Products in this guide
You have a dog who is out of coat, or a dog whose coat has always been on the fine side, and someone has told you to buy a volumising spray. The shelf then offers you a spray, a cream, a mousse, a powder and a shampoo, all promising volume.
They are not five versions of the same thing. Two of them thicken hair, two of them roughen it, and one of them is a wash. Buying the wrong one is how people end up with a coat that feels tacky, or a coat that is coarse when they wanted it soft and full.
What does a volumising spray actually do?
A volumising spray increases the diameter of each individual hair, so a coat with the same number of hairs in it reads as thicker and fuller. It is a hair thickener rather than a hair stiffener, and that distinction is the whole point of the category.
Think of it as adding to the hair rather than gluing hairs together. A hairspray or a holding product bonds neighbouring hairs into a shape, which is why a coat treated that way feels crunchy and collapses once brushed. A thickening product leaves each hair separate, so the coat still moves, still brushes out, and still feels like coat.
That is why it works on the two situations owners actually face: a coat that has dropped and not yet grown back, and a coat that is naturally thin for the breed. Neither of those can be fixed by holding the hair in place. Both are helped by making the hair you have got bigger.
A ready to use spray that increases the diameter of each hair to create a thicker, fuller appearance. A hair thickener, not a hair stiffener, so it leaves no sticky residue or build-up. Spray evenly onto a dry or just damp coat, brush in, do not rinse, then blow-dry up against the growth of the coat.
Is volume the same thing as texture?
No, volume and texture are two different outcomes and usually two different products. Volume is about how much coat there appears to be. Texture is about how the coat feels and how much grip it gives you, which matters enormously if you are hand stripping, carding or scissoring.
A texturising product works by coating the hair shaft so it feels coarser and drier, which gives your fingers or a stripping knife something to hold. A thickening product works by building the hair up so it takes more space. You can want both at once on a terrier, and you can want volume with a soft finish on a Pomeranian, which is exactly why they are sold separately.
| Format | What it does | When to reach for it |
|---|---|---|
| Ready to use spray | Thickens each hair, no mixing | Quick lift before drying, touch-ups |
| Cream concentrate | Thickens, strength adjustable | Whole-coat work on a dropped coat |
| Mousse | Adds lift and holds the dried shape | Root lift on ruffs, pants, legs, tails |
| Texture spray or powder | Adds grip and coarseness | Hand stripping, carding, scissoring prep |
| Volumising shampoo | Cleans without weighing down | The wash before any of the above |
The volume, texture and scissoring prep collection holds all five formats, and the broader styling aids and sprays range sits alongside it.
Which coats does a volumising product actually help?
Double coats and fine coats benefit most, because both give you something to lift. A double coat has undercoat that can be dried up and out to fill a silhouette, and a fine coat gains the most proportionally when each hair gets thicker.
Practically, that means the coats where fullness is part of the picture: Pomeranians, Pekingese, Huskies, Malamutes, Akitas, Samoyeds, Spaniels and Collies. It also covers any dog in the awkward stretch after a coat drop, where the shape has gone flat and the coat simply is not there yet.
Coats it does less for are the ones where fullness was never the aim. A smooth-coated dog has nothing to lift. A tightly curled coat holds its own shape already, and adding bulk to it usually just makes brushing harder.
Plush Puppy Volumising Cream 225g
A concentrate that increases the diameter of each hair for a fuller, thicker appearance without stickiness or stiffness. Mix one heaped teaspoon into 250ml of warm water, apply to a barely damp coat until well saturated, do not rinse, then blow-dry up against the growth. The dilution can be adjusted, and a stronger mix gives a stronger result.
How do I apply it without the coat going sticky?
Apply it to a clean coat, keep the product moving with the brush rather than letting it pool, and dry against the direction of growth. Stickiness almost always comes from applying a thickening product over dirt, over an old finishing product, or in one heavy patch that never got brushed through.
The order that works is simple. Wash first, because product going onto a dirty coat is what creates build-up. Get the coat to barely damp rather than soaking. Apply evenly over the area you want fuller, brush it through so it reaches the whole section rather than sitting on top, then blow-dry lifting the coat up and away from the body.
Drying is doing at least half the work here. Blowing a coat down flat while using a volumising product is a contradiction, and the product will get the blame. Lift as you dry, dry all the way to the skin, and finish each section before moving on.
A non-aerosol styling mousse that adds volume and lift while holding the coat in its blow-dried shape. Built for full root lift on a Collie or Sheltie ruff, a rounded head on a Westie or Cairn, and fuller pants on a Husky or Malamute. Apply several golf ball sized amounts, work down to the roots, then blow-dry.
iGroom Boost It Texture Spray 7oz
A texture spray that creates volume, shape and separation, so strands stand out with movement and body rather than sitting as one mass. Paraben free and sodium chloride free, with a UV protectant. This is the one for a looser, more natural finish rather than a set shape.
What should I use for hand stripping and carding?
Reach for a texturising powder or a volumising powder, because both dry the coat out slightly and give you grip that wet or conditioned hair will never provide. Fingers slide off a soft, hydrated coat, and a stripping knife slides off it too.
Powder does three things at once on a stripping job. It absorbs moisture and oil at the root, it adds coarseness so the hair holds between finger and thumb, and it lets you work in small controlled amounts without wetting the dog down and starting the drying process again.
Hydra Groomers Volume In Powder 300ml
An aerosol powder for volume, hand stripping and dry bathing, with an odour-neutralising active that also lifts excess oils out of the coat. Apply about 15cm from the coat, let it rest for three minutes, then brush through and repeat until covered. Suitable from eight weeks of age.
Plush Puppy Powder Puff Terrier 100g
A texturising powder that adds a strong, coarse texture and deodorises at the same time, built for hand stripping, stripping knife work and carding. It is not chalk or talc but a blend of texture-adding ingredients with absorbent powders that pull dirt and moisture out of the coat. Sprinkle lightly, tap through for even distribution, then brush or blow out.
Does a volumising shampoo do the same job?
No, a volumising shampoo prepares the coat rather than building it, and the two are meant to be used together. Its job is to clean thoroughly while leaving nothing behind that weighs the hair down, so that whatever you apply afterwards has a fair chance.
This is the step people skip when they buy a spray and are disappointed. Residue from a rich conditioner, a silicone finishing product or plain old dirt flattens a coat from the root, and no amount of thickening product applied over the top will lift it. Wash it out first.
iGroom Vavoom Volumising Shampoo
Adds body and soft volume with lightweight conditioning that keeps the coat healthy without weighing it down. Contains a protein complex plus multiple extracts to restore body and shine, and it is pH balanced. Recommended dilution is 8:1, and it can be used at full strength. More in shampoos.
Hydra Groomers Volumising Shampoo takes the concentrate route at 4:1, using wheat protein to give shine and texture while promoting higher volume, and it is built for fluffy and double coated breeds.
Notes for professional groomers
The useful split at the bench is thickener for the silhouette and texturiser for the handling. A dog booked for a full scissor finish wants the first. A dog booked for stripping or carding wants the second, applied before you start rather than after you have already lost your grip.
Volumising Cream at one heaped teaspoon per 250ml of warm water covers a whole dropped-coat dog, and the ratio moves up when the coat is very fine. Volumising Spray in a bottle at the grooming table handles the section that dried flatter than the rest without remixing anything. Puffy Dog+ can be worked neat in golf ball amounts or thinned at one golf ball to 250ml of water when you want lift across a larger area rather than a defined ruff.
Powder is the one to demonstrate to clients who strip their own dogs at home, because the three minute rest before brushing is the step almost everyone gets wrong. Applied and immediately brushed, it does very little.
Common questions
Will a volumising spray damage my dog's coat?
No, a thickening product sits on the hair rather than altering its structure, and it washes out at the next bath. The risk is build-up rather than damage, which happens when product is layered onto an unwashed coat repeatedly. Wash before you apply, and the coat stays clean and moving.
How long does the volume actually last?
Until the next bath, or until the coat gets soaked. The effect is physical rather than permanent, so rain, a swim or a humid day will collapse it. On a dry coat kept out of the weather it holds for several days, and a light re-spray with a brush through refreshes it without a full wash.
Can I use a volumising product on a puppy?
Check the label on the specific product, because minimum ages differ. Some aerosol powders are stated as suitable from eight weeks of age, while other products carry no age guidance at all. Puppy coats are soft and fine by nature and usually need nothing, so this is rarely worth doing before the adult coat arrives.
My dog's coat went flat again the moment I brushed it. Why?
The coat was almost certainly dried flat rather than lifted. A thickening product makes each hair bigger, but the shape comes from drying the coat up and away from the body. If you dry downward and then brush downward, the coat lies down, and the product has nothing to hold. Dry against the growth.
Do I still need a conditioner if I am using a volumising product?
Yes, but keep it light and rinse it well. A coat with no conditioning at all gets brittle and breaks, which loses you far more volume than any spray adds. What flattens a coat is a heavy conditioner left in, not conditioning in principle. Use a lightweight one, rinse thoroughly, then build volume from a clean base.
What to do next
Work out which of the two jobs you actually have. If the dog looks thin and you want the silhouette back, you want a thickener and you want to change how you dry. If your fingers are slipping on a coat you are trying to strip or card, you want a texturiser and you want it before you start. Buy for the job, not for the word on the front of the bottle.