Upkeep
How to clean a fabric shaver and change the blade
A shaver that leaves pills behind is almost never broken. It is full, clogged or dull. Five minutes of upkeep keeps it cutting like the day it arrived.
After every garment
Pull off the lint container and tip it into a bin. Do not let it fill; a full chamber kills the suction and the blade starts pushing clippings around instead of collecting them. Brush the guard with the small brush from the box or a clean toothbrush, working across the holes so nothing stays wedged. Thirty seconds, every time.
A deeper clean, now and then
Take the batteries out or unplug the cord first; a blade that cannot spin is the only kind to put a finger near. Follow the leaflet to lift the guard. Brush the blade leaves and the chamber behind them, and blow out the fine dust that collects under the guard. Wipe the guard with a dry cloth. Keep water away from the motor housing; the container can be rinsed if it is fully dry before it goes back.
When the blade is dull
The sign is simple: the same patch needs more than two passes, or pills come off flattened rather than cut. Fleece and acrylic dull a blade faster than wool, and a sofa faster than a sweater. Both of our lines ship with spare blades in the box, which tells you how we think about it: a blade is a consumable, like a razor cartridge, not a lifetime part.
Changing the blade safely
Power off, batteries out, cord unplugged. Remove the guard as the leaflet shows, lift the old blade straight off its post, set the new one on the same way round, and refit the guard until it clicks. Run it for a second with nothing under it to hear that it spins freely. Spare blades for the compact and the large head are different sizes, so keep each set with its own shaver.
Storing it between seasons
Empty, brushed, with the batteries out of the compact so they cannot leak over a summer. A drawer, a bag pocket or the shelf by the iron. Most of our returned shavers that were never faulty had been stored full. Our thirty-second check covers the rest.
