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Extending the life of DE/SE blades.

After seeing lots of people saying that if you put your blades inside mineral oil after every shave, the blades will last a lot longer so i've decided to try it out myself and see if I can get at least one extra shave out of any of the DE and also the Personna GEM blades I have.

After testing 5 DE blades and 2 GEM blades I came to the conclusion, that the blades feel pretty much the same with or without the mineral oil and that I couldn't even get one extra shave. The only thing that i've noticed is that the blades look like brand new and usually my blades get tea stains after a couple of shaves, but in terms of performance I didn't feel any difference at all.

I've also tried stopping my DE and GEM blades a few times, but that only made them less sharp. I usually tap dry my blades gently on a soft towel and put them on a magnet for the next shave. Does mineral oil or stropping works for you or do you know any other method of ''extending'' the life of your DE blade?
I'm doing it mostly for fun and if I can squeeze even one good shave out of a blade that would be nice.
 
Mineral oil is only going to make a difference with carbon blades which can rust. I just dry my carbon blades and put them away. It’s all a matter of the humidity where you live.
Stropping certainly extends the life of blades. Carbon steel especially. No differently than a straight razor. I find it keeps the edges of my SS PTFE blades tuned up as well.
I use a Stropper designed for SE blades as well as my Valet razors that have the stropping mechanism built in.
I can see where hand stropping by holding on to the spine of the razor and stropping manually could have the effect of rounding off the edge of a blade.
 
I've been doing the One-blade-in-February-Challenge. I have 23 shaves on a Gillette Nacet Stainless. I've not engaged in any blade gymnastics at all. Meaning, no flipping, no stropping, no taking out and drying between shaves. I put the blade in the razor, shave, and rinse after use. The blade stays in the razor until I swap it out, or I bin it.
 
Flipping a blade helps a bit. But for me it depends a lot on the razor and prep. Scrub my face first and make it slick and the blade life extends a bit.
But the same blade in different razors makes a difference too.

With feather fhs in a oneblade I tried the drying palm stropping etc too it made the second shave marginal better the third was already mediocre.

example
Gillette silver blue
Snmirn (futul mk2) 4-5 days
qshave futul 7 days
Broman (half de) easily Total 14-20 days.
The broman has a build in shave angle it pivots and it is mild. The other two are on the more agressive side of de.
All 3 razors are heavy.
Pretty sure that angle (technique) and blade exposure makes a difference.

Oh shave oil (floid) sometimes helps to squeeze some extra life out of a blade.
 
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Ever Ready Blade Stropper (demo blade)
AEED16EE-B93F-4DDC-BBD8-235DF5A4243C.jpeg

Valet AutoStrop Razor
0F950F17-DF1E-4010-9992-A7A55C922373.jpeg
 
I've heard somebody say that drying the blade between uses prevents micro corrosion on the blade edge. And who knows, that might be a big deal.

But other than that I've documented all of my theories and guesses and tips as I've taken my Nacet to 366 uses...


The top ones in my opinion are good technique, like a light touch, and a really slick wet hydrated lather.

We've had guys make it to 100 with dense wiry stubble, and so it doesn't seem like hair type matters as much as some people think.

(Sent from mobile)
 
I have honed blades before using a McKee glass hone similar to the photo attached (the one I have is not milk glass, but green glass). I think it works well, but with the price of blades, it's far easier to put the used blade in the bank and use a new one.
download.jpg
 

Mike M

...but this one IS cracked.
I used to get 5 shaves from a blade, nowadays I manage 12-16 although I am currently in the one blade February challenge and have reached 23 shaves with a BIC Chrome Platinum. Between shaves I remove it from the razor, pat it dry and store it in its paper.
The secret to extending blade life is good technique and a good lather. I have used all my soaps, good and bad this month but made sure to create a good lather with all of them and I still think I'll reach the end of the month with it.
 
According to scientific research ,
two main variables dull a shaving blade:
A ) The blade’s approaching angle to a strand of hair ,which can cause chipping on the edge of a blade .


B ) The corrosion of the sharp edge.
( Yes, the stainless steel used for
making shaving blades does corrode ,
since it is martensitic )


Thus, blade service life is prolonged
as long as the hair strands are cut as perpendicularly as possible ( = shallow blade angle on high emerging angle stubble and steep blade angle on low
emerging angle stubble) and as long
the blade is stored in protective environment ( low air circulation and low humidity ) .

Meaning :
Shave with the appropriate angle of attack and store the blade dry & clean,inside it’s paper wrap ,when not in use.

Proper handling is necessary,of course.
 
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Ron R

I survived a lathey foreman
If a person wants to keep a little more life in a blade there are a few things that can help.
Hydrate beard whiskers before shaving, I brush wash my whole face with CeraVe hand bar cleanser with hydrating properties(excellent for dry eye also & allergies). A hydrated beard whisker is easier to slice than a slightly hydrated one.
A person should wash face before shaving according to Gillette and other known razor company's.
Water is enemy of a blade edge that should be concerning for folks who like to shave count uses even if it is a stainless steel blade.
If a person likes to leave his blade in the razor just give it a few shakes and just blow it dry with your lung power. I take my blades out if possible and tap dry on a dry part of the towel and store in between a few modified business magnets and then flip blade when using a different razor with the same blade(I have a large razor rotation). Works for me and I get reasonable results.
DE razor blades(100pc lots) are very well priced for now and so getting a lot of uses is not a big priority for some folks but that can change like the times so enjoy.
Blade storage 2 (2).jpg
blade_angle-se-de.gif

Have some great shaves! Stay & think safe in these times!
 
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For me the thing that makes a blade last longer is better prep. If I do my normal 2 or 3 minute beard prep where I put some lather on my face and let it sit there a few minutes then lightly rinse and apply my shaving lather, my DE blades last about 3 shaves. If I lengthen that prep to the point where my whiskers are really soft (which can take me 10 minutes sometimes) I've made a DE blade go 20 shaves and probably could have kept going but that much prep just isn't something I have time for every day.

I have thicker than average whiskers, both in density and diameter. My blades usually start to feel rough before they start to tug but I stick with pretty sharp DE's and injectors most of the time. I've tried Gem type SE's before and they were far too tuggy even on the first shave for me so it may just be that they don't start out all that sharp and it doesn't take them long to dull even more.
 

Ron R

I survived a lathey foreman
According to scientific research ,
two main variables dull a shaving blade:
A ) The blade’s approaching angle to a strand of hair ,which can cause chipping on the edge of a blade .


B ) The corrosion of the sharp edge.
( Yes, the stainless steel used for
making shaving blades does corrode ,
since it is martensitic )


Thus, blade service life is prolonged
as long as the hair strands are cut as perpendicularly as possible ( = shallow blade angle on high emerging angle stubble and steep blade angle on low
emerging angle stubble) and as long
the blade is stored in protective environment ( low air circulation and low humidity ) .

Meaning :
Shave with the appropriate angle of attack and store the blade dry & clean,inside it’s paper wrap ,when not in use.

Proper handling is necessary,of course.
That is a excellent article on razor edge chipping and the video is just amazing how they captioned it live slicing whiskers.
 
I always shave after I take a shower and I always wash my beard with a shampoo and i've noticed recently that after my old shampoo was finished and now i'm using a new shampoo from another brand, my shaves aren't as comfortable. There might be another reason for that, but I think the older shampoo somehow softened my beard much better and the new one isn't.
 
I think the main idea behind stropping is to remove the soap residue and smooth out the burs that can come up from the coatings. I don't think it really extends life of the blade or else they would never have to hone straight razors.
 
I used to think I got more shaves because I shaved every day. Now, I shave every few days, and it doesn't seem to make a difference.

In my opinion, the best way to get a large number of shaves from a blade is to keep shaving with it. A light touch helps. And getting past the first 20 or so shaves makes a huge difference.
 

Tirvine

ancient grey sweatophile
I've been doing the One-blade-in-February-Challenge. I have 23 shaves on a Gillette Nacet Stainless. I've not engaged in any blade gymnastics at all. Meaning, no flipping, no stropping, no taking out and drying between shaves. I put the blade in the razor, shave, and rinse after use. The blade stays in the razor until I swap it out, or I bin it.
That is my SOP, too. I can get thirty off a Crystal and could likely take it further if so inclined. The various discussions about taking blades out and doing various additional things reminds me of the discussions about supposedly audible differences between audio cables on a stereo forum.
 
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I think the main idea behind stropping is to remove the soap residue and smooth out the burs that can come up from the coatings. I don't think it really extends life of the blade or else they would never have to hone straight razors.
No, the proponents of stropping would claim that it does actually help to realign the micro edge of the blade just like it does a straight razor blade.

And since a straight razor edge, while properly maintained with stropping, under skilled hands, can give you 200 or 300 shaves before needing to be refreshed... I think that's a pretty good parallel to a DE blade that does not get refreshed, but provides 100 uses for many shavers around here.

(Sent from mobile)
 
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