Comparing 4 Slicker Brushes: Does the Chris Christensen Big G Live Up to the Hype?

Whether you’ve just put down a deposit on a Doodle puppy or already have one in the family, you know just how important Doodle coat maintenance is. And since you’re here, you’re probably on the hunt for the best brushes for your Dood. (And you’ve also probably heard all about the Chris Christensen Big G slicker brush as being one of them.)

Now you can’t just settle for any old brush, especially with Doodles. It is really important to have a brush that can properly and effectively manage their thick coat, curls, and cords. What you need is something that allows you to thoroughly detangle, dematt, and remove loose undercoat, while also not hurting your pup.

Now the market is flooded with a ton of dog brushes and grooming products. That’s why we thought we’d do the research for you. In this article we will compare and give scores to four of what we found to be the most recommended slicker brushes for Doodles. We will also figure out if the Chris Christensen Big G lives up to all the hype.

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Be sure to follow along by watching this video!

As mentioned, we will be comparing 4 slicker brushes (purchase links are below). Those brushes include:

1. Chris Christensen Big G Slicker Brush
2. Artero Universal Slicker Brush
3. Tuffer Than Tangles Slicker Brush
4. Paw Brothers Stainless Steel Slicker Brush

And to compare these 4 slicker brushes, we’re going to discuss and rank each brush in these 8 different categories:

1. Pin length
2. Pin softness and pliability
3. Weight
4. Grip and ergonomics
5. Build and Integrity
6. Detangling and Dematting
7. Loose Undercoat Removal
8. Price

And just as a disclaimer, I am already partial to the Chris Christensen Big G Slicker Brush but I’m going to try to stay objective here and give credit where credit is due!

Let’s get started.

Comparing the Brushes

1. Pin Length

Pin length is pretty self-explanatory. It simply refers to how long the pins are on the brush. Now, if you don’t know anything about what make the best brushes for Doodles, just know this: pin length is very important, and long pins are absolutely necessary if you like to keep your Doodle’s coat long.

This is because long pins are able to reach within the depths of the coat and all the way down to the skin, which is really important for removing loose undercoat hair that can otherwise cause matting. And if you don’t know this already, even the smallest of knots within the coat can quickly snowball into serious mats, which can ultimately give your groomer a good reason to shave down your dog.

Here are some pictures that show the measurements of each slicker brush’s pin length. To measure each properly, I straightened one pin on each brush and used a flexible measuring tape.

So in order from longest to shortest pins, here’s how each brush ranks:

1. Longest pins – Chris Christensen Big G Slicker Brush at 26.5 mm (4 points)
2. Paw Brothers Stainless Steel Slicker Brush at 25 mm (3 points)
3. Show Tech Tuffer Than Tangles Slicker Brush at 22 mm (2 points)
4. Shortest pins – Artero Universal Slicker Brush at 17 mm (1 point)

So based solely on numbers, the winner for pin length is the Chris Christensen Big G, hands down!

2. Pin Softness and Pliability

Pin softness and pliability refers to how soft and easily bent the pins are. This is an important aspect to consider because you will want pins that are sturdy enough to handle a thick, tangled Doodle coat, while also maintaining enough softness and pliability for the dog to find enjoyable.

So in order from softest to hardest pins, here’s how each brush ranks:

1. Softest pins – Show Tech Tuffer Than Tangles Slicker Brush (4 points)
2. Chris Christensen Big G Slicker Brush (3 points)
3. Artero Universal Slicker Brush (2 points)
4. Hardest pins – Paw Brothers Stainless Steel Slicker Brush (1 point)

If I were to elect a winner for pin softness and pliability, I would say it would go to the Show Tech Tuffer Than Tangles Slicker Brush. But we also need to consider how effective it is at doing the job, and whether it is appropriate for Doodle coats, which we will get to a bit later. A close second is the Chris Christensen Big G Slicker Brush.

3. Weight

Here we’re going to measure the weights of each brush. While the difference of a few ounces might seem negligible, the weight of the brush will really affect you in terms expending energy and fitness.

So in order from lightest to heaviest, here’s how each brush ranks:

1. Lightest – Show Tech Tuffer Than Tangles Slicker Brush at 1.9 oz (4 points)
2. Artero Universal Slicker Brush at 2.9 oz (3 points)
3. Chris Christensen Big G Slicker Brush at 3.8 oz (2 points)
4. Heaviest – Paw Brothers Stainless Steel Slicker Brush at 4.2 oz (1 point)

And just to give some context, I can quite easily repeat a brushing motion with the Show Tech Tuffer Than Tangles Slicker Brush without feeling too much resistance from the weight of it. On the other hand, the Paw Brothers Stainless Steel Slicker Brush is noticeably heavier and within a few seconds of repeating a brushing motion, I definitely feel like my wrist and arm is getting a workout.

So if I were to elect a winner for brush weight, I would say it would go to the Show Tech Tuffer Than Tangles Slicker Brush. But we also need to consider how sturdy the brush is overall, which we will get to a bit later.

4. Grip and Ergonomics

Let’s talk about the grip and ergonomics of each brush. If you’re going to be using a brush for 20-30 minutes each day, you really want to make sure that it’s comfortable to hold and that it doesn’t hurt your hand. Some brushes have rubber gripping on their handles, while others have a contoured handle made to fit the hand.

After giving each brush a thorough run for its money on Chloe, here’s how I would rank each brush in terms of grip and ergonomics:

1. Best grip – Paw Brothers Stainless Steel Slicker Brush (4 points)
2. Chris Christensen Big G Slicker Brush (3 points)
3. Artero Universal Slicker Brush (2 points)
4. Worst – Show Tech Tuffer Than Tangles Slicker Brush (1 point)

Now these rankings might be a bit subjective, but personally I found that the worst brush for grip – the Show Tech Tuffer Than Tangles Slicker Brush – was not comfortable in my hand at all, despite it being the lightest weighing brush. There are some ridges on the handle that help to prevent your hand from sliding around, but even still, I found that my fingers would often end up on top of the ridges, which would cause some discomfort on my hand and fingers.

Second-worst for grip was the Artero Universal Slicker Brush. There are some rubber grips on the left and right sides of the handle, which help – but ultimately I do not feel like the grips are in the right place. I personally found that the front and back rubber gripping on the Paw Brothers Stainless Steel Slicker Brush was way more effective for effortless grip and preventing slipping, which is ultimately why I chose that one as the winner for this category. However, both the Artero and the Paw Brothers brushes also have a thumb grip, which I find to be quite useful.

Second-best for grip and ergonomics was the Chris Christensen Big G Slicker Brush. This is a brush that doesn’t have rubber gripping, but rather, its handle is contoured to fit the hand. Also, the coating on the handle is smooth with a rubber-like feel and texture, which also helps with grip. The reason why I didn’t rank this as best is because I personally think the handle is a bit too slim, making it just a little harder to grab comfortably, especially as someone with long fingers.

5. Build and Integrity

Let’s talk about each brush’s build and integrity in terms of sturdiness and quality of materials used to construct them. Here’s how I would rank each brush:

1. Highest quality – Chris Christensen Big G Slicker Brush (4 points)
2. Paw Brothers Stainless Steel Slicker Brush (3 points)
3. Artero Universal Slicker Brush (2 points)
4. Lowest quality – Show Tech Tuffer Than Tangles Slicker Brush (1 point)

When it comes to sturdiness of a brush, we’re basically testing it by brushing through thick Doodle coats multiple times a week. As such, we need to consider the quality of the materials used the construct the brush.

As much as I appreciate the lightest weighing brush, the Show Tech Tuffer Than Tangles Slicker Brush also happens to be the cheapest in quality. It’s constructed with plastic pieces that seemingly go together like pieces in a puzzle. You can very clearly see the seams where all the pieces fit and are glued together. Now, this may not have anything to do with its effectiveness, which we will cover a littler later on in this article, but I’m just not a fan of the cheapness.

The Artero Universal Slicker Brush is also entirely made of plastic, but it’s no where near as cheaply constructed as the Show Tech brush. Add in some rubber gripping elements and this is a decently-built brush.

At second-to-highest-quality comes the Paw Brothers Stainless Steel Slicker Brush. It has a plastic handle with rubber gripping, but the base where the pins sit is constructed of reflective stainless steel, which adds a pretty nice touch.

Finally, I ranked the Chris Christensen Big G Slicker Brush as highest quality because…it just is. I recall the first time I touched and held this thing in my hand a few years ago. I knew this was not just any brush off the street. We’re talking about a brush that’s notably made in Germany, one that is constructed of a lightweight wood and coated with their “Groomgrip Coating,” which is super smooth to the touch, yet grip-able.

6. Detangling and Dematting

Next we’re going to see how well each brush detangles and dematts. I didn’t properly brush Chloe in about a week so I could carry out this experiment, so she had some pretty good tangles.

After using each brush for detangling, I would rank the brushes in the following order:

1. Easiest – Chris Christensen Big G Slicker Brush (4 points)
2. Paw Brothers Stainless Steel Slicker Brush (3 points)
3. Artero Universal Slicker Brush (2 points)
4. Most difficult – Show Tech Tuffer Than Tangles Slicker Brush (1 point)

First, I will say that the Show Tech and Artero brushes we’re just not great on Chloe’s hair. They were very snaggy and the resistance was pretty significant. The process was not smooth at all, and I felt like I really had to pull to get both brushes through Chloe’s hair.

I had to do a rematch between the Chris Christensen Big G and Paw Brothers brushes, but after comparing the two the Chris Christensen brush was quite obviously the winning brush for detangling. It just glided through the hair effortlessly and there was no pulling or elbow grease. The Paw Brothers brush was good (to a lesser extent) but not as bad as the other two brushes.

7. Loose Undercoat Removal

Now we’re going to see how well each brush does at removing loose undercoat hair. Chloe is an F1 Goldendoodle and she does shed a bit, but the loose hairs typically stays embedded in her coat. And as mentioned earlier, if your Doodle tends to shed, brushing daily is going to be super important for removing that hair so that it doesn’t cause matting.

While testing each brush for its detangling capabilities, I was simultaneously keeping track of how well each brush did at picking up loose hair. My baseline is for comparison is the Big G, which I’ve been using exclusively for 2 years now.

Here’s how I would rank each of the brushes:

1. Most effective – Artero Universal Slicker Brush (4 points)
2. Chris Christensen Big G Slicker Brush (3 points)
3. Paw Brothers Stainless Steel Slicker Brush (2 points)
4. Least effective – Show Tech Tuffer Than Tangles Slicker Brush (1 point)

In this picture you can kinda see the size and density of each hair ball that was collected when I detangled a small portion of Chloe’s body with each brush.

I’d say the Artero brush collected the most, and the Show Tech brush collected the least, while the Paw Brothers and CC brushes collected about the same amount. The Artero is the winner for this category!

8. Price

The final category we’re going to be judging on is price. When we’re talking about cost, we’re basically considering a few things:

1. What’s the quality of the brush?
2. How well does the brush do its job?
3. How long will this brush last me?

Keep in mind that one expensive brush that lasts 5 or more years is going to cost less than a cheap brush that you have to replace every year.

So let’s see how much each brush cost:

1. Least expensive – Paw Brothers Stainless Steel Slicker Brush at $15.99 (4 points)
2. Show Tech Tuffer Than Tangles Slicker Brush at $16.87 (3 points)
3. Artero Universal Slicker Brush at $18.82 (2 points)
4. Most expensive – Chris Christensen Big G Slicker Brush at $64.00 (1 point)

Best Slicker Brush for Doodles: Overall Winner

Just to recap, we are considering the following 8 categories to declare an overall winner:

1. Pin length
2. Pin softness and pliability
3. Weight
4. Grip and ergonomics
5. Build and Integrity
6. Detangling and Dematting
7. Loose Undercoat Removal
8. Price

So which slicker brush wins?!

The Chris Christensen Big G Truly Lives Up to the Hype

1. Most points – The Chris Christensen Big G Slicker Brush (25 points)
2. Paw Brothers Stainless Steel Slicker Brush (21 points)
3. Artero Universal Slicker Brush (18 points)
4. Show Tech Tuffer Than Tangles Slicker Brush (17 points)

Based on final scores, the Chris Christensen Big G Slicker Brush is the winner with 25 points, as it consistently ranked in the top 2 spots.

And it’s not even just me saying it’s a great brush. Tons of pro groomers and so Doodle owners swear by it, as well.

Where the Chris Christensen brush truly stands out is its very long, soft, polished pins, and its ability to effortlessly detangle Doodle hair.

And I know what you’re thinking – $65 is a lot to spend on a brush, I get it. But look – as a Doodle owner you probably paid a pretty penny for your dog so he deserves to have the best in coat care products. A one-time investment in a proper high-quality brush will be absolutely worth it.

Of course, there are some decent, cheaper options available as we saw in this article, but just make sure to do your research and choose whatever is most suitable for you.