Blade and Comb Selection Calculator

Bare blades only cut at their own fixed length (for example, a #10 blade always leaves about 1/16" regardless of what you want), so if your desired length falls between two blade options or matches a standard comb length more closely, the calculator recommends whichever option -- blade-only or comb-over-blade -- gets numerically closer to your target. Attachment combs only become an option at desired lengths of 1/2" or longer, since shorter combs aren't part of the standard sizing set used here.

Clipper blades and attachment combs only come in a fixed set of standard sizes, so your desired length is rounded to the closest available option rather than cut exactly -- this calculator reports that actual achievable length, adjusted for coat spring-back, as the achieved length. For curly/wool and wire/harsh coats specifically, the achieved length also factors in spring-back (hair visibly rebounding upward after cutting), so the number you see already accounts for how the coat will actually look once it settles, not just the blade's nominal cut depth.

A matted coat requires roughly four clipper passes at a slower, more deliberate speed to work through tangles without catching or pulling skin, compared to a single pass for a coat that's already clean and brushed out. Because both the number of passes and the recommended clipper speed shift together based on coat condition, a heavily matted coat can take substantially longer to groom than the same dog with a well-maintained coat, independent of the dog's size or coat type.

Curly and wool-type coats (like a Poodle's) have a tighter curl structure that visibly springs up more after cutting, so this calculator applies a larger 20% spring-back adjustment to those coat types. Wire/harsh coats spring back less dramatically (10% in this calculator) because their coarser, straighter hair structure doesn't curl up the same way, while smooth and double coats get no spring-back adjustment at all since straight hair lies close to its cut length.