Can You Use Hair Clippers To Shave A Rug?

Which hair clippers can I use?

Firstly you can try it with your hair clipper just to see how it feels. Afterward, if you think it is good enough for your expectations, you can purchase another one just for the rugs. This way, you will not destroy your original set. 

It is possible to purchase one as cheap as 10$, but you can check the current prices for some alternatives here. This can be a good solution if you just want to fix one of your rugs. However, if you are planning to develop this hobby and continue creating rugs, I don’t recommend purchasing hair clippers. Because even if they can trim the carpet, they are not effective as other alternatives. When we compare the price and value ratio, the hair clippers are definitely not in the first place.

Rug Trimming Tools

It is possible to list several different options for trimming a rug. However, first, it is essential to define the correct action. Do you want to trim your rug or shave it? Or maybe you want to carve between the different colors? All of them together? How you answer these questions can change the tool you need. There are four main tools I can mention:

• Electric Sheep Shears
• Pet Grooming Clippers
• Carpet Trimmer
• Scissors

If you just want to trim all the surface area of your rug and adjust the height of each pile, Sheep Shears would be the option to choose because they are powerful tools designed for the sheeps’ wool which has a similar consistency and texture to the carpet. It is possible to finish trimming a rug quickly due to the giant head of the machine compared to other options. With a simple shearing guide addition, you can upgrade and transfer it to something similar to actual carpet trimmers. You can find ready-to-use shearing guides in Tuft The World or Etsy. But if you are trying to reduce the materials cost and keep it low, you can quickly try to do it yourself. Here is a fantastic DIY tutorial for a shearing guide. You can effortlessly gather the necessary tools, or maybe you already have them lying somewhere in the house. So this can reduce to cost of it to almost zero.

Other than the trimming, carving between different colors or shapes in the rug design can be essential to have a clean-looking mat. I would not say it is easy to carve small details with sheep shears. That’s why if carving is the number one priority, you can consider choosing Pet Grooming Clippers. These clippers are designed for pet fur, which is much thinner than human hair and similar to the yarn fiber. These machines have more powerful motors than an average hair clipper, and this makes the overall carving/shaving process much smoother. When dealing with small details, this extra power can make a huge difference.

These professional dog clippers are the most popular choice among rug tufters. It is not so hard to understand why. They are easy to use, way cheaper than other alternatives, durable, and suitable for both carving and trimming. In addition to all of these benefits, it is possible to upgrade them with a similar shearing guide as well. You can find ready-to-use guides here. 

Which Shaver Is The Best For Shaving Rugs?

As discussed in the previous section answer to this question can vary depending on your preferences. But in my opinion, the best tool for shaving rugs is pet grooming clippers. The only downside of these clippers can be their size. If you are working with a large carpet, it can take longer to trim it than sheep shavers. 

The price of these shavers varies around 50$ depending on the seller. Check our recommendation in Tool Sets.

You can find a more detailed comparison of the rug shavers here. 

Should I shave my carpet?

Definitely, yes, you should shave your tufted carpets. It is an essential final touch in the all tufting process. After all the hard work with the rug’s design and the long, tiring tufting process, everyone wants to achieve an outstanding-looking rug. Carving between the lines will clean the overlapping colors and create a clean-looking piece. Trimming all its surface area will equalize the piles’ height and flatten them. The fluffy look is not always to best one for a rug. You can think of it as the cherry on top of the overall process.