,574I don't understand why, but my honey wont let me use his electric shaver on the bears.....
What kind of shaver works best? The round heads or the straight ones that go back and forth. Any input?
Dilu
I have both the industrial-type 2" straight edge clippers -- like they use at barber shops -- and a small, about 1" straight edge moustache/beard trimmer. The big clippers have a cord; the small one uses batteries. I use and like both.
By round heads, do you mean the kind with the three circular rotating heads? I don't see how those would work at all, especially with longer, denser piles. Have you tried those?
PS My hubby, who wears a full beard, doesn't let me use his clippers, either. I had to buy my own. 
LOL!!!! Gee, I wonder why not? :lol:
I just got a straight mustache trimmer at Walmart for $15. I like it! But I don't have anything to compare it to...
Posts: 8,574OHHHHH darn.
I just made my quarterly trip to walmart-internet here I come. Thanks guys
Dily
Winneybears and FriendsWait !!!!! I was using a mustache trimmer which works fine but the batteries kept dying on me so I went out and got a plug in trimmer...Winney
Yeah, my batteries die quickly too, but I'm happy to replace them to skip the nuisance of that danged cord.
I want to mention, too, by the way, that you definitely need those clipper guards if you're planning to trim down, but not trim OFF, your mohair. I usually use the 1/2" and 1/4" guards... and I think it's a 1/8" one on the moustache trimmers.
Baird'sBearsHelp!
I've never used a shaver, but I now have one which I'm so far too chicken to try.
Do you shave against the fur direction, or with it?
Eileen
If you sew a scrap of Mohair into a nose shape and stuff it, you can practice and not worry about damaging a finished bear.
Dale
Baird'sBearsGreat idea, Dale. Thanks:) I'll do 'er.
Eileen
Dale is full of great ideas. I've decided I'm going to keep him.
Eileen, I actually shave first against the grain, and then with it... and then across it. Unless your clipper guard falls off -- which mine DID one time, so do keep an eye on it! -- you really can't over-do. The guard keeps you from cutting too close. Even around the edges where you'll want the trimmed mohair to blend into the longer bits, it's very difficult to screw up things too badly.
If you're really worried, I'd recommend starting out with a guard that allows for a very LONG trim -- close to your original pile length -- and then move down from there to shorter and shorter lengths. I end up trimming different parts of the muzzle to DIFFERENT lengths, but it's a slow process, and sorta dictated by the bear itself, and the pattern lines, the look I'm after, etc.
Much, much less scary than you'd think, all of it. And then pretty soon you'll be doing shaved pawpads, too, which are really cute, and a great way to use up those little bits and pieces left over after your fat quarter is otherwise all gone!
Winneybears and FriendsI have used the clipper on real fur bears...I wonder if the synthetic will dull the blades faster, anyone know ? ...Winney
What dulls clippers is the dust and dirt trapped between the fibers, not the fibers themselves. Synthetisc are soft plastic and should do no harm to the clippers.
Dale
Posts: 8,574Gee wilikers Dale
I'm thinking we need you around all the time! What great ideas...I feel like I have learned so much from all of you and its only been, what, a week? Maybe 2.
Thank You
Dilu
i have tried my hair clippers today for the first time and they seem to work ok on short mohair but not so good on long, but need more practice i think, i normally use scissors.
anyway, it's way past my bed time and my eyes are drooping, off to have more beary dreams.
hugs
Baird'sBearsThanks, Shelli and Dale and Everybody!!
Thanks for all the great advice and information. I feel full of shaver-confidence (got a guard, Shelli, and I'll make SURE it's secure). One problem with real fur muzzles, I'm finding, is that if the pelts are tiny, it's hard to cut a piece without some seaming. When I shaved too close, these little bumpy places were easy to feel, if not so easy to see.
Speaking of dreams, I had a really bad one last night--found one of my bear's glass eyes shattered. 
I woke myself up hyperventilating. And guess what was my first stop, even before the bathroom . . . ?
I'm now wondering about hair/fur in the seam allowances. Not with the shaver, I assume, but is it best to trim it off before sewing the seams, or clip/pluck it out later?
Eileen
LuxembearsI also want to add to all this great advice about shavers.
For real fur bears on the muzzle I bought a plug-in PET groomer. After all, pets have real fur....so it works fantastic on fur bears. They also would work well on mohair...after all, mohair is a real fur fiber. I bought mine at Fleet Farm for about $22.00. I also tried the battery operated mustach razor and it was not good at all compared to the pet groomer. Real fur often has an undercoat whereas a human mustach does not, so real fur can clog up a mustach razor...it did with mine, anyway.:rolleyes:
Just pick both sides of the seam. This will remove those hair tips sticking thru from the inside.
Dale
LuxembearsExactly what Dale said.
Baird'sBearsGot it. Thanks again, Dale & Judi.
My shaver is also a pet groomer. I didn't think of the undercoat issue--really good point.
Eileen
Wendi, with longer pile furs, just make several passes. It doesn't all shear away with a single stroke of the clipper. You have to WORK it, baby! But you'll get there, and actually the slow pace makes it all the more comfortable. It means you can't accidentally shave teddy bald in one false move! 
