Hair Clipper - Electric Clippers

Electric Clippers

Electric hair clippers work in the same way as manual ones, but are driven by an electric motor which makes the blades oscillate from side to side. They have gradually displaced manual hair clippers in industrialized countries.

In early 1921 Mathew Andis, Sr. built a working model of an electric clipper that withstood a wide range of performance tests. Production of these new clippers began in the basement of his home, with help from Anna, Mathew’s wife. Mathew sold the electric clippers door to door to barbershops in Racine, Wisconsin and the surrounding area. A year later, he established the Andis Clipper Company. Today, Andis Company remains a family-held business, and manufactures hand-held tools to trim, cut, curl, straighten and dry hair. In 1928 the John Oster Manufacturing Company entered the electric clipper market and became an industry standard in the USA. Many other companies make electric clippers, including very cheap unbranded units usually made in China.

There is a range of electric hair clippers from bargain consumer units, sometimes sold with accessories such as clipper guides for adjusting the length of the cut, to clippers for hair-care professionals. The quality difference between the consumer grade and professional grade electric clippers has narrowed significantly over the years. The primary difference between the two grades is usually added thermal insulation to prevent the unit from heating too much during the prolonged use of professional operation. Professional units may have more durable metal parts in place of some plastic parts in home-use units.