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Can you sharpen/hone disposable razors?

First, the author of the article greatly confused the technique of stropping, and honing. They are not one, and the same. Honing actually resharpens a dulled blade, while stropping re-aligns the edge, along with helping to remove oxidation.

Stropping on leather does not re-sharpen an edge.

Also his technique mentioned in the article would likely dull the blade further, instead of improving the edge. He recommends stropping with the blade edge leading. When you strop a straight razor, it the spine (aka the edge opposite of the cutting edge, or the top of the blade) that always leads, the actual edge of the blade follows. Attempting to strop with the edge leading does nothing except cut the living daylights out of your strop!!

That said, it is not possible to strop a cartridge, as stropping requires access to both sides of the edge of the blade, and of course a cartridge only gives you access to one side.

Now, pretend that your leg is your cheek and "shave" the stretched denim towards you using the same angle of cut you use on your face 15-20 times with the blade to be sharpened attached to the "handle." Now repeat this process at the same angle as before but push the razor away from you 15-20 times. Be sure to clean any lint that may have gathered on the blade off before attempting to use it! Well-used denim will almost never leave much lint and the results only appear to differ by >10% (favoring the less-used fabric).
 
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Lehmans (an Amish supply house in Ohio) sells a device which they claim is able to sharpen disposable razors:

http://www.lehmans.com/store/Person...es___Disposable_Razor_Sharpener___36731?Args=

They claim you can get up to 45 shaves per cartridge using this.

I was intrigued by it and was considering trying it out until I decided instead to turn to DE and Straight razor shaving.

These are always advertised here in the uk in magazines given away free in papers and i did actually think about buying one a few years back but never did as if they worked they would be far more popular than they actually are.
 
Before I switched to DE shaving I used the two blade disposable razor. I had this stand that I'd put the razor in after I was done using it. The stand set the razor, blade down, onto a magnet. This would keep the blades aligned, and increase the life and use of the disposable. Don't ask me how but the thing worked. I could get a good 4 weeks out of one disposable. I think the thing cost around 9 or 10 dollars. I've still got it as I keep a cheap Bic single blade disposable in it for trimming the hair around the inside of my ears. The Bic is small enough to get inside the ear, and if used very carefully it won't nick me. :a46:
 
I think classic shaving sells something to extend the life of cartridge razors. It's some kind of magnetic gadget.
 
S

stubble trouble

Before I switched to DE shaving I used the two blade disposable razor. I had this stand that I'd put the razor in after I was done using it. The stand set the razor, blade down, onto a magnet. This would keep the blades aligned, and increase the life and use of the disposable. Don't ask me how but the thing worked. I could get a good 4 weeks out of one disposable. I think the thing cost around 9 or 10 dollars. I've still got it as I keep a cheap Bic single blade disposable in it for trimming the hair around the inside of my ears. The Bic is small enough to get inside the ear, and if used very carefully it won't nick me. :a46:

What it's said to do is keep multiple blades as close to perfectly parallel by subjecting them to a "strong" magnetic field. I didn't know it actually worked though! Very Interesting.
 
“I've used one one of these for several years now- believe it or not this December will be two years I have used the same twin-blade disposable razor, almost every day. ”

This is a quote from one of the reviews. Believe it---or not!!
 
I've seen some devices in antique stores for stropping DE blades. The leather on the ones I have seen are too far gone to save, but you could replace it with a new piece. I suspect for something like a DE blade it could work.
 
I've seen some devices in antique stores for stropping DE blades. The leather on the ones I have seen are too far gone to save, but you could replace it with a new piece. I suspect for something like a DE blade it could work.

A couple things to keep in mind with this device:

1) It was designed for older style blades which were much thicker. Current production blades are much thinner, and thus may not fit snugly in the device.

2) Any attempt at sharpening/ honing a DE blade will immediately remove the various blade coatings on the blade, resulting in a rougher feeling shave.

3) The devices that perform this function all require a ton of handling of the blade to insert it into the device. How many nasty cuts are you willing to inflict to your hands to save a mere .10 cents?

4) With DE blades costing as little as .10 cents each, I don't think this endeavor is even worth entertaining.
 
A couple things to keep in mind with this device:

1) It was designed for older style blades which were much thicker. Current production blades are much thinner, and thus may not fit snugly in the device.

2) Any attempt at sharpening/ honing a DE blade will immediately remove the various blade coatings on the blade, resulting in a rougher feeling shave.

3) The devices that perform this function all require a ton of handling of the blade to insert it into the device. How many nasty cuts are you willing to inflict to your hands to save a mere .10 cents?

4) With DE blades costing as little as .10 cents each, I don't think this endeavor is even worth entertaining.

What he said ^
 
A couple things to keep in mind with this device:

1) It was designed for older style blades which were much thicker. Current production blades are much thinner, and thus may not fit snugly in the device.

2) Any attempt at sharpening/ honing a DE blade will immediately remove the various blade coatings on the blade, resulting in a rougher feeling shave.

3) The devices that perform this function all require a ton of handling of the blade to insert it into the device. How many nasty cuts are you willing to inflict to your hands to save a mere .10 cents?

4) With DE blades costing as little as .10 cents each, I don't think this endeavor is even worth entertaining.

+1 (and 10 cents ain't what it used to be!)

if the interest is in using a razor blade as long as you can, then a straight really needs consideration. The DE blades are meant to be used and then tossed. They were engineered that way, all the way back to the turn of the _last_ century. Over a hundred years of engineering (not man years, just plain years) have been spent in developing and manufacturing the "use it and toss it" DE blade. I for one don't think I can defeat that engineering by honing and/or stropping or magnetics or pyramids or invoking deities and still obtain exactly or a better shave then a brand new blade.

Corking a new blade is of course different and YMMV.

-jim
 
What means "corking a new blade"?

Some people find that the first shave with a new blade is rather rough, and the proceeding shaves are much smoother. This is the result of microscopic imperfections on the blade edge which are removed during the first shave.

If one wants to avoid the rough qualities of the first shave on a new blade, prior to first usage, you can run each edge of the blade lightly through a piece of cork to eliminate the microscopic imperfections (other materials also work, such as Styrofoam).

Some blades (notable newer style Derby blades, and Feathers) are said to give a rough first shave if not corked first.
 
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