When to use Dog Grooming Thinners

What are thinning scissors used for on dogs?

Thinning scissors are mainly used to soften, blend and refine a groom, rather than to remove large amounts of coat or create the main shape.

On dogs, groomers commonly use thinners to:

• Blend clipper lines
Soften the transition between clipped and longer areas, such as around the neck, shoulders and body.

• Blend different coat lengths
Help one section of the coat flow naturally into another.

• Soften scissor marks
Remove visible lines left by straight or curved scissors. Think of thinners as your magic eraser- if you accidentally cut or clip a line or shorter patch- blend around the edges lightly with thinners and it won’t be so obvious. 

• Create a natural finish
Particularly useful on breeds where you don’t want the coat to look sharply scissored. Like terrier coats.  Thinners can be used to tip whispy ends giving a thicker appearance for example on Schnauzer or West Highland White terrier’s legs. 

• Refine faces
Useful around eyebrows, cheeks, muzzles and ears where a softer finish is desirable. Thinners can get very a beautiful soft things to drop coat faces and are useful in refining eyebrows and donut muzzles or teddy bear faces on Shih Tzu, terriers, schnauzers and Maltese. 

• Blend furnishings

Help legs, skirts, chests and feathering flow naturally into the body coat.

• Tidy outlines
Remove stray hairs without creating the very crisp edge you would get with a straight scissor. Ie on the outside of flared Shih Tzu legs. 

• Lightly reduce density
Depending on the tooth configuration, thinners can remove some density from the coat, although they’re generally not the tool of choice for removing significant bulk.

Thinners vs Chunkers

They’re often confused, but they behave quite differently.

Thinners generally have many fine teeth, take a relatively small amount of hair with each closure and are excellent for blending and finishing.

Chunkers have fewer, wider teeth and remove considerably more coat. They’re better for shaping, texturising and removing bulk, particularly on fluffy salon trims.

A simple way to remember the difference:

Thinners erase lines. Chunkers create and soften shape.

Importantly, thinning scissors shouldn’t automatically be used to “thin out” every thick-coated dog. Excessive thinning, particularly through some double coats, can disrupt the natural lay of the coat and leave holes or an uneven finish.

Thinners are for Finishing, refining and blending.