The little tube of lubricating oil that was included with my electric clippers has finally run out. I am in desperate need of a goatee trim and I have no idea what the appropriate lubricant might be. The instruction booklet is silent on the substance type. Anyone?
Lightweight machine oil. Or, if you want something specific: go to a craft store and get the lightweight lubricant they sell for sewing machines. 
It’s what I use in my clippers and works like a champ.
KY jelly.
Sorry, couldn’t resist
Official IMHO Thread Title Of The Day.
I would think you would have a large supply of lubricants at your disposal, sir. I mean that in the nicest possible way. On a more serious note, I would recommend 3 in 1 oil. You should be able to find some at a drug store. I don’t believe it comes in any flavors, however.
I thought this was going to be a Futurama thread.
I wouldn’t use 3 in 1 oil on clippers. I would stop by a little folky hardware store(Ace or Mom’N’Pop type places) and get actual clipper oil. Wahl makes the standard stuff I usually see people use. It’s a very thin lubricating oil. 3 in one is a much heavier “protecting and lubricating and whatever the 3 is” oil. It can gum-up and trap dust and micro-hairs and burn out the head motor.
You can borrow some of mine… I never have been able to figure out where to lubricate my clippers; so I haven’t. I’ve had them about 5 years now, and they still run just fine. If/when they die from non-lubed un-goodliness, I’ll just spend another $10 and buy another!
(never thought I’d be offering to share lubes with Otto…)
Every set of clippers I’ve ever owned just uses mineral oil for lubrication. You can get a good-sized bottle of the stuff for less than $5. Go to your local pharmacy and ask for it, or look in the, erm, laxative section.
I don’t even bother with precision oiling anymore; I pour about a quarter-inch of the oil into a bathroom-sized cup, submerge the entire clipper head into it, and turn it on for a few seconds. Then, wipe off the excess. Presto! Good for another two months.
You can also have mine. I only trim my goatee every week or so because I’m lazy, but I’ve never used oil on it. I also don’t have a real trimmer, rather one of those huge ones that one would use to cut hair with.
A quarter inch deep? Wow, I just place a drop or two where the blades rub against each other. You can hear the difference instantly.
Seconded on the mineral oil, though.
I hope that didin’t offend you Otto . It’s like when one of the guys comes out of the head with toilet paper sticking out of his pants. If you don’t say something you will kick yourself in the ass later.
If you’re stuck at home and couldn’t be arsed going to the store, smear some butter or margarine on the blades.
In case anybody recoils in horror, I’ve got clippers over ten years old that came with stern warnings not to use anything but their specific grade of oil. Then I ran out. Then I got lazier and lazier. For years now, I’ve just gone to the kitchen and come back with a glob of margarine on my finger, and rubbed it into the blades of the clippers. The things go as new.
The Wahl clippers I have are great, and only cost only $20. When I run out the oil (and the clippers stop working properly) I plan to just buy more clippers.
Gun oil works well, too. Just a drop or two will do the trick.
Best yet your hair smells like butter.
Sewing machine oil or gun oil should work.
If there is a Sally Beauty Supply near you, they will have clipper oil. They are open to the public.
Mineral oil came in that teensy little bottle that came with my clippers.
I could have ordered another teensy bottle for $5.00 from them, but I picked up a canister fifty times its size for about $3 at the drug store.
Not that I’ve noticed. It doesn’t require a lot, and using those things is always pre-shower for me.
I am with TLD. As a fellow lazy bastard, but not really a butter/margarine kind of guy I have used the following on my clippers - olive oil, vegetable oil and the shaving oil I don’t use for shaving.
Sure “Oils ain’t oils, Sol.” But they are.