Check out the Excalibur club! Some of those guys get 100+ shaves/blade!! 
Calling all shavers who get over 14 shaves from one disposable blade...
- Thread starter awa54
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- #23
OK, so I checked out much of the linked material on this subject and it seems like a decent summary is:
1) Most of us don't have the patience or tolerance for the extra steps or discomfort (minor though it may be) required in our shave to go past one or two weeks on a blade, no matter what our shave technique or skin/beard type.
2) There's no one razor/blade/technique that guarantees success or failure in chasing blade longevity.
3) It's a game for a significant number of folks who do this, not just their "regular" shave.
My take-away is that I'll experiment a bit with pushing on for an extra few days and see if my instincts on when a blade is "done" are good, or if I'm being overly cautious... I think I'm usually not way off base, since I've been lazy lately and left blades in the razor for a few days longer than normal, with moderately cruddy shaves continuing until I finally remember to change the blade *before* getting in the shower.
I also think my great run with that P74* was due to the very forgiving way that it lost it's edge, in that it simply cut less acutely over time, rather than getting rough/damaged/corroded and tearing up my face.
Thanks all for your input!
1) Most of us don't have the patience or tolerance for the extra steps or discomfort (minor though it may be) required in our shave to go past one or two weeks on a blade, no matter what our shave technique or skin/beard type.
2) There's no one razor/blade/technique that guarantees success or failure in chasing blade longevity.
3) It's a game for a significant number of folks who do this, not just their "regular" shave.
My take-away is that I'll experiment a bit with pushing on for an extra few days and see if my instincts on when a blade is "done" are good, or if I'm being overly cautious... I think I'm usually not way off base, since I've been lazy lately and left blades in the razor for a few days longer than normal, with moderately cruddy shaves continuing until I finally remember to change the blade *before* getting in the shower.
I also think my great run with that P74* was due to the very forgiving way that it lost it's edge, in that it simply cut less acutely over time, rather than getting rough/damaged/corroded and tearing up my face.
Thanks all for your input!
I bought a hundred pack of derby extra blades in 2008. I still have 20 blades left, and I used DE exclusively until mid 2019. I personally have found the derby blades, for me, started really shaving well about the 4th shave. I shaved on average probably 2-3 times a week (usually more, but that’s counting a few breaks here and there). I know I’ve gotten at least 20+ shaves multiple times. Sometimes I changed blades just because I knew I hadn’t in at least 2 months and probably longer. I shave my whole face, and I have some pretty tough stubble. Ymmv, but that’s my experience. After a year break from DE shaving until last Saturday, I threw a derby extra blade in a Gillette old type and boy was it heaven!
I was variously a one-and-done shaver on this forum, though mainly a 5 days and done each week. Then I read the Excalibur thread and it got me thinking I ditched blades too soon. I tried my trusty Polsilver and am at 26 Shaves and counting with no dropoff in performance. It's frankly crazy. And that's a pretty course neck and face beard, normally shaving every two days currently due to covid. Shaving daily would be much easier on the blade. I did simultaneously try a feather, but have never loved them and sensed a drop off after 5 shaves so stopped.
I have been using blades 2x before binning them for quite some time. A few weeks ago, I decided to try going to 3x in 3 of my razors and I was rewarded with irritation and ingrown hairs for almost a week afterwards.
So back to 2 uses before binning. I have ultra coarse/thick/dense hair, super-sensitive skin and I shave every single day. My beard eats blades for breakfast.
So back to 2 uses before binning. I have ultra coarse/thick/dense hair, super-sensitive skin and I shave every single day. My beard eats blades for breakfast.
If I may, let's inject some reality into this. Not my first foray on this subject of blade frugality.
What on earth is this driving hyper frugality? Are you that guy from George Orwell's "1984"? I'm here to tell you to throw out Orwell's "1984" and to start blasting Van Halen's "1984" on your bluetooth speakers. This is America, baby. We toss the razor blade after a single use around here. Life is too short to pretend you're some sockless Bohemian renting a studio apartment in Bratislava near a hog rendering plant.
What on earth is this driving hyper frugality? Are you that guy from George Orwell's "1984"? I'm here to tell you to throw out Orwell's "1984" and to start blasting Van Halen's "1984" on your bluetooth speakers. This is America, baby. We toss the razor blade after a single use around here. Life is too short to pretend you're some sockless Bohemian renting a studio apartment in Bratislava near a hog rendering plant.
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- #29
I can't speak for those posting this advice, but often it's code for "we're pretty sure that your shave isn't dialed in as well as it could be"...
"Technique" pretty much encompases everything about how *you* manipilate the razor, the angle you hold it at, how that angle changes at different places on your face, pressure on the razor and what angles of attack (in relation to whisker growth) you use during what passes. It can also (depending on who is defining it) cover how you apply lather and what level of pasty/slick/foamy you lather your soap to.
The truth is undoubtedly that if you maintain clean cutting angles at minimum pressure, then the blade is shearing off whiskers cleanly and *not* scraping skin or scraping whiskers off at a high angle of attack, if this is the case you'll surely get more blade life, due to the edge being used more gently.
Personally, I believe that every component of the equation has an influence, but who is doing the shaving will determine which variables are the most important.
Regarding #2, that's not entirely the case. A Shake Sharp razor paired with a good carbon, like a NOS Gillette Super Blue blade, will give several months of smooth comfortable shaves, provided you flip the blade over and dry it after every shave. The built in hone needs to be cleaned with toothpaste to rejuvenate the surface every year or so.
The longest I've gone was 45 days on one edge. I ended up binning the blade before I switched sides, because I was bored with the razor. I did a pass-around with it and a bunch of super blues, and all the shavers reported being able to use the blades without needing to change them out for the duration of their time with the shake sharp (usually 5-7 days).
The same blades for me, in any other razor, are a one and done shave.
This is the only answer.
As blades dull, shimming helps maintain a close shave IMO
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
1) When there's discomfort, or poor performance, I change the blade. That might be after 10 shaves or 30.
2) There might be one technique that works for you, but that might not be the technique that works for me. I'm not shaving your beard, and vice versa.
3) Nope. Regular shave here, although I might make a game of it occasionally.
The right prep, a well matched combo of blade and razor for your face, and having the blade cutting (not scraping) right where hair meets skin, would be my overly simplistic checklist. One good way to shorten blade life is poor angle, so the hair is snatching and plucking at the edge as it's cut. Too thick a lather will also mute/mask shave feel and hide errors as they're happening, but that's not beneficial to face or blade.
Mike M
...but this one IS cracked.
Most I ever got was 8 with a 7 O'Clock sharpedge though my favourite blade is the Personna super prep (6).
Usually it's 5, Feathers only give me 3 but I like to use different blades so I doubt I will ever get 100+ from a single blade
Usually it's 5, Feathers only give me 3 but I like to use different blades so I doubt I will ever get 100+ from a single blade
Really all depends on the blade. I also rinse and pat the blade dry after each use and flip it. Just about everyone says that flipping makes no difference. I just flip after patting dry because I figure it doesn’t hurt.
Updated/Blade use/Zero tugs
Gillette KCG - 33/Just tested
Lab Blue - Up to mid to late 20s
Vintage Gillette Platinum Plus - Late 20s
Latin Schick/German WS - Mid 20s
Astra SP - Mid 20s
Gillette Yellows - Up to early 20s
Kai - Up to early 20s
Rite Aid/Personna/Israel - Late teens
Feather - Up to 7
Super Max - Up to 7
Shark - About 3 but great smooth blade
I agree that some blades get much better after a few shaves. For me, Lab Blues come alive after the second or third shave.
When I used de exclusively I would regularly get 3 weeks of daily shaves. Mostly two passes and touch up. My beard is average according to a barber friend, but is getting coarser as I age. My skin isn't sensitive. I would usually shave, take out the blade and rinse both the razor and blade then reassemble ready for the next day. No chickens or goats were sacrificed to extend blade life.
I would change out the blade when I got bored or if the blade wasn't cutting (Big Bens and vintage English Jewels barely managed one shave). One right shave I would put down to bad technique, a second consecutive bad shave and I would bin the blade.
Now with straights a tuggy shave means back to the diamond balsa. I should use it after every shave, but I don't mind honing.
I would change out the blade when I got bored or if the blade wasn't cutting (Big Bens and vintage English Jewels barely managed one shave). One right shave I would put down to bad technique, a second consecutive bad shave and I would bin the blade.
Now with straights a tuggy shave means back to the diamond balsa. I should use it after every shave, but I don't mind honing.
More power to you my B&B brothers and sisters that get 7 + shaves on a blade. 3 and done for me. I don’t care how sharp it is. Fresh blade after 3.
Prior to obtaining the RR GC .84 razor, I only got about 3-6 shaves from Feather blades. Now I get a minimum of 24 shaves.
My hair is coarse, gray, and curly. No pre shave other than a shower. Then lather up as usual.
I leave the blade in the razor, give it a rinse, then allow it to air dry.
marty
My hair is coarse, gray, and curly. No pre shave other than a shower. Then lather up as usual.
I leave the blade in the razor, give it a rinse, then allow it to air dry.
marty
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