Best Brushes for Labrador Retrievers (2026)
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There is a running joke among groomers that the Labrador is the highest maintenance short haired dog in the world. Owners choose the breed partly because there are no haircuts and no daily brushing marathons, then discover that a Lab produces enough undercoat to knit a second Lab, twice a year, and a steady stream in between. The coat is short, dense and double layered: a coarse water resistant outer coat over a soft insulating undercoat that lets go constantly. The tools below are the ones that get that undercoat out on purpose instead of leaving it to arrive on your clothes.
At a glance
Our Top Picks
Best deshedding tool for a Labrador
FURminator Short Hair deShedding Tool, Best Overall
Nothing on this list removes more dead undercoat per stroke. The fine toothed stainless edge reaches through the short outer coat and drags loose undercoat out in quantities that surprise first time users, and the short hair version has the right tooth length for a Lab specifically. Buy the size that matches your dog’s weight. The honest caveat is the same one that applies to every blade style deshedder: used daily or with pressure, that edge can cut healthy guard hairs and dull the coat. Weekly, light, and with the coat, is the way to use it.
Check price on Amazon →Best everyday brush and bath tool
KONG ZoomGroom, Best for Daily Use
A rubber curry is the tool a Lab will queue up for. Worked in small circles, the soft rubber fingers loosen dead undercoat, lift it to the surface for the deshedder to collect, and give the dog what amounts to a massage. It is also the best shampoo distributor there is: used in the bath it works lather right down to the skin on a dense coat, which is where a lot of home baths fall short. It costs very little, cannot damage skin or coat, and is the right answer for dogs who dislike metal tools.
Check price on Amazon →Best fast tool during heavy shedding
Safari Shedding Blade, Best for Coat Blow Weeks
A shedding blade is a simple looped band of serrated metal with a handle, and on a short dense coat during a full blow it clears large areas fast. Groomers keep one around for exactly the two weeks a year when a dog is releasing coat faster than any brush can keep up. Use the smooth motion the tool is designed for, with the coat, never against it, and never on a thin coated or long coated dog. It is cheap, indestructible, and specifically a seasonal tool rather than a weekly one.
Check price on Amazon →Best brush for tidying after a deshed
Hertzko Self Cleaning Slicker, Best Finisher
A slicker will not strip a Labrador’s undercoat on its own, but it does two useful things: it smooths and lifts the coat after a deshedding session so the dog looks finished rather than ruffled, and it works on the softer feathering on the tail and the back of the legs, where a deshedding blade is too aggressive. The self cleaning button makes clearing the pad instant, which matters when a Lab is filling it every three strokes. Cheap, easy and a sensible third tool.
Check price on Amazon →Best gentle option for dogs who dislike brushes
Delomo Grooming Glove, Best for Nervous Dogs
A grooming glove is a mitt covered in soft silicone tips that collects loose hair as you stroke the dog. It removes far less coat than a proper deshedding tool, and that is not the point: for a dog who flinches at metal, or for a young Lab still learning that grooming is fine, it turns a brushing session into petting. It is also genuinely handy for a quick pass over the couch, the car seat or a pair of trousers. Think of it as the low commitment daily tool, not as a replacement for the deshedder.
Check price on Amazon →The ten minute Labrador routine
Rubber curry over the whole body in circles, deshedding tool along the back, sides and rear with the coat, slicker over the tail and leg feathering to finish. Ten minutes, once a week, plus a two minute curry pass a couple of times in between. During spring and autumn, do the short version daily for two weeks. That is the entire grooming program for the breed, and it removes more hair from your house than any amount of vacuuming, which we cover separately in the best vacuums for dog hair.
Bath, dry, and why the salon version works
The single most productive shedding day is a bath day. Warm water and a deshedding conditioner loosen the undercoat, and then a high velocity dryer physically blows it out of the coat. That is what a professional deshedding service is, and it is why the results look nothing like a home brushing. If you want to replicate it, our guides to dog blow dryers and bathing stations cover the equipment. Do it outdoors, and do not aim air at the dog’s face or ears.
Labs also need their ears watched. Floppy ears plus swimming is the classic recipe for ear infections, so check and dry the ears after every swim and see our guide to dog ear cleaners.
For groomers
Deshedding services on double coated breeds are the highest margin appointment most salons have, and Labrador owners buy them once they see the result. The trick is timing: reach out two weeks into the coat blow, not after the client has spent a month vacuuming daily. GroomBoard keeps coat type and past appointment notes on the pet profile, so the dogs who blow coat in March get a text in March.