What's new

Do Your Razor Blades Dull Suddenly or Gradually with Ongoing Use/Additional Shaves?

Dave himself

Wee Words of Wisdom
Which of your blades do you consider the sharpest on your first shave? Curious if there is a pattern where the sharpest blades wear the fastest as is the case with Feather for many B&Bers.
My sharpest would be Nacets just ahead of Permasharps then GSBs and then the Gillette Platinums. For me the Personna platinums and Wilkinson sword feel as sharp as the Gillette Platinums. Hope this helps.
 
The impression I get from the threads on the forum is that most will get between 4-6 shaves before changing the blade.

Please remember that most of the folks who frequent this forum are those who are far more invested in shaving equipment and technique than the average shaver. While I do agree that many, perhaps even most, forum members get only 4-6 shaves per blade, I believe the average shaver is able to get a few more than that. That is why I said 7-10 shaves. Many members of the forum are older men with coarse beards like mine. They fall on the shorter end of the timeline. I do not know any Excalibur group members personally, but I suspect they are far younger than I if they can get multiple weeks of shaves from a single blade.

As I have said before, it does not matter what results others get. The only thing that matters is what works best for the individual.
 
Please remember that most of the folks who frequent this forum are those who are far more invested in shaving equipment and technique than the average shaver.

Naturally members of forums are often more vested in the subject but not always, new members are always joining up.

While I do agree that many, perhaps even most, forum members get only 4-6 shaves per blade, I believe the average shaver is able to get a few more than that.

They can but it seems that they decline to do so.

That is why I said 7-10 shaves.

Really this number though obtainable, ismost often not the case. As specially with older shavers.
 

Ron R

I survived a lathey foreman
Gradually fade 98% of the time for all my blades, My Feather FHS 10 blades fade very quickly(2 shaves and done). Regular Feather blades are good for 4 shaves usually and tossed.
Kai SS DE blade is a good blade for longevity and is a extra wide blade, could be metallurgy make up or the heat treatment that makes it great for longevity.
 

Eric_75

Not made for these times.
Treet makes another blade, called Dura-Sharp. I think they are teflon coated carbon steel. These work better than Black Beauties for me, having the smoothness of carbon steel with a bit longer life. They are inexpensive, too.

You need to keep them dry like all carbon steel blades.
I enjoy the Treet Dura-Sharp. :thumbsup:
 
Naturally members of forums are often more vested in the subject but not always, new members are always joining up.



They can but it seems that they decline to do so.



Really this number though obtainable, ismost often not the case. As specially with older shavers.


Absolutely. As you get older, your beard often becomes tougher to shave and you will get fewer shaves per blade.
I do not know what the average age is of forum members, but my impression is that a lot of us are well over 40. Even some new forum members have been shaving for decades and finally have given up on electric razors and cartridge razors. That was my experience. I did not join until I was 65. It is the folks who are still in their 20s and 30s who are likely to be able to get more shaves per blade. Those are also the ones more likely to be using cartridge razors or electric shavers.
 
I can get quite a few shaves on the same blade- almost any blade. I've used feathers 7 or 8 times. The difference i've found is the technique you use and the quality of you shave. If you use a used 5 time feather blade and literally go south to north on your face you're going to get cut your skin like sliced deli meat. That same feather blade is perfectly good enough for a north to south WTG pass- one and done. It won't be close and it won't be good enough for a hot date- probably good enough for the job site and that's what matters to some.

Now, if you want insane results, you aren't going to have any success at all with a 5x used feather and probably no other blade for that matter. A blade stays "sharp enough" for quite a few shaves, but it's never stays keen enough long enough for insane results much longer than 2 or 3 shaves (a feather is OK after 2 shaves and beyond that keenness is not good enough).

If you're looking for construction job site caliber shaves then you can get away with the same blade for a month or more. You want skin that feels like a baby's butt then its not acceptable to keep a blade much longer than 2 or 3 shaves.
 
For me, I would say the decrease in effectiveness is gradual provided I'm shaving exactly the same way with the same gear.

As it is though, I do like to experiment and try different things fairly frequently which almost certainly makes the decline less linear as well as more prone to sudden dramatic drop-offs.
 
I have no experience with DE blades as I shave with straights, but I'll occasionally shave with an AC format shavette. Had a Feather Pro literally quit cutting hair on the first pass of the fourth shave.
 
I usually decline. At last count my blade stash was over 5000 and 25 types. I'm almost 62 so the math is not in my favor... if I expect variety in my shaves, it's root hog or die.

I am 68. Variety is fine!

I must have somewhere around 4k blades, never really counted. Have 25 varieties of a minimum of 100-count. Several are much greater than one hundred.

That being said, I usually shave 5x per week so I'll usually just pick a new blade/flavor after that fifth shave.

Its really Not that much different than myself. We are both essentially changing out out blades on a weekly basis. This is what makes the most sense to me.
 
A DE blade used in a shavette usually last longer.
When you are a using a shavette you are in full control of the blade angle. By using a shallow angle you are putting less lateral force on the edge, which causes less micro chipping, which is the main wear cause of a de blade.
I think this is a very important factor: shallow angle -> less micro chipping, steep angle -> way more micro chipping. So a razor you use at a shallow angle will make blade life longer.
Micro chipping can indeed cause quite sudden wear of the blade edge.
 
Earlier this week, I had two great shaves with a Gillette Platinum. The third shave wasn't good at all. The blade had given up the ghost quite drastically in quick fashion sooner than expected.
 
Earlier this week, I had two great shaves with a Gillette Platinum. The third shave wasn't good at all. The blade had given up the ghost quite drastically in quick fashion sooner than expected.
Same thing here today. Second shave with a platinum and ATG below jawline was a bit scratchy. 1 small weeper.

Every time a see a thread about blades and longevity I feel like people should say how many passes and in which direction they are shaving.

A blade can be used easily for over 5 shaves if you’re doing WTG/XTG only.

It’s the ATG that really shows the wear of an edge.

And that usually comes way faster.
 
I think this is a very important factor: shallow angle -> less micro chipping, steep angle -> way more micro chipping. So a razor you use at a shallow angle will make blade life longer.
Micro chipping can indeed cause quite sudden wear of the blade edge.
The MIT razor blade study did confirm that shaving angle has an impact on the level of microchipping. Wonder if it's enough for a sudden deterioration of the blade versus a significant acceleration of the gradual decline in cutting edge quality? In other words instead of a blade gradually wearing over say 8-10 shaves it declines at an accelerated pace of just 4-5 shaves.

I always try to maintain a consistent blade angle so have no direct observations of this effect. Have you adjusted your angle and seen this?
 
Mostly it's a gradual 'dulling' over 5 or 6, 3-pass shaves. But, here recently, I had a blade (Astra SP) start to pull on the 4th, 3-pass shave. It surprised me. It has not repeated itself, so, I think it might be a one-time aberration? Every once in awhile, you get a 'Dud'.

b/r

ON_1
 
For me most blades dull gradually. As others have noted, Feathers dull more suddenly. When I first started DE shaving, I did all kinds of experiments and found that palm stropping does extend the life of some blades.

I would guess that the oils from skin and maybe the oils from shaving soap can serve a protective function. I have found that blot drying a blade with a towel prior to storage seems to help me get the best use out of a blade. I always store the blades outside of the razor, but that’s mainly to protect my razors.
 
Earlier this week, I had two great shaves with a Gillette Platinum. The third shave wasn't good at all. The blade had given up the ghost quite drastically in quick fashion sooner than expected.
I can see that happening with a Platinum. For me it’s the smoothest of all blades. That also means that any drop off would be very noticeable. I love the Platinum and I can always get more than 3 shaves out of it, but in my hands it does not last as long as the Rubie, Nacet or SIs.
 
Top Bottom