Do you like the old Gillette blade dispensers? Well, don' throw them out! Refill em'

[Saltwater Cowboy]

I was given an empty blade dispenser from mblakele, as a little experiment. To see if they were refillable. Well indeed they are. Quite easily. I have refilled this one with IPs. The hardest part is getting the container apart. Once you get how it is put together it is quite simple. Just lift one side away from the back with your thumbnail and then lift slightly up until it is past the edge then look at the end of the pack and you will see a little lip catching, just lift that up a bit and the lid will swing right off. Dispose of the old used blades from the underside blade bank. Wash the container and then start refilling. note the left right left direction of the blades. stack your ten blades in the correct order and then put the container back together. dont forget the lid for your blade bank. once it is filled and together then just tap each end of the container on your mousepad like a deck of cards and all the blades then line up Here are some pictures of the process.

easy peasy
lemon squeasy

 

[zenless]

That's awesome! I really dig those old dispensers, but never picked one up since I wasn't interested in the blades (though maybe i should be!), now i have a new reason to hunt one down!

 

[jwilock]

Nice. I'll give it a try if I ever get a "healthy" dispenser. Most of mine have GBEs in them and those blades are so stuck together I've had to cut two of the containers apart to get the blades out of them. I do have a 15-pack of Spoilers but I've only used a couple and was planning on just using one every now and then. Kind of hate to use them all at once just to get the empty dispenser. Maybe I'll see if I can get my next batch of GBEs out without destroying the dispenser.

 

[ERVARGASNY]

Nice, i did that a while back with a dispenser i had and some feathers, the only thing is that some of these blades that come wrapped in wax paper have like 4 glue spots on them and sometimes they stick to one another when trying to slide out of dispenser, Next time ill try to clean out the glue spots with some Alchohol and the insert them.

Dispenser has two long end clips, once you pop one out the rest is cake. Thanks for posting and letting othere know.

 

[Chester]

That's awesome! I really dig those old dispensers, but never picked one up since I wasn't interested in the blades (though maybe i should be!)

Not interested in spoilers? Gaaaarrgh! You don't know what you've been missing.
-- Chet

 

[TonyJoe]

I was thinking of doing just this with some cheapo grocery store blades. The dispenser is cool but the blades suck. They're only ~$2.50 so just throw the blades out and then you have a nice travel dispenser and blade bank ready to be loaded with whatever you like.

 

[zenless]

Not interested in spoilers? Gaaaarrgh! You don't know what you've been missing.
-- Chet

Just haven't tried them yet. Think i've found that Personna Labs/Meds are my favorite 'In production' blade, starting to experiment with NOS ones without hurting the wallet too much. Watching some on the bay though!

 

[ElliotR]

This is a total n00b question
I bought a Schick Krona with a packaged set of 2 x 1968 Schick Blades in a metal dispenser
- and I have no idea how to use the dispenser.

 

[Chester]

This is a total n00b question
I bought a Schick Krona with a packaged set of 2 x 1968 Schick Blades in a metal dispenser
- and I have no idea how to use the dispenser.

Guessing it might be a Plus Platinum dispenser.
There might be a little plastic piece sticking up in the middle. Press that down while sliding your thumb (touching the blade) in the direction of the arrows.
-- Chet

 

[mblakele]

Great pictures: glad to see it worked out.

 

[ElliotR]

Guessing it might be a Plus Platinum dispenser.
There might be a little plastic piece sticking up in the middle. Press that down while sliding your thumb (touching the blade) in the direction of the arrows.
-- Chet

Thanks Chester! Yes - little black plastic tabs. All these items were in every bathroom when I was a kid: blades, dispensers, DE razors. I never paid them the least bit of attention.
Now they are like artifacts from the past I am trying to figure out how to use

 

[fisca]

don't they make those blade despencers anymore??? i thought israely personna did.

 

[mblakele]

As far as I know, USA Personna is the only blade-maker that still ships slider packs. WCS and RBM have the "lab" blades in sliders, which is a nice option if you like those blades.

I used to say that I was too lazy to reload slider packs. I still feel very lazy, but the old metal and plastic Schick holders are very easy to reload. Here, I will show you right now. I will fill this old Schick Platinum+ pack with new Lord blades.



You could use a flat-head screwdriver, but I used no tools at all.



Try not to bend the cover as you pull it up and slide it back. If the cover is bent too much, it will block the blades from coming out. You can usually fix this by bending it back into shape.



Now the plastic base is ready. Unwrap the new blades and put them onto the base.



If you want the new pack to look nice, pay attention to how any writing on the blades lines up with the cover. Note that the cover is backward from the base, in this shot.



Now replace the cover. Pull up on the business end as you slide it over the blades.



The old bottle has new wine.



The first blade is ready to go.

 

[Henrik]

Great thread. After this I am done with paper packs in my travel bag and have one of those vintage dispensers loaded for action!

 

[chuckman]

Great idea....just fixed one up for my travel kit......only took a few minutes.
Thanks

 

[ezmike]

As far as I know, USA Personna is the only blade-maker that still ships slider packs. WCS and RBM have the "lab" blades in sliders, which is a nice option if you like those blades.

I used to say that I was too lazy to reload slider packs. I still feel very lazy, but the old metal and plastic Schick holders are very easy to reload. Here, I will show you right now. I will fill this old Schick Platinum+ pack with new Lord blades.



You could use a flat-head screwdriver, but I used no tools at all.



Try not to bend the cover as you pull it up and slide it back. If the cover is bent too much, it will block the blades from coming out. You can usually fix this by bending it back into shape.



Now the plastic base is ready. Unwrap the new blades and put them onto the base.



If you want the new pack to look nice, pay attention to how any writing on the blades lines up with the cover. Note that the cover is backward from the base, in this shot.



Now replace the cover. Pull up on the business end as you slide it over the blades.



The old bottle has new wine.



The first blade is ready to go.

Yep, those are the easiest to re-load. The current production supermarket/drug store variety are fairly easy too.

Mike

 

[Topgumby]

Ha! I've been refilling a Wilkinson dispenser for the wife by sliding fresh blades back in while holding the plastic stop down. She uses the bottom for her blade bank, so I've been hooking the used blades out with a machinist scribe and throwing her dead soldiers in my tin can with a slot. In fact, I just did this before reading this post!

I also have many of the modern ASR dispensers that are two sided. After reading this and the Wiki article I took the top off an empty (It's just a flat piece that is held in place by recesses in the plastic body) by gently prying with a small flat bladed screwdriver, filled 'er up with Sharks and popped the top back on with simple finger pressure. This turned a half hour endeavor into a five minute snap.

The only downside I can see is the potential to gouge up the dispenser body with repeated prying, but if you're careful that shouldn't be an issue.

Thanks, mblakele!

 

[coolbus18]

A cool thread indeed. Thanks for the how to....

 

[BubblesTGB]

This looks really interesting - would love to do this for traveling.

Where would be a good place to buy old dispensers? eBay?

 

[DirtDiver]

GREAT! More stuff to scour ebay for..


Actually I am partial to the old Gillette blade boxes, but I can never find one for a good price.