How To: Cut a Little Boy’s Hair

I have five boys and a husband that all need haircuts every.single.month.

If I send them somewhere else to get their hair cut, I’d easily be spending $100 a month.  I decided a long, long, long time ago--when it was just The Hubsters and me--that I would learn to do it myself.  Back then, we were poor, starving, college students and we couldn’t even afford to have someone else cut my husband’s hair.

So I learned how to do it myself, and we’ve been saving money ever since.

Back in the college days, I even cut other people’s husband’s hair to save them a few bucks.

Ashlee’s older brother was one of those guys!  Good times!

Anyway, if you want to save some money and do it yourself, this is how you do it.  Keep in mind that I am self taught.

First, start off with a pair of good hair clippers.  Make sure they have a lot of different guards.  This is a good one, here, and it’s less than $20.00:

Okay.  Snag your first victim.  This is Crocky.  He is nine and in desperate need of a haircut.

I always start at the bottom and work my way up.

I’m going to start by cutting off that little tail with the clippers.  Don’t use a guard, but be very, very careful not to cut your victim.

Next, trim around the ears.

When you’ve trimmed around both ears and the sideburn area, go back to the bottom of the hairline.  Use the smallest guard (mine is #1) and trim up to where I’m pointing with the clippers.  Be sure to use this same guard to go around the ears, too. 

See how the cut line goes around the sides of the head, too?

No grab your next smallest guard.  It should be labeled #2.  Cut the back and sides of the hair up to this point:

Now use the #4 guard to taper the sides and back.  Cut about an inch and a half up from the last stopping point.

Now use the #6 guard to trim the remaining sides and top of the hair.  When you’re finished with that part, take the scissors and even up the front and any hairs you missed around the ears and neckline.

That’s it!  You’re done!

I like to cut my boys’ hair really short.  They hate combing their hair, and all five of them have crazy cowlicks.  Short works best for us.  So, starting from the bottom and working my way up, I used the guards 1,2,4, and 6.  Their hair is 3/4 of an inch long on top.  If you want to cut your guy’s hair longer than that, adjust your guards accordingly.  You could do 2,4,6, and 8 for a longer cut.  That would leave it 1 inch on top. 

If you want it any longer than that, you’re going to have to use your fingers and scissors on top.  That’s really easy, too.  Just be sure you make it even.  All you do is take a strip of hair between your pointer and middle finger and cut it the length you want it.  Move to a neighboring strip of hair and cut it the same length you did the last piece.  To make sure I do that, I always take a piece of the last strip to use as a guide for the next strip.  Make sense?

Well, there you go.  I hope you’ll be able to use this and save yourself a couple of bucks!