A single-sided slicker forces the same brush action onto every part of a coat, even the sensitive bits, which is why a matted dog often ends up flinching at grooming long before the actual mat is reached.

This is a double-sided slicker with soft pins on one side and hard pins on the reverse, so the same brush switches between a gentler pass for sensitive areas and a firmer one for dense, knotted patches. It's built on a rubber pin bed with stainless steel pins, a flexible head to absorb pressure, and a plastic handle with a TPR grip. Mikki's own method is to use the hard-pin side on dense or knotted areas and the soft-pin side on sensitive ones, brushing in sections with a soft stroking or circular motion.

• Double-sided: soft pins one side, hard pins the reverse
• Rubber pin bed, stainless steel pins
• Flexible brush head, absorbs brushing pressure
• Plastic handle with TPR grip
• For curly, wiry or thick coats

Not for every coat type. Mikki are explicit that slickers like this aren't suitable for corded coats — Pulis, Komondors and similar — where the cord structure itself would be pulled apart by the pins rather than groomed. If that's your dog's coat type, this is the wrong brush regardless of size or pin softness.

Who it's for: owners of a curly, wiry or thick-coated dog dealing with knots, tangles and dead hair, wanting one brush that can switch between a gentle and a firmer pass rather than owning two.