Hand stripping is a great technique to bring out the best features of your wire-haired dog. In our other blog posts on hand stripping, we have already shown you that there is a wide range of interesting tools to help you with your plucking. In addition to stripping knives, stripping sticks, thimbles and fingerlings, there are other useful tools to make your grooming job easier.
One of these is chalk, which comes in different forms. You can buy it in a powder container with a sifting lid, like the Show Tech English Grooming Chalk and the brand-new Show Tech+ Texture-IT, or also in a solid round or square block. Besides Show Tech, The Sentinel also has its version, the Super White Chalk Block, which is available in a handy refill as well.
All these options are super easy to apply, safe for both the dog and the groomer and can be easily washed out or brushed out. With chalk (powder) you can do wonderful things! Curious as to what these are exactly? Then be sure to read on.
A better grip
By applying chalk powder to the coat before hand stripping, you get a much better grip! The chalk powder will absorb the sebum from the coat and help you grip the hairs better. Take a powder brush and dip it in the powder.
Then apply the powder to the areas where you want to pluck. Repeat if necessary. You will see that hand stripping goes much faster!
Cleaning and whitening
Chalk powder is not only a good help for plucking, but it also comes in handy for cleaning, whitening, and brightening all types of coats. Thanks to its special formula, it helps prevent impurities. The chalk will absorb the dirt and excess sebum or oil from the coat. If you have bought powder in a powder box with a sifting lid, apply it to the coat using the sifter and a powder brush. Even more convenient is to use a powder dispenser such as the Show Tech+ Powder Spray Bottle. Do you want to apply powder to a long or wire-haired coat or to body parts that are harder to reach? Then there is the Show Tech+ Powder Duster with a unique long nozzle!
After applying the powder, brush out the hairs using a brush with soft bristles.
If you are using a block, rub the block gently over the coat. By brushing the coat, as it were, with the chalk block, the dirt is better absorbed, and you will be able to remove it more easily from the hair. When you brush the chalked hair, the powder particles will fall out of the coat along with the absorbed dirt.
Chalk powder can also be used as cosmetics to whiten spots such as under the eyes, on the legs, chin, or beard. Want to colour the coat or certain parts of the coat and make them snow-white? Then the Show Tech+ Colour-IT (formerly known as the Magic Texturizing Powder) is essential! This fantastic powder combines colourful pigments with chalk to give you a beautiful result.
More volume and texture
Chalking the coat or certain parts of the coat is also done to many show dogs in the conformation ring to give more volume, body, and texture to the coat.
If you want the chalk powder to stick better to your show dog's hair, then the Strengthening Colestral is a must-have! Take just a small amount (the size of a hazelnut) and rub the cream between your two hands. Now gently massage the Strengthening Colestral into the coat with both hands. Once you have applied the Colestral, you can continue with the powder. This amazing product will stick to the coat and in turn the chalk powder will stick to the cream. Super convenient!
After applying the Colestral cream and powder, brush the coat using a hard or soft pin brush or a palm pad brush. This allows you to gently massage the chalk into the coat and create the perfect profile. You can also combine it with gel or hairspray.
Many white-haired breeds lose their undercoat during the summer. The coat then often does not have enough volume to create the perfect profile. The same is true of puppies with a fluffy white coat. By using Show Tech chalk powders and Colestral, your four-legged friend's coat will look fuller again!
Unique on the market
What you inevitably get with coloured powders is that colour pigments will fall out of the coat and stick to everything. When you use a powder in a grooming salon and you do not want the clothes, furniture etc. of the owners of the groomed dog to get dirty, we have the perfect solution: the unique, transparent Texture-IT! Unlike other traditional chalk powders, this innovative powder is almost invisible when applied! The Texture-IT, unique on the market, is truly multifunctional.
On the one hand, this dust-like powder creates extra volume, which is ideal for giving the coat body and texture. The powder can be added to the coat to create a fuller effect. On the other hand, it gives an extreme grip on the coat, which will help you tremendously when plucking wire-haired dogs or other breeds that need to be hand-stripped. It allows you to work in more detail, even on coats that are more difficult to pluck or on specific body parts where more precision is needed.
To put it briefly: these and our other chalk powders are simply a great aid to coat care! Which type of chalk do you prefer to work with? Let us know in the comments.
