Do carbon steel blades smooth out over time?

[Hachet]

I bought my first packs of carbon steel blades last week and I feel like the first shave was somewhat tuggy but acceptable, then subsequent shaves felt much smoother. I also palm strop it so I suppose that helps. Was just wondering if carbon steel blades smooth out over the course of several shaves and I was also wondering what kind of longevity I can expect.

The only other time I've used a carbon blade was a Gillette THIN and while it was a very nice shave, I didn't give it time to smooth out because I assumed it was too old to have any integrity left in the edge (perhaps a bit premature of me.)

The blades I purchased are the Kai spineless single edge blades E39-7C.

Thanks!

 

[BigJ]

My experience is similar. Must say that I prefer stainless blades, so I am no expert on carbon steel.

 

[Hachet]

My experience is similar. Must say that I prefer stainless blades, so I am no expert on carbon steel.

Thanks!

 

[DrStrange]

I bought my first packs of carbon steel blades last week and I feel like the first shave was somewhat tuggy but acceptable, then subsequent shaves felt much smoother. I also palm strop it so I suppose that helps. Was just wondering if carbon steel blades smooth out over the course of several shaves and I was also wondering what kind of longevity I can expect.

The only other time I've used a carbon blade was a Gillette THIN and while it was a very nice shave, I didn't give it time to smooth out because I assumed it was too old to have any integrity left in the edge (perhaps a bit premature of me.)

The blades I purchased are the Kai spineless single edge blades E39-7C.

Thanks!

I like the second shave from a Feather blade,
better than the first.

 

[Kyle89]

Some blades are like that. I'd be hard pressed to say it was a metal type sort of thing.

I like Treet Classics, but anymore than 2 shaves (for me) yields tugging. First and second shaves are decent.

With Gem Carbon Steel blades, they start off tuggy for me and only gets worse.

That's the extent of my experience with carbon steel.

 

[Hachet]

Well, I just discovered something pretty amazing...

I went for another shave and the poor blade just wouldn't cut. I mean no tugging. No nothin. So I stropped it on a towel and then my hand and went for it again. This time, it hurt. I could suddenly feel the jagged edge but it kiiinda cut! So I stropped it on my mirror (long strokes) and went for it again. Damn if it didn't feel like a brand new blade! And it started shaving! I got a dfs after that. Tomorrow, I intend to use my mirror to strop it thoroughly. I was really surprised, as I had little faith it would come back to life. Wouldn't it be nice if that was the secret? Glass. Kinda makes sense. Those old blade sharpeners were glass and I think they were made during carbon blade times.

 

[Kyle89]

Well, I just discovered something pretty amazing...

I went for another shave and the poor blade just wouldn't cut. I mean no tugging. No nothin. So I stropped it on a towel and then my hand and went for it again. This time, it hurt. I could suddenly feel the jagged edge but it kiiinda cut! So I stropped it on my mirror (long strokes) and went for it again. Damn if it didn't feel like a brand new blade! And it started shaving! I got a dfs after that. Tomorrow, I intend to use my mirror to strop it thoroughly. I was really surprised, as I had little faith it would come back to life. Wouldn't it be nice if that was the secret? Glass. Kinda makes sense. Those old blade sharpeners were glass and I think they were made during carbon blade times.

Always wanted to try to sharpen a carbon steel blade in a glass cup. One of these days I'll unwrap a vintage blade and give the old method a shot.

That's pretty sweet though, I'm glad that worked out for ya.

 

[Hachet]

Always wanted to try to sharpen a carbon steel blade in a glass cup. One of these days I'll unwrap a vintage blade and give the old method a shot.

That's pretty sweet though, I'm glad that worked out for ya.

Thanks. I hope others give it a shot and report back. There's gotta be something to it. Also, there's no way guys just tossed blades back then the way we do now. I think the idea of stropping a disposable blade back then seemed normal since the disposable blade was probably seen as sort of a miniaturized straight razor blade. Portable and held in a different way. Heck, this type of blade in particular was a successor to the wedge that came with GEMs or Kampfes, which was a section of a straight razor blade. I'm babbling now.

 

[Mouser]

I use vintage blades exclusively and a very few are carbon. You have to be very careful about them and if you can a big plus is finding out as much as you can about where (region ) they're from, dry climate, how they've been stored all these years, (airtight, think Tupperware). As to smoothing out, before I first use them I give them a thorough stropping on an old pair of jeans. I don't know if that really does anything helpful but I do it anyways. Carbon blades in pristine condition give a wonderful shave of a slightly different experience. Gillette, as I understand it, withheld introducing stainless blades even though they developed them first because they thought that men would stick with carbons because they were sharper. They vastly underrated the convenience factor and how many shaves men were getting from carbons in the real world as opposed to how many you could get with proper but involved post shave care.