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YES, the Flowbee is My Haircutting Tool!
Flowbee is a really old vacuum haircutting system not targeted for haircuts for girls with long hair. Flowbee works great for short haircuts for women, men, kids and pets. If long layered hair or long haircuts for women is what you want, stick with me.
I got my Flowbee from my dad and he bought it between the 80’s and 90’s. The video I made below is to share with you Flowbee’s pros, cons and how I hacked the Flowbee to cut long layered hair. I wanted to share how you can cut your own hair with ease, no experience needed. You can use this method to cut really short or really long layers up to 15″. I have been cutting my own hair for the past 8 years with consistent good results.
Worth the Effort to Hack the Flowbee
With all the flaws the Flowbee has I can see why it’s not very appealing. If Flowbee did some design adjustment to secure the spacers and reduce gaps to maintain suction, reduce the noise level, and maybe a self-sharpening blade, I am sure a lot more people would be convinced to use it.
Good thing it only takes earplugs, tape and 1/2hr of time for the hack setup.  If you don’t have the system you do need to invest some money to buy the system. The system will more than pay for itself in due time. It’s been worth it for me, I only spent less than $40 dollars on extra spacers and oil. I have used it since 2010 and my dad used it when he was young. It’s been through two generations. Once you have it set up, your haircuts will be a breeze. I have not found anything that works better and easier than the Flowbee yet.
A Vacuum Haircutting System is a Great Investment
According to a google search, a girl’s haircut average to $43 and girls get their hair trimmed every 12 weeks and get a haircut every 6-8 weeks. Guys haircuts average to $28 and get a haircut every 3-6 weeks. There’s 52.1429 weeks in a year.
Girls Haircut Cost Estimate:
52.1429/12wk=4.345 trims/yr *$43 = $186.85/yr *10yrs = $1,868.45/10yrs
52.1429/6wk= 8.69 cuts/year *$43 = $373.69/yr*10yrs= $3,736.91/10yrs
Guys Haircut Cost Estimate:
52.1429/3wk = 17.38cuts/yr*$28 = $486.67/yr*10yrs = $4,866.67/10yrs
52.1429/6wk = 8.69 cuts/yr)*28 = $243.33/yr * 10yrs = $2,433.34/10yrs
My haircuts averaged from $38 to $50 in Asian salons back in 2010 so I have more then recovered what I put in. If I had 6 cuts per year and if the price for my haircut stayed at $38 dollars per cut, in the past 8 years I would have spent $1,824 not including tips. My savings is for one person, imagine what a family could save.
As time passes by haircuts always goes up. Around 2002 – 2008 my friend’s haircuts were about $20 dollars but for me it was $28 dollars because I have super thick hair. I was upset I had to pay more. Prices spiked up to $30 dollars the next year and for me it was $38. My haircuts were always about $8 dollars more. Plus tips brings the cost closer and closer to $50 dollars per haircut. I have no idea how much a haircut would cost me now.
I can’t remember when was the last time I went to the salon. The Flowbee is pretty much a guaranteed money saver and success for me.
Flowbee Prices Going Up
If you are interested in investing in a vacuum haircutting system, definitely explore the options out there to suit your needs.  If you want to buy the Flowbee, I would suggest getting it on amazon for free shipping. The Flowbee website shipping cost seems a bit crazy.
7.5″Â Flowbee layered haircut with one set of attachments.
Here’s the research I did for the Flowbee vacuum haircutting system in 2014 when I got extra spacers & oil from Amazon.
- Flowbee Haircutting System -Â $99.95
- Spacer Kit 10piece Clear Spacer – $19.95
- Replacement oil – I didn’t see any on amazon, it sold for $5 at Flowbee’s website. The old shipping was just under $3 but now it’s crazy.
2019 prices have gone up. Flowbee Haircutting System + Extra Rubber Vacuum Adapter) – $139.95. I suggest getting the one with extra vacuum adapter. The one sold without the extra vacuum adapter is the same price. The original vacuum adapter broke since my dad’s era, but there’s nothing duct tape won’t fix. If you have an extra vacuum, you won’t need to rip the tape out every time you need to clean the house.
- Flowbee Haircutting System (10 Spacers) – $22.99
- Replacement oil – Not available on amazon and it still sold for $5 at the Flowbee’s website.
Conclusion: I Love my Vacuum Hair Trimmer
It’s nice to have total control of my time and hairstyle I choose without having to worry about messing up. My favorite function is no hair to clean up. I recently dared to cut a super short pixie after years of having long hair. Short hairstyle is really liberating and super easy to maintain. Now, I love short hair. I have lots of fun cutting different hairstyles by myself and hope you will too. Here’s other haircutting methods I have tried cutting my hairs with.
1-1.5″ Flowbee Pixie Haircut
