Flattop techniques - Getting the hair to stand at attention.

Quoted from a Hairnet Hotline message posted by "Cutter" on Janaury 5, 1997.

This message was posted by Cutter in response to a father who wanted to learn how to give his three son's flattops. All three son's (ages 6, 9 and 13) had flattops and wanted to keep them maintained, but the father was finding that these frequent cuts were getting expensive. The father had bought some clippers and tried to do the cuts himself, but his son's weren't happy with the results and the eldest son wasn't prepared to have another home flattop. Following a suggestion by Cutter, the father decided to keep taking his eldest son to a barber, but to learn how to give flattops by practicing on the two younger boys (where complete accuracy wasn't quite as important). Cutter then offered the following advice about flattop cutting.

It is very important is to learn what a good flattop looks like. This may sound silly but it isn't. Look at the flattops you see in person or in pictures. Look at how the shape in relation to the head, the angles etc. When you see a good flattop, study it if you can to see why it looks good. Also look at the bad ones - what's the difference. The more preceptive you can become, the better you will be able to cut.

Another tip. To cut a good flattop you must have the hair standing up good. I first dampen the hair then add a little gel. Next I use a barber taper comb and a blow dryer to get the hair all standing up. Use the comb and dryer to work hair that wants to lay down into a straight up position. If you remove the blow dryer heat from hair while holding it in position, it will set in place when it cools a little. This is hard to explain but is really important. Watch how the barber does it.

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