As a Poodle owner, you know that finding the best brush for Poodles can really make a difference in your Poodle’s skin and coat health!
The brush you choose can make grooming your Poodle a lot easier, faster, and much more enjoyable for both you and your pup.
In this article, we introduce the best brushes for Poodles in each of the different categories, including combs, pin and bristle brushes, slicker brushes, and grooming brushes.
Whether you’re searching for the best brush for toy Poodle, Miniature Poodle, or standard Poodle, you’ll find lots of great choices here!
How to Brush Poodle hair
Brushing Poodle hair is a lot like brushing really curly, thick human hair.
The good news here is that you are already quite skilled at brushing human hair. The bad news is that you can’t groom a Poodle’s coat the way you would, say, a Labrador retriever’s coat.
How Often Should You Bath your Poodle?
You can bathe your Poodle as frequently as once per week. Bathe them too frequently and your Poodle’s sensitive skin may dry out.
But if you don’t bathe frequently enough all that curly, wiry hair, it can catch dirt and debris as well as shed hair that develops into tangles and mats.
Your Poodle’s lifestyle and activities can help you decide how frequently to bathe your dog.
Somewhere between once a week t once every four weeks is typical for primarily “indoor” Poodles.
When you bathe your Poodle, make sure you have time to do a thorough brushing and blow drying at the same time.
Otherwise, if you let your Poodle’s coat air-dry, it will likely develop tangles and mats. You can use a slicker brush to brush out your Poodle’s coat while you blow it dry.
SAFETY NOTE: Only use a blow dryer only on the “warm” or “cool” settings and don’t hold it too close to your Poodle’s skin or it may cause burns!
Similarly, stay away from steel grooming tools while blow drying as they may heat up and cause skin burns.
How Often Should You Brush Your Poodle?
You can brush your Poodle as frequently as daily, although two to three times per week is more common. This will keep mats and tangles to a minimum.
Brushing also stimulates the circulation and helps to distribute natural skin oils to keep your Poodle’s skin healthy.
How to Brush Your Poodle
If this is your first time caring for a Poodle, we hope these Poodle brushing tips from owners, breeders, and veterinarians will shorten your learning curve.
And make using your new Poodle hair brush collection easy and fun!
Learning how to brush a standard Poodle can take some time, and not just because some areas are easier to brush than other areas.
You’ll quickly notice that your Poodle’s coat is longer in some areas on the body. So you may want to switch grooming tools accordingly.
In other words, most Poodle owners find that they can’t use just a single dog brush for grooming their Poodle.
You may want to use a slicker brush for areas with longer hair and a pin and bristle brush or a round-tipped comb for shorter hair and closer areas (like the face, paws, and underarms).
In time, you’ll find your own method of grooming for your Poodle, alternating brushing and combing, as needed.
If you’re struggling a bit to find a good method, you may want to take your Poodle in for a professional grooming session and ask for advice.
This way you can learn in a “hands-on” way while taking advice from a grooming expert to shorten your learning curve.
Best Brush for Poodle Hair
Typically, the best brush for standard Poodle hair won’t be different than the best brush for a toy Poodle or miniature Poodle hair.
What may change is the size of the brush or comb you’re using.
Adult Poodle sizes can vary even within the three classes, of course.
But in most cases, you’ll want to choose a large size for a standard Poodle and a medium or small brush size for a miniature or toy Poodle.
Best Poodle Grooming Brush
The coat of a Poodle puppy is typically pretty easy to care for. The coat is softer and less thick than your Poodle’s adult coat will be.
It may be softly wavy or curly and most owners find a simple comb or pin and bristle brush is sufficient for Poodle puppy grooming.
But somewhere between the age of 9 and 18 months, your puppy’s adult coat will start to grow in.
You’ll know when this process starts because your puppy’s coat will get thicker, longer and more challenging to keep untangled.
You may need to commit to daily brushing sessions during this transitional period.
As your puppy’s adult coat continues to grow in, your preferences for the best brush for Poodles may start changing as well.
Specifically, you may find yourself falling in love with a slicker brush!
From here, you may also decide to use a comb or pin and bristle brush for detail work and smoothing hair in addition to your staple slicker brush.
Poodle cuts (especially show ring cuts) can be complicated to learn and master, but it certainly is possible!
If you plan to also do your Poodle’s grooming clips at home, some additional tools to consider investing in include a clipper set, grooming shears, a grooming table and nail clippers.
Best Combs for Poodles
Sometimes the best brush for Poodles isn’t actually a brush at all, but a comb!
Combs should always be made of stainless steel or some other anti-bacterial, durable material with seamless construction to avoid pulling or tugging on your dog’s hair.
ALWAYS look for combs with rounded-tips (tines) for safety!
The Andis Pet Steel Grooming Comb is a high quality, durable, seamless stainless steel round-tip grooming comb comes in two sizes.
The comb itself is light in weight so you won’t get hand fatigue, and it leaves your Poodle’s coat looking light and fluffy.
The Hertzko 2 Pack Pet Combs is a set of two combs and may be ideal if you are caring for a Poodle puppy.
You can use the small comb first and then transition to the large comb as your puppy grows.
Plus, the round-tip tines are gentle on your dog’s skin and the handle features a rubber anti-slip grip for you.
Another good option is the Poodle Pet Double-Sided Pet Comb.
The unique comb made just for Poodle grooming features wider tines on one side and narrower tines on the opposite side of the handle.
Best Slicker Brush for Poodles (standard)
For most Poodle owners, the best slicker brush for Poodles will always be one that has a self-cleaning feature.
These types of slicker brushes for Poodles feature a button that you can push to either eject the hair out or retract the bristles so you can quickly collect the shed hair.
The Hertzko Self Cleaning Slicker Brush is an excellent choice. You really can’t argue with a brush that is this wildly popular and highly rated!
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Not only does this slicker brush provide a pain-free way to work out tangles and mats, but you can clean it with the simple push of a button.
GoPets Professional Slicker Brush for Dogs is a popular, highly rated, self-cleaning slicker brush that features a soft silicone handle that conforms to your grip for comfort while brushing your Poodle.
The brush boasts a one-push self-cleaning button that makes cleanup fast and easy and the manufacturer offers a satisfaction guarantee.
The Pet Portal Pro Quality Self Cleaning Slicker Brush for Dogs is a lovely, high quality, and highly rated slicker brush featuring a push-button self-cleaning option that owners love.
The brush comes in small/medium or medium/large for Poodles of all sizes. Choose from blue/white or green/black in either size.
Best Slicker Brush for Poodles (miniature/toy)
Adult Miniature Poodles typically weigh 10 to 15 lbs and fully-grownToy Poodles may weigh just 4 to 6 lbs.
You may find your smaller Poodle will benefit from these smaller-sized slicker brushes that make it easier to groom and brush out tangles and mats!
The extra small LilPals Slicker Brush may just end up being your top choice if you’re caring for a miniature or toy Poodle.
While it doesn’t have a self-cleaning button, the small size of the brush more than compensates.
This tiny slicker give you more control over brushing out tangles and mats on your smaller pooch!
Four Paws Magic Coat Instant Dog Mat Remover is a specialty slicker brush specifically designed for dogs with long or curly coats.
Its’ petite size may be the perfect fit for a mini or toy Poodle!
The Pet Paw Joy Slicker Brush is a small slicker brush featuring a square brush head that rotates so you can easily reach different areas of your mini or toy Poodle’s body.
The rotation also changes the direction of the pins for different brushing and grooming needs. The manufacturer offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Best Pin Brush for Poodles
A pin and bristle brush can sometimes be the best brush for Poodles because you basically get two brushes in one.
There are two styles of the pin and bristle brush. The most common one has the pins on one side and the bristles on the other side.
So all you have to do is flip the brush over when you need one or the other.
The pins should always have rounded tips for safety. The pin side is ideal for gently working out tangles and mats.
The bristle brush side will give your Poodle’s coat a soft, lovely shine.
The highly rated and popular GoPets Professional Double-Sided Pin & Bristle Brush is two brushes in one: the round-tipped pin brush is on one side and the bristle brush is on the other.
The handle is a soft silicone gel to mold to your grip.
AtEase Accents Natural Bamboo Eco-Friendly Pet Grooming Brush is a lovely natural bamboo-handle pin and bristle brush is also a two-sided brush.
The pins are rounded at the tips for safety and the bristles are evenly spaced in small groups to help fluff and smooth your dog’s coat.
Plus, the manufacturer offers a 100 percent satisfaction guarantee.
Poodle Pet Double-Sided Pet Brush for Grooming and Massaging Dogs is another pin and bristle brush that features rounded pins on one side and soft bristles on the other side.
The Perfect Companion For Life With A New Puppy
The square brush shape may make for easier brushing and grooming for large Poodles. This brush has a special anti-static padded back.
Best Poodle Detangling Sprays
You may not face too many tangles and mats when your Poodle is a puppy. But Poodles are active, athletic dogs at heart.
So as your Poodle grows up, you are likely to encounter more dirt, debris and general disarray after your dog is finished playing, running, and jumping like Poodles love to do!
For this reason, one staple in every professional Poodle groomer’s accessories box is a detangling spray.
You can simply spritz some on before you brush your Poodle to ease out mats and tangles.
BioSilk for Dogs Detangling Plus Shine Protecting Mist is safe to use on puppies 8 weeks or older and is made in the USA.
It contains only human-grade ingredients.
The USA-made Pet Head Fur Ball Detangling Spray for Pets Strawberry Yogurt is a human-grade detangling spray that is pH balanced for your dog’s skin.
It smells like strawberry yogurt!
Another USA-made product is the FURminator deTangling Waterless Spray.
This excellent detangler is free of parabens and chemical dyes and is designed to be used on long-coated dogs.
Best Brush for Poodles
We hope this article has provided you with some valuable information about the best brush for Poodles!
Over time, you may find yourself developing a preference for certain Poodle combs and brushes. We’d love to hear!
Please share your favorite Poodle dog brush choices in the comments!
References and Further Reading
Patty P says
My 13 yr old Poodle-Mix (we’ve had her for 9 yrs) has a thin coat and very sensitive skin when it comes to brushing. We like to keep her hair on the longer side so mats and tangles just happen. Every slicker brush I’ve tried obviously hurts her so grooming only happens every 2 weeks because she fights and bites so much. It’s an awful ordeal for both of us. Professional groomers have the same problem with her. Do you have any suggestion for a brush that works on de-tangling long Poodle curls that isn’t painful? Thank you so much!
Courtny says
As a Groomer I would suggest getting a matt splitter and matt breaker. It will definitely make de matting a whole lot easier and a lot less painful