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How many shaves from a Merkur Double Edge?

I'm new to the world of safety razors, I just purchased a Futur & Merkur blades and would like to know how many shaves I can expect from each blade. I have a heavy beard, and formerly got 3-5 shaves out of my Gillette Mach 3's.

Also, do you keep track of how many shaves from each side of the razor? What about flipping the razor?
 
M

modern man

YMMV

I switch sides with every pass.

I get about 5 shaves per blade. If you feel tugging or slight irritation then its time for a change.
 
I usually get about 4 shaves out of each blade. I also switch sides of the DE, usually let each side shave half of my face.
 
I'm new to the world of safety razors, I just purchased a Futur & Merkur blades and would like to know how many shaves I can expect from each blade. I have a heavy beard, and formerly got 3-5 shaves out of my Gillette Mach 3's.

Also, do you keep track of how many shaves from each side of the razor? What about flipping the razor?

Hello, and welcome to the world of wet shaving. I use the merkurs and derbys. I cannot get a descent shave after one shave maybe 2. So instead of deal with lame shaving (not worth the abuse to my face--which I prize higher than a dumb blade of steel), I use the derbys and pitch them after a shave. Flipping them inside the razor is pointless--although people do this, because the razor edge is so fragile it is getting hammered after the first shave anyhow. I think I get less nicks with the merkurs, but not worth the cost in my opinion for how quickly you should dispose of them and replace the blade.
Hope this helps,
Jason
 
Two shave so far and all is well. I've got a 10-pack of 99-cent SuperMax (from India) i'm goning to give a whirl. Any experience with SuperMax, am I making a mistake? Are the Feather razors as sharp as I've read?
 
My advice would be to hold off on the Feathers for a while. They really are too sharp for learning. The Merkurs are a good middle-of-the-road compromise. I get 4-7 shaves per blade, and I can't explain the difference. My beard is not heavy, but I change the blade when it feels "wrong." You'll know what that means pretty soon. When I try to stretch it for another shave or two, I get some bad irritation. Also, I alternate for each pass.
 
Thanks to all. I am excited about shaving these days (I feel like I'm 16 again, I'm 38). I simply burnt-out on multi-razor arrays from Gillette & Schick, too expensive & too snake-oily, you know? I like the nostalgia, I like knowing I can shave like grandpa did.
 
4 shaves 3 passes each.
I have a thick beard.
i did in fact make the 5th and 6th only to feel the razor burn from the bluntness of the blade hence I will be sticking to 4 shaves per blade.
 
I toss any blade after it's 3rd shave. Still vastly cheaper than your M3 cartridges getting 5 shaves. I also use the right and left side of the blade but if you are asking if I take the blade out of the razor and flip it over, I've never tried that. That could be an interesting experiment as shaving may be creating a micro wire edge just as you can get on a knife.

Again, if you buy your blades in bulk, you can get them down to 15 to 20 cents apiece. I haven't priced any M3's lately but I did see some Fusion cartridges at Target for about $ 3 per cartridge. Obscene!
 
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