Frugal (i.e. Cheap) approach to blade usage

[shavervinnie]

Good Saturday to you fine gents!!

Got a question for discussion. With the relatively low cost of DE blades, does it make sense to take any chances ? I've seen many posts where guys talk about getting up to 4 or 5 shaves with a blade. Could this be people with light beards?

My experience is that when I try to be frugal (read: cheap) an irritating shave can develop very quickly. When I stick to no more than 2 or 3 shaves with ANY blade the results are usually outstanding. I have very good technique and excellent gear. It seems to me that the newer the blade the better.

I know there are frugal people out there and YMMV always applies. I have what I would consider a normal, masculine-type beard, full stubble coverage with no bare spots. But, it's probably not as thick or difficult as some guys have on this forum, I'm sure.

It seems like, in an effort to be frugal, we run the risk of a bad shave which, of course, sucks.

Any opinions are valued.

Randall

 

[_JP_]

I simply let the blade tell me when it is done. I don't go to any lengths at all to try to extend the life of the blade by either dipping it in something, removing it from the razor and drying it, or using stroppers or magnets to keep the edge sharp.

The best way to save money on blades is to buy them in bulk lots of 100 or more. Once you find the blades you like that is the way to go.

 

[shavervinnie]

I simply let the blade tell me when it is done. I don't go to any lengths at all to try to extend the life of the blade by either dipping it in something, removing it from the razor and drying it, or using stroppers or magnets to keep the edge sharp.

The best way to save money on blades is to buy them in bulk lots of 100 or more. Once you find the blades you like that is the way to go.

I hear you. I guess I'm posing the questions from a more philosophical perspective. i.e., does it make sense for anyone to take a fairly low cost item and try to manage it's usage even more cheaply ?

I don't have problem using a new higher cost blade every other day, for instance. I'm not rich or anything. It seems like if you wait for the blade to tell you when it's done that you could need to change it in the middle of a shave, which would aggravate me. So, if you get, say, 2 & 1/2 or 2 &1/4 shaves from a particular blade, would it seem logical to just always change it out after the second shave?

In comparing the use/value costs of DE shaving to cartridge shaving, it just seems that even the "so-called" expensive DE blades are still a bargain. Also, the process and results are so much more enjoyable

 

[_JP_]

I hear you. I guess I'm posing the questions from a more philosophical perspective. i.e., does it make sense for anyone to take a fairly low cost item and try to manage it's usage even more cheaply ?

How much time and effort do you want to put into it?

 

[WhosYerBob]

With my pelt of small tree trunks, I get at best 3 shaves per blade. And even then the 3rd shave is rough toward the end.

 

[shavervinnie]

How much time and effort do you want to put into it?

I guess not too much of either. Early morning shave time is valuable and it seems that changing blades in the middle of a shave breaks up my routine in a way that I don't like. Really not worried about saving $5 or so a month on blades by managing blade life that precisely. Seems like we would all be to busy/productive to care that much. As I said, even the high-end blades seem cheap to me. Others may disagree.

I think of the funny black guy on the MacDonalds commercially using a vise to get the last drop of toothpaste out of the tube. LOL, It's funny and obsessive at the same time. Anyway, as I said, to me it's more of a philosophical than an economic question. Just thought I'd throw it out there for some others to comment. I appreciate yours, and BTW, I like that Charlie Chaplin avatar. I own some of his films on DVD. His genius is lost to a lot of later generations, which is a shame.

Cheers,
Ranbdall

 

[withoutink]

De's are still cheaper than cartridge blades even to2-3 shaves each.

 

[82R100]

You're just not tuning into the joys of frugality.

I'll sometimes get a rough shave around #2 or #3 on a blade but decide to try another the next day and discover that it wasn't the blade after all--just a quirk in my technique that day.

Frugality is the deep satisfaction of squeezing what you can out of your pennies, no matter how irrational it might seem to everyone else.

Yankee magazine many years ago had a contest in which they solicited anecdotes of yankee frugality from its readership and the resulting winners were pretty good.

One was of a fellow who bought a $.15 shoeshine rag when he entered the service during WWII and proceeded to use it for the next several decades. Another (extreme) case was a widow woman who took tea and toast for breakfast each day. She was concerned about the wasted heat from the unused slot in her toaster, so she resolved to toast two pieces of bread at a time and have the second one cold the following day. Make no mistake--she wasn't miserable. She was triumphant, in a reserved way.

- Chris

 

[DunEdinRanger]

I can get about 5-6 good shaves out of most blades. Though I can get more, I use what I call the Branch Rickey approach. I try to dump a blade one shave before it goes bad.

I can tell this because there is a slightly perceptible drop in shave quality. Perhaps the shave wasn't as smooth, or it takes longer to get a shave as close as the day before. That's the sign for me.

Will it continue to give good shaves? Yes, but at greater effort and irritation.

 

[shavervinnie]

You're just not tuning into the joys of frugality.

I'll sometimes get a rough shave around #2 or #3 on a blade but decide to try another the next day and discover that it wasn't the blade after all--just a quirk in my technique that day.

Frugality is the deep satisfaction of squeezing what you can out of your pennies, no matter how irrational it might seem to everyone else.

Yankee magazine many years ago had a contest in which they solicited anecdotes of yankee frugality from its readership and the resulting winners were pretty good.

One was of a fellow who bought a $.15 shoeshine rag when he entered the service during WWII and proceeded to use it for the next several decades. Another (extreme) case was a widow woman who took tea and toast for breakfast each day. She was concerned about the wasted heat from the unused slot in her toaster, so she resolved to toast two pieces of bread at a time and have the second one cold the following day. Make no mistake--she wasn't miserable. She was triumphant, in a reserved way.

- Chris

Maybe I just have a deep-rooted, unrecognized desire to make a bigger carbon footprint

 

[Chevyguy]

I can get about 5-6 good shaves out of most blades. Though I can get more, I use what I call the Branch Rickey approach. I try to dump a blade one shave before it goes bad.

I can tell this because there is a slightly perceptible drop in shave quality. Perhaps the shave wasn't as smooth, or it takes longer to get a shave as close as the day before. That's the sign for me.

Will it continue to give good shaves? Yes, but at greater effort and irritation.

+1 on this. This is exactly how I do it.

Clayton

 

[HDPaul]

+1 on this. This is exactly how I do it.

Clayton

Me too! There is a curve to blade failure. When I feel the performance has dropped a tiny bit, I toss it because I know the next shave will be bad.

I don't count the shaves but I get approximately 4 shaves per blade, +/- 1 depending on the brand.

Also, I am frugal with most things so I can afford to buy a variety of creams, soaps, etc, haha

 

[82R100]

Maybe I just have a deep-rooted, unrecognized desire to make a bigger carbon footprint

You mean you use an entire toaster for one slice of bread?

 

[CarlJN]

Eh I'll get 5+ out of one Red Pack IP usually. Sometimes I get 2. I just start on the same cheek everytime which is pretty much nick-proof, and see if it drags too much. And I have a thick, thick beard, and I have to get BBS every day for work, and I dont do anymore preshave during the week than a shower or a hot water 10 second rinse!

 

[Mink]

I have a light, patchy beard and sensitive skin. The first shave from a Feather can cause quite a bit of burn and a red face if I'm not careful. After that, I just stay with the blade until I have a shave that requires more strokes or more pressure to get the same result. The number of shaves per blade varies. I go by the ongoing quality of the shave with the blade versus the number of shaves per blade.

 

[synapticmisfires]

To me, it'd be more effort to remember to dump the blade every xth shave than to just go until I have my first iffy shave and dump the blade afterwards. It's how I operate with contact lenses too, and so I usually wear my acuvue 2's for a lot more than the prescribed two weeks. They're more expensive than blades, but I don't view it as taking chances with my eyesight I view it as letting my body tell me when it needs new ones.

 

[sfbobus]

Maybe I just have a deep-rooted, unrecognized desire to make a bigger carbon footprint

I am in the group that does two or three shaves on a DE blade and about five on a SE then packs it in. I can do enough harm without fighting a worn blade.

Great avatar by the way.

 

[mblakele]

You're just not tuning into the joys of frugality.

By coincidence, this story was in the WSJ 79 years ago today:

An old and practical New England lady was on her deathbed. She called her favorite niece Grace and said “'I want to be laid out in my black silk dress; but take out the back panel and make yourself a dress from it.' Grace said: 'Oh, Aunt Mary, I don't want to do that. When you and Uncle Charlie walk up the golden stairs, I don't want people to see you without any back in your dress' 'They won't look at me,' the old lady replied. ' I buried your Uncle Charlie without his pants.'”