The hand stripping tools you will need are basic and inexpensive, but the small amount you do spend is, arguably, the best investment that you can make. The nature of this method of trimming means that you do not use electrical equipment to style the dog. It is all done by hand, either with or without grooming aids to help you.

Most of the work is done by your fingers. These are free and readily available, though you do not have a choice of size and the state of your own skin has a bearing on your work.

Very fine plucking around ears, tops of heads and sanitary areas can be difficult for groomers with large hands or restricted joint mobility. Wire coats are very coarse and can cause blisters until the skin on your hands has hardened.

Finger Protectors

These are either rubber thimbles or latex “cots” or “condoms” that fit onto the ends of your finger and thumb to give you extra grip. The thimbles can be purchased with breathing holes on one side of them and dimples, or nipples, on the other side to grab and hold the hairs as you pull.

The “condoms” (or “cots”) are smooth but grab onto the hair as they warm up. Some groomers use rubber gloves, but your hands will get warm whilst plucking and rubber gloves tend to overheat the hands and become slippery on the inside, which can cause blisters.

Stripping Knives

Look closely at a stripping knife and you will see that it is indeed a blade with a row of teeth, the bases of which, if not used correctly, are sharp enough to cut the coat.

They are designed as an aid to stripping, or removing, the coat. The trick is to keep your wrist rigid whilst executing a pulling action to remove the whole hair from the follicle, rather than a flicking action that cuts the hair off somewhere along the hair shaft.

Stripping knives are available for both left- and right-handed groomers. Left-handed groomers should check when buying knives that the bevelled side of the blade is facing them when holding the tool in their left hand.

The choice is wide, but basically stripping knives are available in extra fine, fine, medium and coarse blades, although unless you specialize in stripping and it forms the bulk of your work, it is unlikely that you will need them all. When you start out, or if you are trimming your own dogs, a stripping knife with a medium and a coarse blade will probably be sufficient.

The important point is to find a handle that is comfortable in your hand. Plastic handles can make the palm of your hand sweat, making the knife difficult to use; some of the wooden handles may be too bulky for the small hand, and the slim handles may be too small for the larger hand.

You need to hold the handle in your hand before making a decision, but make sure you are holding the tool correctly. The handle should be held in the palm of the hand with the index finger bent and resting on one side of the blade and the thumb resting either in the thumb groove, on the cutting blade, or against the side of the cutting blade.

Stripping knives must be washed in warm soapy water after use, dried well and sterilized by ultraviolet light or a liquid sterilizing solution. Store where the teeth cannot be damaged.

Stripping Stones

Synthetic pumice stones are available usually in black for darker coats and white for paler coats. The stone can either be dragged following the coat growth direction to remove short fine hairs or rubbed through the coat against the growth direction to leave a residue in the coat, giving more traction to the hairs and making for easier pulling.

Chalk and Fuller’s Earth

Chalk is widely used to give traction to 
the coat. You simply dip your fingertips 
into the chalk to coat them and away 
you go. Chalk cannot be used if you
 are using finger condoms or thimbles.
 Being white, it does, of course, have an 
obvious downside, so for darker coats
 fuller’s earth is sometimes preferred.

The disadvantage with using either of these is the amount of product that is left in the coat and on the skin. You must make sure that the entire product has been removed from the skin, particularly if the dog is a pet and you may not see him again for some time.

The principal advantage of chalk on show dogs (West Highland Terriers particularly) is that it does enhance the coat color and texture. It is also in the interest of the show dog owner to check that the skin is not compromised and the chalk is removed after showing.

Lava Blocks

As the name suggests, these are pieces of lava with a coarse-grained surface that can also aid traction. Hold the block in your hand and grab the coat between your thumb and the block. Pull gently in the direction of coat growth and the hair should come away easily. Lava blocks can leave a residue in the coat and this may need to be removed by bathing when you have finished.

Lava blocks should not be washed because they will disintegrate but they should be sterilized by ultraviolet light.