| How to Do Clipper over Comb Posted: 28 Dec 2020 04:00 PM PST Do you want to cut hair quickly but still have it look good as it grows out? If you're cutting a shorter or medium-length hairstyle, using the clipper over comb method works great. This fundamental technique makes it easy to blend length and give hair a tapered look. While it's really hard to do clipper over comb if you're cutting your own hair, you can easily give someone else a haircut using it. With a little bit of patience and practice, you can give someone a style that they're sure to be happy with! [Edit]Preparing Their Hair - Position the person so their head is at your eye level. If you're working in a barbershop or salon, raise the person's seat so it's easier to see where you're working. If you're cutting hair at home, try to find a tall chair where they can sit down. If you need to, put something on the seat to raise them up even more.[1]
- Wet the person's hair with a spray bottle. Clippers work best when you get the person's hair damp, so fill up a spare spray bottle with some clean water. Spritz the water onto their hair to make it easier to comb through and section off. If you get their hair too wet, just lightly dry it with a towel so it's still a little damp.[2]
- Avoid leaving their hair dripping wet since it could clump together and make your cut look uneven.[3]
- Comb their hair with a wide-toothed comb. You won't want to cut through tangled hair since it might affect the finished look of the haircut. Start from the top of the person's head and slowly pull a comb down toward the bottom of their hairline. If you hit a tangle, gently work through it without ripping or breaking through their hair.[4]
- Combing their hair also helps you see how it naturally lays against their head so you can give them a cleaner cut.
- Section off the top of their hair along their natural part. Everyone has a natural part shaped like a horseshoe where the top of their scalp meets the sides of their head. Comb all of the hair on top of the person's head forward so you can see their part. That way, you won't accidentally cut off too much hair or give the person an unnatural part.[5]
- If the person has long hair that keeps falling back down, use a hair clip to secure it on top of their head.
[Edit]Setting Length - Start on the same side of their head as your dominant hand. It's a lot easier to see what you're cutting when you move from your dominant side to your non-dominant side. Start on the right side of their head if you're right-handed or the left side if you're left-handed. Always stand directly in front of the section of hair you're working on so you can see it clearly.[6]
- Hold a handled comb in your non-dominant hand. Use a wide-toothed comb if you're cutting off a large volume of hair or a fine-toothed comb if you're blending a shorter haircut.[7] Position your comb so the teeth point up. Pinch the base of the handle with your index finger and thumb. Loosely wrap your other fingers around the lower half of the handle so the comb doesn't slip around while you're using it.[8]
- Depending on the hairstyle they want, you may start off with a wider comb to trim off more hair and switch to a smaller comb when you're finishing up.
- Comb up from the base of their hairline so the teeth point up. Place your comb just below the person's hairline and press it lightly against their head. Keep the comb's teeth pointed straight up so it moves easily through their hair. When you see hair poking through the teeth near the bottom of the comb, hold it in place.[9]
- Only focus on a section of hair that's about wide so it's easier to work with.[10]
- If you want to make their hair look like it has more volume, try positioning the comb diagonally instead of horizontal.
- To remove weight and volume but keep the length, hold the comb so it's perpendicular to the floor instead.
- Pull the hair out from their head to the desired length. For longer hair, this determines the base length for the rest of the haircut. Keep your comb with the teeth pointed up and slowly pull it away from the person's scalp. When you're happy with the length, rest your ring finger against the person's head so you don't move your hand around.[11]
- If you're cutting the hair shorter, you can leave the base of the comb against the person's scalp.
- Tilt your comb away from their scalp if you want to taper the length. Clipper over comb is great for creating a fade or tapered hairstyle. Keep your comb still and slowly twist the teeth toward you. With the comb angled, you'll cut the hair near the bottom of their head shorter and leave some of the length as you get closer to the top.[12]
- If the person wants the same length rather than a tapered look, keep the comb's teeth pointed toward the ceiling.
- Move your clippers straight across the comb to cut their hair. Since you're using the comb as a guide for their hair length, don't use any guard or attachment on your clippers. Hold the comb steady so it doesn't move around when you make your cut. Hold the clippers in your dominant hand and press it against the side of your comb. Slowly move the clippers from one side of the comb to the other to cut any of the hair that's sticking out through the teeth.[13]
- If you're right-handed, cut from right to left. If you're left-handed, make your cut from left to right.
- Make sure you keep the clippers flat against the side of the comb. Otherwise, you'll cut the person's hair unevenly.
[Edit]Blending Their Hair - Comb out the section of hair just above where you cut. Working in vertical sections of hair makes it a lot easier to give the person a clean and even haircut. Run your comb up from the section of hair you just cut into the uncut hair right above it. Overlap the new section of hair with the top of the first section so you can use it as a guide for the right length.[14]
- Angle the comb until the shortest hairs don't extend past the teeth. You'll have some of the hair you just cut near the base of your comb so they'll be your guides. Pull the comb away from the person's scalp or tilt the teeth toward you until you can't see the shorter hairs anymore. The hair near the top of the comb will still stick through the teeth.[15]
- Be careful not to cut the guide hairs from the previous section since it will make the haircut look uneven.
- Trim their hairs with your clippers so they blend in with the lower section. Hold your comb steady and run the clippers over the teeth. Comb their hair down so the 2 sections you cut blend together and have a uniform or tapered look depending on the style they want.[16]
- If you notice some stray long hairs in the sections you cut, comb up through the section again and trim them to the same length.
- Keep working up their scalp until you reach the top. Continue cutting up the side of the person's head in small sections so you maintain a consistent length. As you're working, comb the hair down so you can see if there are any long hairs you missed so you can trim them down. Once you reach the top of the section, you can keep moving on.[17]
- Cut in sections around their head until you reach the other side. Place your comb at the bottom of their hairline to start the next vertical section of the haircut. Try to overlap the sections slightly so you can keep using the hair you already cut as guides for the length. Continue working in vertical sections around the back of their head until you finish on the opposite side.[18]
- Take a few steps back and check that the lengths are even on both sides of the person's head when you're finished.
- Cut off less off the length when you're first starting off so you don't trim it too short. You can always go back and trim off more if you need to.[19]
[Edit]Warnings - It can be really difficult to cut your own hair using the clipper over comb method. If you're trying to give yourself a haircut, use the plastic guards that come with your clippers instead.
[Edit]Things You'll Need - Spray bottle
- Towel
- Wide-toothed comb
- Hair clip
- Fine-toothed comb
- Electric clippers
[Edit]References |
| How to Trim Lucky Bamboo Plants Posted: 28 Dec 2020 08:00 AM PST When you think about lucky bamboo plants, you probably picture a small bamboo plant growing in a container. While this is usually the case, lucky bamboo plants can grow up to tall and the leaves can reach long! Fortunately, you can prune lucky bamboo whenever you like and even save the cuttings to start a whole new plant. [Edit]Lucky Bamboo Pruning - Disinfect pruning shears before you start trimming the plant. Lucky bamboo plants are hearty, but they can become infected if you don't clean the shears before trimming. Fortunately, it only takes a minute! Take your clean garden shears and dip a cloth in 70-100% alcohol like isopropyl alcohol. Wipe it across both sides of the blades and you're all set.[1]
- Don't have pruning shears? Regular scissors are totally fine as long as you disinfect them.
- To make it even easier to disinfect, keep a few packets of alcohol wipes near your garden supplies.
- Cut off leaves that have yellowed tips. The ends of the leaves can turn yellow if the plant's not getting enough water or it's getting too much sunlight. Instead of yanking the leaves off, take disinfected shears or scissors and cut the leaves off where they meet the stalk.[2]
- It's really important to cut the entire leaf instead of just the yellow part. This is because partially trimming the leaf can introduce bacteria and make your plant sick.
- Don't forget to address the cause of the yellow leaves. Always keep of fresh water in the container and put it in indirect light.
- Pull away dead leaves as the plant grows. It's easy to panic if you notice dead, dry leaves on your plant, but don't worry! Dying leaves are normal because the old leaves die off as new growth comes in. If the plant is putting out healthy growth, the leaves simply dry up, so you can pull them down and off of the stalk.[3]
- Your plant will look better and put more energy towards growth once you trim the dead leaves.
- Cut straight across the top of your plant if you want to shorten the lucky bamboo. Topping just means that you cut off the leaves and top of the stalk. It also encourages the bottom of the plant to put out new shoots and leaves, so topping is a good idea if you want the plant to fill out. To top your plant, take disinfected shears and straight across the top. It's totally up to you how much you want to cut off.[4]
- Cutting the stalk stops it from growing, but it will send up shoots right below the cut you made.
- Want to give your lucky bamboo a slight trim? You don't have to cut off the top of the stalk. Just cut off the leaves from the top of the plant instead.
- Trim offshoots that look straggly. Lucky bamboo puts on leafy shoots from the main stalk as it grows. If your plant is looking too bushy for your liking or the offshoots are growing crookedly, clip off the shoot from the main stalk.[5]
- Don't want the offshoots to grow back? No problem! Just cut the offshoot where it meets the main stalk.
- Throw away stalks that are brown or mushy. Although lucky bamboo plants are easy to grow, they can start to rot if you forget to change their water. If this does happen, work fast! Take out any stalks that are brown, black, or squishy since you can't nurse them back to health and they could make other stalks sick.
- If the stalks aren't too bad yet and you think you can heal them, cut off yellow parts and stick the stalks into a separate container with fresh water.
[Edit]Propagation - Cut a leafy offshoot from a stalk of lucky bamboo. Choose a healthy, green stalk of bamboo that has at least 2 nodes and a leafy offshoot that's at least long. Then, take disinfected shears and cut the offshoot where it meets the stalk.[6]
- Nodes look like rings or joints around the bamboo stalks and offshoots usually grow near them.
- Trim the bottom of the offshoot to give it a straight edge. If your cutting has a lot of leaves near the base, pull off the leaves near the bottom so you can see the new stalk. Then, use shears to cut straight across the bottom so the stem isn't at an angle.[7]
- Don't forget to do this step or you'll have trouble getting your new lucky bamboo to stay upright in its new container!
- Put the cutting into a jar with distilled water and pebbles. Fill a clean jar or container with of distilled water, then add a layer of pebbles to the bottom. Stick the cutting straight down into the pebbles.[8]
- The pebbles anchor the cutting so it stays completely vertical and the roots grow evenly.
- Change out the water every week. Stick your cutting in a spot where it gets indirect light and leave it alone until you see roots grow out of the bottom. The only maintenance you need to do in the meantime is to switch out the water once a week. In about 2 months, you should see a few roots growing from the bottom of your lucky bamboo![9]
- Feeling impatient? It's totally fine to remove the cutting if it's put out shoots after a month. The amount of time it takes for the cutting to grow roots is really variable, so your cutting may be ready a lot sooner than an older cutting.
- Transfer your cutting to a vase with water once you see roots. Once you see a few roots from the bottom of the cutting, you're ready to display the lucky bamboo! Place your new lucky bamboo plant into a decorative vase or container that has pebbles in the bottom. Remember to pour of distilled water into it before you stick the lucky bamboo down into the pebbles.[10]
- For a fuller display, put the new bamboo into a vase or container that has older, established lucky bamboo stalks.
- Don't forget to change the water! Replace the water once a week so it's always fresh for your plant.
- Use a cute mug or small jug as a vase for your lucky bamboo. You can pick up unique containers at garage sales or thrift stores.
[Edit]Things You'll Need [Edit]Lucky Bamboo Pruning - Pruning shears or scissors
- 70-100% alcohol like isopropyl alcohol
- Cloth
- Lucky bamboo plant
[Edit]Propagation - Pruning shears or scissors
- Container
- Pebbles
- Lucky bamboo plant
[Edit]References |
| How to Wash Fuzzy Sweaters Posted: 28 Dec 2020 12:00 AM PST We've all had it happen at least once—the fluffy sweater you loved has lost its softness and now the fabric is pilled. This might mean you need to change the way you wash your soft sweater, either by hand or in the machine. Making a few simple care changes can keep your comfy sweater looking great, and if you do see a few fuzzy pills, don't worry. It only takes a few minutes to get them off. [Edit]Machine-Washing - Check the label to see if it's machine-washable. The care label is your friend! Importantly, it tells you if you can wash the fuzzy sweater in the machine or if you should hand-wash or dry-clean it. The label also tells you what water temperature to use so you don't accidentally shrink your sweater.[1]
- If you see a symbol that has a washing machine with a line crossing through it, don't stick the sweater in the machine.
- Can't find a care label? Play it safe and wash the sweater by hand instead.
- Turn the sweater inside out to prevent friction. Friction is the enemy of fuzzy sweaters since all that rubbing makes the fluffy fibers clump together. Flipping the sweater inside out minimizes that friction.[2]
- Are you washing a delicate fabric like merino? Toss the sweater into a mesh laundry bag to give it even more protection in the machine.
- Put the sweater into the machine with of liquid detergent. It's totally fine to wash your fuzzy sweater with a few other garments, but don't overload your machine! If you do, the clothes rub against each other more, which causes pilling. Don't forget to put of liquid laundry detergent in for a small load.[3]
- Don't want to use liquid detergent? It's totally fine to use powdered detergent as long as you dissolve it in a little water first. This prevents the powder from rubbing against the fabric of your fuzzy sweater.
- Run the machine on a gentle or delicate cycle. You're all set! Just turn the machine to the gentle, delicate, or hand wash cycle and get it started. All of these cycle settings are slow so your fuzzy sweater won't rub back and forth against other items and lose its softness.[4]
- Most washing machines automatically adjust the water temperature when you select a gentle or delicate cycle, but if yours doesn't, manually choose a cool or cold water setting.
- If your machine as the option, choose a short or light cycle length. This way, your fuzzy sweater isn't agitated as long. Remember, the less your fuzzy sweater is stretched or rubbed, the softer it will stay.
- Lay the fuzzy sweater flat to air dry. We know it's tempting to toss the sweater into the dryer, but don't do it! Even the delicate cycle on a dryer can damage the fibers and cause static electricity to build up, which makes your sweater look shaggy. Instead, spread your sweater flat on a dry, absorbent towel and leave it to air dry completely.[5]
- Since the sweater will hold its shape as it dries, it's really important to smooth out wrinkles.
- Want to speed up the drying time? Lay the sweater to dry near a dehumidifier or fan.
[Edit]Hand-Washing - Fill a sink with lukewarm water and of laundry detergent. Washing a fuzzy sweater by hand might seem like a big effort, but it's actually really easy. Start by filling a clean sink at least half full with lukewarm water. Then, pour in of liquid laundry detergent and swish the water with your hand until it becomes sudsy.[6]
- Is your fuzzy sweater too bulky to fit in your sink? Don't worry! Fill your bathtub 1/3 to 1/2 full with water and use twice as much detergent.
- Flip your sweater inside out and submerge it in the soapy water. One of the easiest ways to keep your sweater soft and fluffy is to turn it inside out before you wash it. This way, the fluffy fabric doesn't rub against itself and pill. Then, push the sweater down into the soapy water.[7]
- Although you could wash more than 1 item with the sweater, it's better to wash the sweater by itself to reduce friction.
- Swish the sweater in the water to loosen dirt and grime. Grab the sweater and swirl it around in the water for a few seconds so the soapy water gets into the fibers. If your sweater is really dirty or smelly, swish it for up to 1 minute.[8]
- There's no need to squeeze or pull on the sweater since this damages the fibers.
- Soak the sweater in the soapy water for 10 to 15 minutes. Now take a little break! Let your fuzzy sweater soak for at least 10 minutes without agitating it in the water. Soaking the sweater just gives the detergent a chance to remove dirt.[9]
- If your fuzzy sweater has a stain, give it a few extra minutes to soak.
- Rinse the sweater with cold water to get rid of all of the detergent. Drain the sink and turn on the tap to run cold water. Hold the sweater under the cold water so the soapy detergent rinses away. Keep rinsing until the water runs clear.[10]
- Squeeze out the excess water and lay your sweater flat on a towel to dry. Push the sweater against the side of the sink so water drains. You can also squeeze the sweater between your hands, but be really careful not to pull, stretch, or twist the sweater since this can damage your sweater. Then, lay your sweater on a fluffy, absorbent towel to air dry.[11]
- In a hurry? To speed up the drying process, lay the sweater on a towel and roll the towel up. Squeeze the towel so it absorbs a lot of water. Then, lay your sweater flat on a dry towel to finish drying.
[Edit]De-Pilling the Sweater - Drag a sweater comb or razor to manually get rid of a few pills. Don't wait until your sweater is completely covered with pills! It's a lot easier to remove a few pills as soon as you see them. Lay your sweater flat and drag a sweater comb over the surface of the sweater. A dry razor also works really well.[12]
- Keep the comb or razor on the surface of the sweater so it doesn't dig down into the fibers. If you're not careful, you could accidentally snag the fabric.
- Don't have a sweater comb or clean razor? A Velcro hair roller is also really effective at pulling off pills. Push the Velcro hair roller into the sweater and roll it across the sweater so it picks up the pills.
- Rub a pumice or sweater stone over the sweater to remove tiny pills. If you'd rather de-pill a small area without worrying about snagging the sweater, buy a pumice or sweater stone. Lay the sweater flat and hold it taut with 1 hand. Then, press the stone onto the fabric and brush it away from you. Work in the same direction instead of going back and forth. The stone catches the tiny pills.[13]
- This is a kind of messy way to de-pill the sweater since the stone can leave some powder behind. Take a lint roller or piece of duct tape and press it over the sweater to remove the mess.
- Run a sweater shaver over the sweater to automatically remove a lot of pills. If you have a sweater that's completely covered with fuzzy pills, save some time and buy a sweater shaver from a craft store. Lay your sweater flat and turn the shaver on. Then, press the blade against the sweater and rub it across the surface using circular movements. This is also a really good way to remove pet hair from your sweater.[14]
- Sweater shavers have compartments for trapping the pills they pick up. This makes clean up even easier!
- If you use a sweater shaver a lot, look for a rechargeable shaver that you can plug in to charge.
- Wear the sweater a few times before you wash it to minimize pilling.[15]
- Need to clean a small area on the sweater? Just spot-treat it instead of washing the entire sweater!
- Sweaters made of a blend of materials are more likely to pill. If you have the option, go for a 100% cotton sweater.[16]
[Edit]Things You'll Need - Sweater shaver
- Razor or sweater comb
- Sweater stone or pumice stone
- Velcro hair roller
- Gentle liquid laundry detergent
- Absorbent bath towels
[Edit]References |
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