Best Brushes for Huskies (2026)
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A Siberian Husky’s coat is a piece of engineering: a coarse guard layer that sheds water and blocks sun, over a dense woolly undercoat that traps air for insulation. It works so well that the dogs are comfortable in temperatures that would kill most breeds, and the maintenance bill comes due twice a year when the undercoat lets go all at once. During a coat blow the undercoat separates in visible clumps and sheets, and brushes that work on other dogs simply skate over the top of it. Here are the tools built for that, and the honest routine that goes with them.
At a glance
Our Top Picks
Best rake for Husky and Malamute undercoat
Safari Double Row Undercoat Rake, Best Overall
The classic grooming shop rake, and the double row version exists specifically for coats this dense. Two staggered rows of long tapered pins reach through the guard coat and pull packed undercoat out from underneath, and because the tips are rounded rather than bladed there is nothing that can cut the outer coat. It is light, simple, cheap and essentially unbreakable. During a blow you will empty it every few strokes, which is exactly what you want to see. If you buy one tool for a Husky, buy this.
Check price on Amazon →Best rake when the coat tangles as well as sheds
Maxpower Planet Double Sided Rake, Best All Rounder
A double sided rake gives you two tools on one handle: nine wide set teeth to break up packed or slightly tangled areas, and seventeen closer teeth to strip loose undercoat. On a Husky that has been swimming, rolling or wearing a harness, the wide side opens up the compacted spots behind the ears and under the collar line before the fine side clears them. The teeth are sharpened on the inner curve with rounded tips, so it cuts through packed coat without scratching skin. Excellent value.
Check price on Amazon →Most coat removed per stroke, used sparingly
FURminator Long Hair deShedding Tool, For Peak Blow
When the undercoat is coming out in sheets, the FURminator removes more of it faster than anything else, because its fine toothed stainless edge grabs undercoat the way a rake cannot. That efficiency is the point and the warning: the same edge can slice healthy guard hairs if used too often or pressed too hard, and a Husky’s guard coat is the layer doing the protective work. Use it for a handful of sessions at the peak of each blow, with light strokes, and rake the rest of the time. Buy the long hair version in a size matched to your dog.
Check price on Amazon →Best slicker for lifting and finishing a thick coat
Chris Christensen Big G Slicker, Best Finisher
After raking, a good slicker lifts the guard coat back into shape and pulls out the last of the loosened undercoat that the rake left sitting in the coat. The Big G has more pins than an ordinary slicker and they are long enough to travel through Husky density instead of stopping at the surface. It is a luxury purchase for this breed rather than a necessity, but owners who show or who simply like the coat standing properly will notice the difference. Keep the pad flat, never dig the tips in.
Check price on Amazon →Best cheap slicker for after the rake
Hertzko Self Cleaning Slicker, Best Budget Finisher
For most Husky owners this is all the slicker they need. The retractable pins clear the pad with a button press, which matters when the pad fills every few strokes, and it does a perfectly good job of smoothing the coat and collecting loosened fur after raking. It will not reach deep undercoat on its own, so it is a finishing tool rather than a shedding tool, and treating it as the latter is how people conclude their Husky is unbrushable. Cheap enough to keep one in the car for post hike passes.
Check price on Amazon →Surviving coat blow season
- Start with a bath. Warm water and a deshedding conditioner loosen enormous amounts of undercoat. Follow with a real dry, not air drying.
- Force dry outdoors. A high velocity dryer blows undercoat out in visible clouds. This is the single most effective ten minutes of the entire season. See our guide to dog blow dryers.
- Rake daily for two weeks. Short sessions, going with the coat, focusing on pants and ruff.
- Expect the volume. A grocery bag of fur per session is normal. It stops when it stops.
- Do not clip. Not for heat, not for shedding, not for tidiness. The coat does not come back the same.
What Huskies need the rest of the year
Very little, which is the compensation. Outside the blows, a rake through the coat every week or two, nails kept short, and a bath when they have found something disgusting. Huskies are clean dogs with little odor and no haircut requirement at all. The maintenance is concentrated into two intense periods a year, and owners who plan for those periods find the breed easy. Owners who ignore them end up with matted undercoat packed against the skin, which causes hot spots and needs professional stripping out.
For the broader tool comparison across double coated breeds, see our guides to undercoat rakes and brushes for German Shepherds, which face a very similar problem with slightly different coat.
For groomers
Huskies are a two appointment a year breed, and the appointments are worth real money: a deshedding bath and force dry is priced well above a standard bath and takes a fraction of the skill a haircut breed demands. The whole game is timing the outreach to the blow. GroomBoard keeps coat notes and appointment history on the pet profile, so the dogs who blew coat last March get their reminder this March.