Effect of Shaving Soap on Blade life

[Ski-Patroller]

Today I was using a Feather blade for the third time (in a new Feather AS razor). I tried a new shaving soap, and was surprised that the blade felt repetitively dull from the get go, and seemed to get worse. I normally get 4 or 5 good shaves out of a Feather in my various Merkur razors, so I'm trying to figure out whether it is the different soap, or the Feather AS razor that caused the apparently short blade life. I bowl lather but work it in on my face pretty well. I do a 3 pass shave.

What (if any) soap characteristics might tend to make a blade feel dull sooner than normal?

 

[jgkeegan]

Today I was using a Feather blade for the third time (in a new Feather AS razor). I tried a new shaving soap, and was surprised that the blade felt repetitively dull from the get go, and seemed to get worse. I normally get 4 or 5 good shaves out of a Feather in my various Merkur razors, so I'm trying to figure out whether it is the different soap, or the Feather AS razor that caused the apparently short blade life. I bowl lather but work it in on my face pretty well. I do a 3 pass shave.

What (if any) soap characteristics might tend to make a blade feel dull sooner than normal?

From what you wrote, I don't think the blade was dulled. I think the soap you used (the new soap) caused the blade to feel dull. If the blade itself were flawed, you would have felt that something was off during your 2nd shave with it.

--james

 

[Ski-Patroller]

I thought that might be the case.

One thing though, the second and third passes were progressively worse. Usually if my prep is rushed the subsequent passes get better.

 

[BladeDE40]

You weren't using Williams were you?

 

[Ski-Patroller]

You weren't using Williams were you?

Not for a year. My usual soap is Van der Hagen Glycerin, but the new one was Ogalla Bay Rum.