5 Best Liners for Hair for 2020

Men’s hairstyles are always changing and adapting with new trends coming and going every season. There are nearly limitless hairstyles to choose from with buzzcuts to longer hairstyles giving men a way to express themselves through their hair.

In recent years, the lined up haircut has become increasingly popular among hairstyles. What makes this style of haircut so great so great is that a lined up finish can be applied to nearly any style and make it pop.

As a bonus, lined up haircuts and look great in the office and will still look just as clean at the beach.

Where some trouble can start to come up is when it comes to maintaining your clean lines on a haircut. Taking the time to get a haircut every week will cost you precious time and money that you could be saving with the right tools.

Getting a clean line with any hairstyle requires a careful hand and a great set of clippers. We want to show you some of the best liners for hair with not only a comparison table, but also look into what you should know to get the most out of your clippers.

Some Things to Consider

Clippers are tools that are more complex than you would initially think, so we need to look at what you should be looking for when choosing your perfect pair.

Size and Weight

One of the factors that can have the most substantial impact on your lines is the size and weight of your clippers. There is not a substantial difference in performance among larger and smaller clippers, but it is important to choose a pair that allows you to maneuver easily and get the lines you want.

Holding the clippers you want to buy in your hand is the best way to see how they feel. With that not always being possible, here are a few guidelines to keep in mind.

Lightweight is Ideal

To get a line that is crisp and clean, you ideally want a pair of lightweight clippers as they will be much easier to maneuver around your head when trying to get the best cuts possible. The act of giving yourself a clean line is already hard enough and light clippers will make it less cumbersome.

Using a pair of heavier clippers is fine for standard haircuts but will take a lot more time and effort to give you clean lines.

Too Light is Not Ideal

This may seem to contrast the idea that lightweight clippers are better but hear us out. You want your clippers to be light so that you can move them around more freely without them being so light that they begin to feel cheapo and ineffective.

A very light set of clippers often lacks essential components that are left out to save money.

One thing to keep in mind is that battery powered clippers will naturally have more weight than corded options as they are housing a battery and other components. A smaller clipper will also feel denser in the hand as it has a lot of components in a small form, but they should never get too heavy.

Corded vs Battery Powered Trimmers

One of the first questions you should be asking yourself when choosing clippers for lining is whether you want to get a corded or battery powered unit.

Battery life alongside with size and weight are going down with newer clippers which is making battery powered units more popular. These are a good option for men who are just looking for a simple line as they have the power and battery life to take care of quick jobs. Their lack of adjustability for more complicated designes should also be noted.

A 30 minute battery life should be the minimum you get when choosing a battery powered unit. This will allow you to touch up your lines more often and with greater accuracy for convenience.

Where corded clippers have the clear advantage is with their ability to run for longer. What limits these units is primarily their needs to always be plugged into a wall.

The popularity of corded clippers is diminishing with battery units gaining popularity, but their ability to run for much longer may be worth having to need the cord.

Having all the power you need means you can take longer with your lines and make them look much better than if they were rushed by a short lived battery clipper.

Motor

A very common number you will see on hair clippers is a number of clipping motions that the clipper makes within a given timeframe. This number represents the power that the motor of the clippers will have.

In general, faster is usually better. The more power that a pair of clippers has, the less times you will need to line up a certain area for a clean look. This will save you a substantial amount of time and prevent uneven lines from happening.

A good motor also prevents the annoying issue of having missed hairs come back and ruin the look of your line.

Buying clippers with a good motor will make people wonder if you made the line yourself or it was done professionally.

Blade Options

Blades are a very important component of a good set of clippers overall performance. Buying a pair of clippers with cheap blades will only lead to a poor job and end up costing you over time as you need to buy constant replacements.

Don’t believe company claims of easy replacement blades and look to reviews that say how easy or hard it really is to change out the blades. Those who really care about fine hair details will always talk about blade replacement and help you know how easy replacement on certain units is.

Clipper Maintenance

Just like any other tool, clippers need some level of maintenance to keep them working at peak performance. Clippers are thankfully rather simple and don’t need much maintenance. Taking the following steps and making the time to regularly clean your clipper will keep them working effectively for longer.

Clippers won’t last you forever but taking the time to maintain them will improve their lifespan.

Cleaning the Blades

Cleaning your blades is so important to maintaining the life of your clippers that it is the most important thing you should take from this article.

Clipper blades are a common home for bacteria and unwanted particles if they are not properly taken care of. Not only will the blades become less effective over time when dirty, but they will collect dirt, leftover hair, and bacteria that all damage your skin.

The last thing you want is to have a breakout because of a bacteria patch from your clippers

Not cleaning your blades causes health issues and will also make your blades dull and less effective with time.

Cleaning most blades only requires you using hot water or a special brush to remove leftover particles. If you don’t have a brush, an unused toothbrush will also work well.

Clipper Spray

A very common tool in the hands of a professional barber is clipper spray. This compound was designed for the professional hair cutter who needs to prevent bacteria from spreading and blades from overheating between cuts. Clipper spray is also a great tool to have at home for personal use and cleaning.

Certain clippers have a tendency to heat up if they are used for extended periods and clipper spray can help alleviate this issue with ease. Clippers spray brings down the blade temperature so you can keep cutting to get the perfect line.

Keeping your blades clean even if you are the only one using them is important as it prevents bacteria from spreading from one area of your body to another. This is especially important for those with sensitive skin as even a trace of bacteria can cause unwanted flakiness and rashes. Disinfectant clipper spray will prevent all of this and keep your mind free of worry when getting the perfect line.

Alignment

Making sure your clipper blades are aligned before every cut is very important to a good cut and most modern blades are very easy to align and adjust on the fly. The reason you need to align your clipper blades is so that they work efficiently and effectively. Misaligned blades can put unnecessary stress on the clipper motor and will lead to a less than ideal cut.

The great thing about alignment is that you can easily check it with your eyes. To check the alignment of your blades, you need to hold the clippers so that the blades are parallel. Once the blades are parallel, you will then be able to look right down the length of the blades themselves.

What you need to make sure of is that the blades are perfectly straight and parallel to each other. If you notice that the blades aren’t straight or parallel, that means they are in need of some alignment. You can do this by slightly loosening the blades so that they can be adjusted. When the blades look to be straight and parallel to each other, properly secure the blades again and double check your alignment.

Aligning your blades is rather easy. Give yourself a few tries to properly align the blades to get it nailed down. Make sure you don’t settle until the blades are fully straightened.

Oiling the Blades

Every clipper is different, but most units should be oiled after every three or four uses.

Make sure you angle your blades down when oiling them to prevent oil from getting into delicate areas. Some clippers can have the blades removed to oil them with ease.

Make sure you only use the included blade oil or recommended product to get the blades lubricated with the right formulation.

1-3 drops of oil should be enough to make sure every blade is properly lubricated. If you don’t oil your blades every few uses for the clippers, they will quickly begin dulling and generating more friction faster than desired.

Top 5 Liners for Hair Comparison Table

5 Best Liners for Hair: Detailed Reviews

To finally show you the best clippers for creating clean lines, here are the best options for lines. We’ll take a look at what makes each clipper unique as well as looking as some pros and cons of each unit.