Extending blade life

[StuartV]

I was talking to my dad the other day about DE shaving. He told me that back in the 80s (I think is when he said - could have been the 70s), Gillette did a bunch of research on how blades wear out. He said that they found, and published, results showing that the blades don't wear out from actual shaving. They wear out from the corrosion of the edge between shaves due to water (and, obviously, whatever extras are in the water) on the blade.

Dad said that Gillette even sold, for a relatively brief time, a device/machine that you stored your razor in between shaves that kept the head soaking in some kind of solution that took and kept the water off the blade. He said they only sold it for a short time because they realized that people almost never had to buy new blades any more.

My question for you ladies and gentlemen is, do any of you know anything about this? Can you elaborate? Is my dad making all this up just to mess with me?

 

[LightShave]

The ultimate tensile strength of Copper is 210-220 MPa. The ultimate tensile strength of human hair is 380 MPa. Beard hair is tougher than Copper at the same thickness. There is no doubt that DE blade edges degrade from use. Teflon, Platinum and even Titanium DE blade edges degrade with use.

It's common practice to rub straight razors with oil. This keeps the air and water away from the metal preventing corrosion. Maybe they stored blades in Oil?

(Edit: Some people strop their blades to extend the life. I've heard hand stropping, leather stropping, jeans stropping and corking but results always vary)

 

[poikkeus]

I haven't read the research, but the Gillette theory has its adherents on this forum.

In short, I think your father is exaggerating things here. To illustrate, you can keep a blade in a non-corrosive medium (like mineral water) when it's not being used - and it's still going to wear out through normal use. I keep my blade completely dry after use - and wear still happens.

Still, it would be interesting if someone could find a reference to this research in some journal.

 

[StuartV]

I didn't really mean to imply that he said a blade would never wear out. Only that the wear from corrosion was (very) significantly greater than the wear from actual shaving.

 

[Shiloh]

The ultimate tensile strength of Copper is 210-220 MPa. The ultimate tensile strength of human hair is 380 MPa. Beard hair is tougher than Copper at the same thickness. There is no doubt that DE blade edges degrade from use. Teflon, Platinum and even Titanium DE blade edges degrade with use.

It's common practice to rub straight razors with oil. This keeps the air and water away from the metal preventing corrosion. Maybe they stored blades in Oil?

(Edit: Some people strop their blades to extend the life. I've heard hand stropping, leather stropping, jeans stropping and corking but results always vary)

I understand your logic.

But...I don't get the reference to copper. Aren't our blades made of steel?

 

[MAntM]

Back when I was using cartridges, I heard/read something similar. So I started drying the cartridge head off in my towel after I shaved, and got an extra shave or two before it was totally worthless. I'm sure it's a little of both, though the corrosion effect might be amplified on a cartridge because the small gaps between the blades make it much easier for water to hang on and do damage.

 

[BSAGuy]

I think the degradation caused by corrosion is minimal and not worth the efforts to combat it. Blades are about 10-20 cents each and give me 4-5 shaves, so I use them and toss them without a second thought.

 

[edwinhmcbride]

I agree with BSAguy, they are very inexpensive blades and we need not try to shave for a year on just one blade. That being said, I have wondered if placing the razor head/blade down in a mug of rubbing alcohol/barbicide between uses would help prevent corrosion and aid in sterilization. My concern here is for the razor itself and not necessarily the blades but I don't think it would hurt. Only down side is that our sharp slicer beauties would not be on display on their pretty little stands for all the world to bask in their glory

 

[StuartV]

Yeah, I'm not really worried about the cost of the blades. I just thought it was an interesting and curious notion.

I also wonder if just leaving the head dunked in Barbicide would have benefits - as you say - to both the blade and the razor itself.

 

[TheVez2]

In the 30's RAZOBRITE (no R) made a ceramic croc that you would put your razor in, along with a solution, to help keep your razor clean, and free from corrosion. I've read about using witch hazel or other fluids/oils in them, but I don't know what they told you to use. I've read of someone who used barbicide in his croc. I have a couple of these, but this is not my pic:

From Waits:
https://books.google.com/books?id=4...gQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q=razobrite bath&f=false


A company in the UK called RazorBrite currently makes a solution that does the same thing. They claim it extends blade life.

 

[Musikmann]

I bought a system called Razor Guard that was designed to extend the useful life of cartridges. On the box it states "Works with Sensor, Atra, Tracer, Bic, and all others". The ingredients of the solution are: Petrolatum, Drakeol (*** is that?), Aloe Vera Oil, Peppermint Oil.

Claims are: Stop razorburn, nicks and cuts. Dramatically extends blade life. Conditions skin while you shave.

 

[Musikmann]

Back when I was using cartridges, I heard/read something similar. So I started drying the cartridge head off in my towel after I shaved, and got an extra shave or two before it was totally worthless. I'm sure it's a little of both, though the corrosion effect might be amplified on a cartridge because the small gaps between the blades make it much easier for water to hang on and do damage.

Check out what I just posted. The vessel to hold the razor doesn't look quite broad enough to hold a DE but should accommodate an SE.

As to your method, I still use a Gillette cartridge quite often and not only dab it on a dry towel but also use my breath to blow on the thing. I can shave with a cart for close to a month, and that's shaving daily.

 

[TheVez2]

Claims are: Stop razorburn, nicks and cuts. Dramatically extends blade life. Conditions skin while you shave.

So, it was basically a shave oil?

Did it work?

 

[Slash McCoy]

Back in the days of carbon steel blades, edge corrosion probably degraded blades 5x faster than shaving with them. With stainless or coated blades it is't a significant factor. Try an experiment with two NOS Gillette Blue Blades, which are still fairly easy to find, and then try with modern Wilkies or Personnas. Then if you can find a couple, try with Personna 74 blades, probably the finest and definitely the longest lasting DE blade ever made. I predict you will see zero difference between the life of a P74 that soaks between shaves vs one that doesn't. You will probably see only very little difference with the modern coated blades... maybe an extra day. And you will probably double the life of a Blue Blade.

 

[Go West Young Man]

Some people dip their blades in mineral oil or rubbing alcohol, which displaces water and keeps the blade edge dry.
My thoughts are that at 15 cents per blade, getting one or two extra shaves out of it isn't worth the effort.

 

[n2hql]

Drakeol is mineral oil, by brand name

 

[StuartV]

I bought a system called Razor Guard that was designed to extend the useful life of cartridges. On the box it states "Works with Sensor, Atra, Tracer, Bic, and all others". The ingredients of the solution are: Petrolatum, Drakeol (*** is that?), Aloe Vera Oil, Peppermint Oil.

Claims are: Stop razorburn, nicks and cuts. Dramatically extends blade life. Conditions skin while you shave.

Yeah, what ^^^he said. Did it work?

 

[Cash_Stronomer]

I always run a test with a new to me brand of blade, to see ho far they will go. After that, I let them go their course. Even the Dutch blood that runs through me does not care to seek out blade life extension. I will say though, it is neat trying, but in the end, I have not found anything to really work anyway, and what may have, I think was just in my head?

 

[poikkeus]

Being inquisitive is a good thing. I've chimed in with my opinions - so why not perform your own blinded experiment? I'm certain that others here would find it very instructive.

 

[mblakele]

I was talking to my dad the other day about DE shaving. He told me that back in the 80s (I think is when he said - could have been the 70s), Gillette did a bunch of research on how blades wear out. He said that they found, and published, results showing that the blades don't wear out from actual shaving. They wear out from the corrosion of the edge between shaves due to water (and, obviously, whatever extras are in the water) on the blade.

Dad said that Gillette even sold, for a relatively brief time, a device/machine that you stored your razor in between shaves that kept the head soaking in some kind of solution that took and kept the water off the blade. He said they only sold it for a short time because they realized that people almost never had to buy new blades any more.

My question for you ladies and gentlemen is, do any of you know anything about this? Can you elaborate? Is my dad making all this up just to mess with me?

Here is a 1970 article from Popular Science that explains how chromium hardness coatings were expected to improve blade life. Corrosion is a large part of the story: but this innovation came from Schick. Naturally Gillette followed.

https://books.google.com/books?id=V...AWHnqmYDA&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

The article goes into some detail about the process: make and sharpen the blade as usual, then apply chromium as a hardness and anti-corrosion coating, and finally apply an anti-friction coating of PTFE (Teflon etc.). The theory is that the anti-friction coating makes for smoother shaves, while the hardness coating improves blade life. Over time the hardness coatings came to include platinum as well as chromium, plus mixtures of both metals. Modern cartridges may use more exotic materials such as DLC.

However back in 1970, Schick got into trouble for making exaggerated claims about these new chromium-coated blades. Here is some discussion quoted from another thread:

The Krona-Chrome was the blade that got Eversharp in trouble with the FTC in 1970, probably right in the middle of the sale to Warner-Lambert. Eversharp had run commercials showing the corrosion on a Schick Super Stainless blade after five shaves, compared to a Krona Chrome. The FTC decided that the advertising was deceptive, possibly damaging the Krona brand. After that happened I can find very little evidence of advertising for Krona-Chrome blades. Around the same time, the Schick Plus Platinum was introduced.

http://www.ftc.gov/os/decisions/doc...77_(JANUARY_-_DECEMBER_1970)PAGES_598-698.pdf - p687-690.

I found this advertising. No wonder the FTC sanctioned them.
I've been shaving for a week with a Schick Super Stainless... this ad is pure BS.

How does this apply to modern blades? As far as I can tell all modern stainless DE blades have an anti-friction coating — even when the packaging only says "stainless". Many modern blades claim to be "platinum" or "chrome", or both. However in some cases those may be empty words, especially when the label claims something like "platinum class".