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Turn a DE Blade over?

Good morning all! Being a newbie, I searched the sites but couldn't find the answer. I seem to remember seeing the suggestion to turn over the razor blade in one or two threads but can't remember where.
My question is: is this necessary and when? I've seen members getting upwards of 30 shaves from 1 DE blade. Do you flip over the blade and what does this accomplish?
As always, thanks for your help!
Lou
 

Billski

Here I am, 1st again.
Turn the DE blade over?

It accomplishes nothing. Some excalibur get 30 shaves from a blade. But not many get that many shaves.
 
IMO, not at all necessary. I also would never attempt to get 30 shaves from one blade. The moment I feel it tugging, it is doomed. I won't change blades mid-shave, but once I'm done, it's gone.
 

Raven Koenes

My precious!
I don't flip my blades I just switch to a new one at the beginning of the week. I shave five days a week. Although if you are going to go Excalibur, and try to see how many shaves you can go on a blade, at the end of the week rinse the blade, pat dry, and flip. I was told to do this by a very good friend who can get a month out of a single blade.
 
First, welcome to B&B. Think of a blade as a knife. It cuts or shaves the same way. No need to flip the blades.
 
Not only must you flip the blade, but rotate it counter-clockwise too. Keeping it in a pyramid will keep the blade factory sharp for years.
sharpener.jpg


Or, do like most of us. Stick it in the razor, use it 3-5 times and toss.
 
After each shave I clean my razor and the blade with a towel. Therefore it may get turned over or it may not. When it feels dull it gets tossed......
 
You can search for "flipping a blade" for many threads on the topic. "To flip or not to flip. That is the question."

I have flipped blades and not flipped blades in my own totally non-scientific research. The results and conclusions are always the same... it doesn't matter.
 
Thanks to all! I didn't think it made sense to flip. The "30" shaves I've seen referenced must be for a sleeve of 5 blades. And to "bberg100", you are one funny guy!!
 
The "30" shaves I've seen referenced must be for a sleeve of 5 blades.

No, people get 30 shaves or more, and from one blade, not a tuck of 5. I'm doing the whole month of February shaving with the same Gillette Platinum-Plus blade. So not quite 30 shaves. Just 28.
 
The "30" shaves I've seen referenced must be for a sleeve of 5 blades.
That's not quite true. As mentioned previously, the Excalibur Club here on B&B has some guys who get 50+ shaves on a single blade. I believe at least one member gets close to 100 on every blade he uses! My personal best was ~20 shaves (as a guy who only shaves 2-3 times a week, I lost the exact count).
 
Flipping the blade is optional
I can understand it making a difference with people from the Excalibur Club who use, re-use and use a blade again and again until it's virtually transparent, but for most people who rarely use a blade for more than a week before tossing it, it probably doesn't make much difference if any.
I personally only use my daily beater blades 3 times, and my best blades 4 times, so it definitely won't effect the performance of my blades.
Having said that, I clean my razor thoroughly after every shave, partly to get rid of the white residue left by the hard water, but mainly because the water contains 4x the recommended chlorine levels, and I remember reading somewhere that the residue left by chlorine can damage the chrome plating on a razor.
I also alternate between 3-Piece and TTO razors - the way I see it, if I'm cleaning my razor after every shave I might as well use a different razor every day.
I rinse the blade under the cold tap at full pressure and blow hard to dry it - putting it in the next razor facing the same way up, if it's a 3-Piece one day and a TTO the next - technically I suppose it's flipping the blades
 
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