This is a digest, for the full test review and more photos please look here.
For quite a while ago I received an email from proshave.dk, a Danish vendor of shaving equipment, with the subject: Fancy testing a Razorpit?
A lot of thoughts went through my mind, of which most probably were fit for a horror movie.
As I had only heard of Razorpit in connection with cartridge razors, I think it was understandable that I thought I was asked to test the Razorpit in connection with a cartridge razor, and the shave snob in me only had one resounding answer: No thanks!
I was however somewhat surprised when I realised that the question actually was a bit different, it actually was if it was possible to use a Razorpit in connection with a DE razor?
After short consideration, I thought it sounded as a quite interesting question, and I accepted the challenge and agreed to test the Razorpit with a DE-razor.
I must be honest and admit that I have seen the Razorpit more as a promotional stunt rather than something that actually works as described. It is developed for the cartridge razor, but that it should be possible to get "up to 150 shaves" with the same blade sounds too good to be true, and "up to" can mean anything from 10 to 150.
To minimize the amount of variables I chose to use the same razor, Gillette Fat Handled Tech, and the same brand of blades, Derby Extra, throughout the experiment.
Experiment
So finally, with some biased scepticism, I went along with the test, and to do it as comparable and fair as possible, I started with a control. The control consisted of a fresh blade, which I used until it felt worn. The blade was not removed from the razor after the shave; the razor was simply rinsed under hot water and put in its place.
All shaves throughout the experiment has been four passes; WTG, WTG, XTG and ATG.
With my control, I achieved 36 shaves before the blade was worn. It was surprisingly many I had expected somewhere between five and ten, but at least I had a starting point.
After the control shave a new blade was put in the razor and the shaving process repeated, with the only difference that the razors head after the shave was pushed over the lathered up Razorpit four times for each side, rinsed under hot water and set aside.
I had to practice a little, so the blades edges actually came into contact with the rubber surface, the safety bar and rounding of the head can make it a little difficult to obtain a good contact, the Razorpit is designed for a cartridge razor, which is flat.
I have found it difficult to establish a success criterion for something I do not know what I can expect from, but in my view, it would be if I could achieve an improvement of at least 25% with the Razorpit than without it. Since I got 36 shaves in my control, my goal would be to reach 45 in order to be able to say that there was an improvement.
When I reached about 80 shaves, I could clearly feel that the blade wasnt super sharp any more; it didnt shave quite as close as earlier, but it was still by no means uncomfortable, and I discovered that by using "The Gillette Glide" technique, I could achieve a minimum of a DFS each time. In addition, when I used a soap/cream with a good glide and got a perfect lather a BBS was still just achievable (including touch-ups).
When I reached around the 90-92 shaves, I would probably have scrapped the blade under normal circumstances because it felt quite tired. It required quite some touch-up work to get a close shave, and I could definitely feel the blade was worn, but as I was so close to the 100 mark I thought it could be fun to try and reach that number without the shaves becoming uncomfortable in any way, it just took some more work.
After 100 shaves, the blade finally gave up and I must say that it almost deserves to be put on display, because 100 shaves with the same blade is rather impressing.
I ended the experiment with yet another control shave, where the razor this time was rinsed in cold water after use. In this control shave, I got 23 shaves out of the blade.
Conclusion
The question was; Does Razorpit work on a DE razor?
The short answer is; Yes.
There is really nothing more to say.
The test clearly shows that the life span on a blade can be improved considerably I got an improvement of 64 and 77 more shaves or expressed in percent; an improvement of 178 % and 334 %.
The Test results must of course be taken with the reservation that another person most likely will come to a different result when it comes to the number of shaves. Some will probably get fewer shaves and some perhaps more than I have achieved, but I am totally convinced that regardless of who tries the Razorpit, they will be able to extend the life of a DE-blade compared to normal use.
As to if the Razorpit is worth the investment (money + time), I will leave for the individual to assess.
For quite a while ago I received an email from proshave.dk, a Danish vendor of shaving equipment, with the subject: Fancy testing a Razorpit?
A lot of thoughts went through my mind, of which most probably were fit for a horror movie.
As I had only heard of Razorpit in connection with cartridge razors, I think it was understandable that I thought I was asked to test the Razorpit in connection with a cartridge razor, and the shave snob in me only had one resounding answer: No thanks!
I was however somewhat surprised when I realised that the question actually was a bit different, it actually was if it was possible to use a Razorpit in connection with a DE razor?
After short consideration, I thought it sounded as a quite interesting question, and I accepted the challenge and agreed to test the Razorpit with a DE-razor.
I must be honest and admit that I have seen the Razorpit more as a promotional stunt rather than something that actually works as described. It is developed for the cartridge razor, but that it should be possible to get "up to 150 shaves" with the same blade sounds too good to be true, and "up to" can mean anything from 10 to 150.
To minimize the amount of variables I chose to use the same razor, Gillette Fat Handled Tech, and the same brand of blades, Derby Extra, throughout the experiment.
Experiment
So finally, with some biased scepticism, I went along with the test, and to do it as comparable and fair as possible, I started with a control. The control consisted of a fresh blade, which I used until it felt worn. The blade was not removed from the razor after the shave; the razor was simply rinsed under hot water and put in its place.
All shaves throughout the experiment has been four passes; WTG, WTG, XTG and ATG.
With my control, I achieved 36 shaves before the blade was worn. It was surprisingly many I had expected somewhere between five and ten, but at least I had a starting point.
After the control shave a new blade was put in the razor and the shaving process repeated, with the only difference that the razors head after the shave was pushed over the lathered up Razorpit four times for each side, rinsed under hot water and set aside.
I had to practice a little, so the blades edges actually came into contact with the rubber surface, the safety bar and rounding of the head can make it a little difficult to obtain a good contact, the Razorpit is designed for a cartridge razor, which is flat.
I have found it difficult to establish a success criterion for something I do not know what I can expect from, but in my view, it would be if I could achieve an improvement of at least 25% with the Razorpit than without it. Since I got 36 shaves in my control, my goal would be to reach 45 in order to be able to say that there was an improvement.
When I reached about 80 shaves, I could clearly feel that the blade wasnt super sharp any more; it didnt shave quite as close as earlier, but it was still by no means uncomfortable, and I discovered that by using "The Gillette Glide" technique, I could achieve a minimum of a DFS each time. In addition, when I used a soap/cream with a good glide and got a perfect lather a BBS was still just achievable (including touch-ups).
When I reached around the 90-92 shaves, I would probably have scrapped the blade under normal circumstances because it felt quite tired. It required quite some touch-up work to get a close shave, and I could definitely feel the blade was worn, but as I was so close to the 100 mark I thought it could be fun to try and reach that number without the shaves becoming uncomfortable in any way, it just took some more work.
After 100 shaves, the blade finally gave up and I must say that it almost deserves to be put on display, because 100 shaves with the same blade is rather impressing.
I ended the experiment with yet another control shave, where the razor this time was rinsed in cold water after use. In this control shave, I got 23 shaves out of the blade.
Conclusion
The question was; Does Razorpit work on a DE razor?
The short answer is; Yes.
There is really nothing more to say.
The test clearly shows that the life span on a blade can be improved considerably I got an improvement of 64 and 77 more shaves or expressed in percent; an improvement of 178 % and 334 %.
The Test results must of course be taken with the reservation that another person most likely will come to a different result when it comes to the number of shaves. Some will probably get fewer shaves and some perhaps more than I have achieved, but I am totally convinced that regardless of who tries the Razorpit, they will be able to extend the life of a DE-blade compared to normal use.
As to if the Razorpit is worth the investment (money + time), I will leave for the individual to assess.
From the top down it is:
A new blade
Control, cold water (23 shaves)
Control, hot water (36 shaves)
Blade exposed to Razorpit (100 shaves)
The left photo show the top of the blade and the right the bottom (as inserted in the razor).
Blades are cheaper than DE razors!
