Guides

How to Blow Out a Double Coat

The single most effective thing you can do for a shedding dog, and the technique nobody explains. It is not drying - it is using air as a deshedding tool.

By Brijon M.Published October 6, 2026

The shortlist

Quick picks

Tap any row to jump to that pick’s full write-up. The price column goes straight to Amazon.

#	Product	Best for	Score	Price
1	Flying Pig Flying One high-velocity dryer 240 CFM at 2,800 FPM - the airflow figures that make this technique work rather than just dry a dog.	Enough air to actually part a double coat	8.4	Check price on Amazon
2	JW Pet Gripsoft double-row undercoat rake The tool that does the first and last steps - the dryer handles the middle.	The rake passes before and after	9.0	Check price on Amazon
3	B-Air Bear Power 2 Two independently switched motors: one for a nervous dog, both for a soaked Newfoundland.	Giant breeds and multiple dogs	7.7	Check price on Amazon

Scores are our own editorial assessment, not a product rating from reviews or testing. We do not print prices — every button goes to the current one on Amazon. #ad

What a blow-out actually is

The short answer

Blowing out a coat means using a high-velocity dryer to part a double coat to the skin and drive dead undercoat out of it. It removes more loose hair in twenty minutes than an hour of brushing, which is why groomers treat the dryer as a deshedding tool rather than only a drying one.

The mechanism is worth understanding because it explains every piece of technique below. A force dryer moves a large volume of air fast enough to separate the guard coat and expose the undercoat beneath it. Dead undercoat is only loosely held, so moving air lifts it clear and carries it out of the coat entirely. Nothing cuts, nothing pulls, and the guard coat is untouched — which makes this the safest high-volume deshedding method there is.

This page is for you if

Your dog has a double coat — Husky, Samoyed, German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, Great Pyrenees, Bernese — and is shedding, or is about to.

You are on the wrong page if

Your dog has a doodle or poodle coat. A dryer is still essential there, but for a different reason and with a different technique — see dryers for doodles.

The sequence

It is rake, bathe, blow, rake — and the order is not negotiable. Raking first removes the loose hair that comes out easily, so the air is working on what is actually stuck. Bathing matters because dead undercoat releases far more readily from a clean coat and shampoo residue is itself a shedding problem, so rinse until the water runs clear. Blowing does the work. Raking again at the end collects the second load the dryer has loosened but not carried out.

01
Rake the coat through
Take out the undercoat that comes easily. Air should not be driving a loose tangle into the coat.
02
Bathe and rinse until the water runs clear
Dead undercoat releases much more readily from a clean coat. Residue left in a double coat causes its own problems.
03
Set up somewhere you can clean
The volume of airborne hair is startling. Outdoors, a garage, or a bathroom you can wipe down.
04
Start low, far away, on a shoulder
Lowest setting, nozzle a couple of feet out, aimed at a shoulder or back leg. Let the dog decide it is survivable before you go near its head.
05
Flat nozzle, small sections, a few inches out
The flat nozzle concentrates air into a line, which is what parts the coat to the skin. One small section at a time.
06
Work along the lie of the coat
Push loose hair out and away rather than scrubbing against the grain. You should see the coat open to the skin in front of the nozzle.
07
Rear to front, bottom to top
Back legs, hindquarters, flanks, shoulders, chest, neck. Head last, lowest setting, with your hand as a shield.
08
Rake again
A final rake pass pulls out the load the dryer loosened. This is where the extra hair comes from.

Three things that go wrong

Blowing a matted coat. High-velocity air drives a loose tangle into a tight mat. Brush and rake out first, always. If the coat is already matted, deal with that before the dryer comes out at all.

Air at the head. Never direct the airstream into ears, eyes or nose. Do the head last, on the lowest setting, with your free hand cupped as a shield, or do the head with a towel and a comb instead. No part of this job is worth an ear injury.

Holding the air in one place. Keep the nozzle moving. Air concentrated on one spot is uncomfortable and, over long enough, can irritate skin.

When to do it

A double coat blows seasonally, typically spring and autumn, and during those weeks a blow-out every week or two is the difference between a manageable situation and a losing battle. Outside those periods, once a month keeps the coat in good order. The rest of the routine — weekly raking, line brushing to check the skin — is on the schedule guide and line brushing.

And the thing not to do, in any season: do not shave the coat. The double coat insulates against heat as well as cold and shades the skin, and it may not regrow correctly after clipping. Getting the dead undercoat out is the summer strategy, which is exactly what this page describes. The double coat page has the full argument.

What to remember

Rake, bathe, blow, rake. The order is the method.
Airflow above roughly 200 CFM is what parts a coat; below that you are surface drying.
Flat nozzle, small sections, a few inches out, along the lie of the coat.
Rear to front, bottom to top, head last on the lowest setting.
Never blow a matted coat — air drives tangles into mats.
Never aim air into ears, eyes or nose. Keep the nozzle moving.

The picks in full

Every pick, in order

Enough air to actually part a double coat

Flying Pig Flying One high-velocity dryer

240 CFM at 2,800 FPM - the airflow figures that make this technique work rather than just dry a dog.

A forced-air dryer nozzle directed at a damp coat

High-velocity force dryer

Motor: 4 HP
Air volume: 240 CFM
Air speed: 2,800 FPM
Claimed benefit: Cuts drying time by up to 60%

Specs: Finding Dulcinea — Best High-Velocity Pet Dryers for Thick Coats

Below roughly 200 CFM the air does not part the coat and you are surface drying, which is a different and much less useful job. This unit clears that threshold comfortably at a home price, which is why it is the default recommendation for anyone with a shedding double coat. Loud and bulky, both unavoidable at this output.

Airflow9.5

Noise5.0

Build and hose8.0

Storage footprint6.0

Value9.5

Overall8.4 / 10

What it gets right

Real force-dryer output, which is what blows a double coat open instead of merely warming it
Enough air to push water out of a Samoyed or Pyrenees in one session
The most airflow per dollar in this set

What it gets wrong

Loud. All force dryers are, and this is not the quiet one
Bulky to store between grooms
No heating element, so your bathroom temperature becomes the dog's comfort

Who should skip itSkip it if you have a small, short-coated dog — a towel and ten minutes do the same job.

Check price on Amazon

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Read the full Flying Pig Flying One high-velocity dryer review

The rake passes before and after

JW Pet Gripsoft double-row undercoat rake

The tool that does the first and last steps - the dryer handles the middle.

An undercoat rake pulling loose undercoat from a dense coat

Double-row pin undercoat rake

Rows: Two rows of rounded pins
Pins: Rounded ends, not blades
Handle: Gripsoft non-slip

A blow-out is a rake-dryer-rake sequence, not a dryer job. Raking first means the air is not driving loose tangles into the coat; raking after pulls out the second load the dryer has loosened. Long widely-spaced teeth with rounded tips reach through the guard coat without scratching skin, and there is no cutting edge to thin the guard layer.

Coat reach9.5

Volume removed9.0

Coat safety9.5

Handle comfort8.0

Value9.0

Overall9.0 / 10

What it gets right

Rounded pins, not blades — you cannot cut the coat with it, which makes it the safe default
Double row doubles the undercoat it lifts per stroke
Cheap enough to be nobody's agonizing decision

What it gets wrong

Slower than a bladed tool on a heavy shed
Pins will not open a set mat
Handle is comfortable but the head is small for a giant breed

Who should skip itSkip it if you need to clear a felted mat — pins ride over it; you need a dematter.

Check price on Amazon

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Read the full JW Pet Gripsoft double-row undercoat rake review

Giant breeds and multiple dogs

B-Air Bear Power 2

Two independently switched motors: one for a nervous dog, both for a soaked Newfoundland.

Twin-motor high-velocity dryer

Motors: Two
Positioning: Professional groomer use
Controls: Independent motor control

Specs: Breeding Business — Best Dog Dryers for Pros

Independent motor control is the practical version of variable speed and it is the right feature for a household with dogs of different tolerances. If you are blowing out a Pyrenees or a Samoyed every few weeks, the extra output turns a long job into a manageable one. Built for a grooming-room duty cycle, priced and sized accordingly.

Airflow9.0

Noise4.5

Build and hose9.0

Storage footprint4.5

Value6.5

Overall7.7 / 10

What it gets right

Two independently switchable motors — half power for sensitive dogs, full for a wet giant breed
Built for a grooming-room duty cycle
Good hose length as supplied

What it gets wrong

Priced as professional equipment
Large footprint
Noise at full output is substantial

Who should skip itSkip it if one dog is all you dry — a single-motor unit is a better match to the work.

Check price on Amazon

#ad How we earn · We never print a price we cannot verify

FAQ

Questions people actually ask

How much hair should come out?

During a seasonal blow, a genuinely alarming amount — bags of it from a Samoyed or a Pyrenees. That is the point, and it is why doing this somewhere you can clean matters. Outside the shedding season you should see much less.

Can I blow out a dry coat without bathing first?

You can, and it works to a degree — but dead undercoat releases far more readily from a clean coat, so you will get noticeably less out. If you are doing a seasonal blow, the bath is worth it.

My dog is terrified of the dryer. Is there an alternative?

Rake and towel, repeatedly, which is slower but gets a lot done. Then work on the dryer separately, over weeks: running in another room, then in the room, then aimed at the floor beside the dog, then a back leg. Also consider a quieter dryer — less air the dog accepts beats more air it will not stand for.

Do I need ear protection?

For a full session, yes — these machines run in the 70 to 90 dB range at the operator’s position, which is vacuum-cleaner territory and above. Cheap ear defenders are a sensible purchase alongside the dryer.

How this page was put together

We define the coat problem the tool has to solve, shortlist products currently sold, compare the manufacturers’ documented specifications against what that coat actually needs, and cross-check against published findings from named sources. We do not test these tools on our own dogs under controlled conditions, and we will not say we do. Where a figure comes from a manufacturer, we name them; where it comes from someone else’s testing, we cite them. We print no prices — a stale number is worse than none. Read the full method.

Sources