Which Dryer Is Right For Me?
Dogs, depending on the coat type, have from 1,000 to 6,000 hairs per square inch. A typical Standard Poodle has 20 times the surface area of a human’s hair, and a Golden Retriever has about 30 times the surface area of a human’s hair. So, referring back to the sliding patio door example, while the surface area of a woman’s hair is equal to one set of patio doors, the Poodle and the Golden have hair surface areas of 20 or 30 sets of sliding doors, respectively. All this hair holds water primarily as a function of surface area. The water must be removed at the right time in the grooming process in order to obtain “the right look”.
Before examining details of the three dryer types, it is important to review the technical terminology in order to understand the buzzwords that apply to all dryers. This nomenclature includes:
? c.f.m. is cubic feet per minute. It is the volume, in cubic feet, of air that is moved in a minute. This attribute is important for cage dryers, where large volumes of air need to be moved but not necessarily at a high velocity.
? f.p.m. relates to air velocityin units of the feet per minute. This performance attribute is important with the high velocity dryers that rely upon air speed to mechanically push water from the coat.
The c.f.m. and f.p.m. attributes are determined by the blower motor manufacturer and are different from one product design to the next. These performance variables include configuration, air inlet and outlet aperture size, hose diameter and length.
? Amps is the amount of electrical current in amperes. Most newer wall circuits are 20 amperes. Some older circuits are only 15 amperes. Many of the larger double motor high velocity dryers draw at or near 20 amps, necessitating a dedicated circuit, as 20 amps is the limit of conventional residential and commercial circuits.
The number of motors inside the dryer is important, though not always published by the dryer maker. Generally, the most powerful high velocity dryers have more than one motor and often consume the bulk of available current on a conventional 20-amp circuit.
The lightest weight and lowest cost units are generally single motor dryers. They typically draw between 6-15 amps. Arranged in a “series” circuit, the dual motor dryers deliver between 1.3-1.5 times the amps of a single motor unit. This configuration is excellent with long hoses (over 33 feet), as air volume and velocity drop only minimally.
Dual motor dryers arranged in “parallel” deliver almost twice the volume or about 190% of the single motor. However, this arrangement is prone to performance loss if the hose runs over 33 feet.
The two configurations above deliver the same airflow with a hose length of about 33 feet. Therefore if the hose run is less than about 30 feet, the parallel configuration will outperform the series. Single vs. two motor dryers can be distinguished by their size and shape. The long single canister has two motors in series airflow and the large “twin” canister or wider box dyer has two motors in parallel.
A large double coated Golden that would take 3 hours to dry with a hand blow dryer might take 42 minutes with a single motor high velocity dryer and only 22 minutes with the two motor configuration. This dryer type is of interest to the large volume grooming shop where there are never enough minutes in the day.
Liquid Products
With so much said on reducing blow dry time with different dryer types, it is important to acknowledge that there are also liquid products available that dramatically reduce dry time. These products improve slip between hair strands with quaterniums that smooth and coat the individual strands. Such spray-on detangling and dematting products can be used before and after the bathing process. Such products, if well formulated, also contain conditioning agents that repair much of the damage caused by brushing and drying.
This type of product will accelerate both the mechanical removal and evaporation processes by getting the water to sheet on the hair shaft. The sheeting is accomplished by reducing the surface tension of water remaining in the coat. Such “spray on–leave in” products have been proven to reduce blow dry time by as much as 50%. Some large volume pet grooming shop owners mandate that their bathers use such products for the purpose of reducing blow dry time.
In Conclusion
Deciding which dryer to purchase is made easier by understanding each of the available products. Shop owners will show consideration for their unique environment and budget. For example, a mobile groomer generally looks for the highest performance high velocity dryer that generates the least noise and draws the least amount of current. A large facility with many cages, on the other hand, will become experts at taking advantage of the “crossover” units that can act as both cage and high velocity dyers. Budget, shop type (cage free shop vs. with cages and mobile vs. salon), available utilities, and shop layout all influence which dryer is best to purchase for each application. We provide different type of dryers, such as brush AC motor pet dryer, brushless DC motor dryer/blaster and so on, you can choose the best you need.