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How many times do you use the same blade in your DE razor?

How many complete shaves per blade (ON AVERAGE)?

  • 1

  • 2

  • 3

  • 4

  • 5

  • 6

  • 7 or more

  • What is this nonsense? I use a straight razor like a real man should.


Results are only viewable after voting.
I started wet shaving a couple of months ago. One reason was to save money. I bought a 100 pack of Astra SP's for $10 and decided to make them last at least a year. I shave every day so if I only change blades every 4 days, that's less than $10 spent on blades for a year if I don't buy any more blades. We won't discuss my 3 DE razors, 6 soaps/creams, 4 brushes, or numerous aftershaves and colognes. I think it was Lee Iacocca who said, "People want economy and they will pay any price to get it."
 
Gillette silver blues 5-9

I just replace them when they start tugging . Some blades are just better then others like cars
 
This is so odd that I just noticed today.
My usual routine was to open the DE part way, rinse it off and set it down awaiting the next shave.
Following that procedure I would get 2-3 shaves per blade.
I use the Gillette Bleue Extra.

Well just this past week, I had forgotten to open it up and rinse it out and so far I have gotten 6 shaves off of it.
That's an amazing number for me and maybe it's just this blade, but I for sure am going to try it again.

I would like someone else to give it a try and see how it works out.
 
I used to be a 3 days and out guy. Bet then, I started just pitching the blade when it started to feel significantly dull, or tugged. Now, I routinely get 10+ shaves - often more than this. I use Feathers almost exclusively. My beard is not terribly fast growing, but it is pretty rough. It's a sandpaper sort of feel after 24 hours. The key to extending blade life is a good hot rinse, keeping the blade dry (blow it off after use), and using a shallow blade angle. Steep angles wear out blades very quickly due to forces being applied perpendicular to the edge, rather than parallel to it, resulting in scraping the hair, instead of cutting it straight on.
I think there is something in what you say. I have taken a feather to 21 shaves and it is still shaving comfortably. I had some razor burn on the neck on shave #10 but I kept going in case it was my technique on the day. Sure enough that problem has not returned. Apart from good lather I think wetting the stubble well before shaving is the key. I also had 21 shaves out of Astra SS and Rapira blades.
 
This is so odd that I just noticed today.
My usual routine was to open the DE part way, rinse it off and set it down awaiting the next shave.
Following that procedure I would get 2-3 shaves per blade.
I use the Gillette Bleue Extra.

Well just this past week, I had forgotten to open it up and rinse it out and so far I have gotten 6 shaves off of it.
That's an amazing number for me and maybe it's just this blade, but I for sure am going to try it again.

I would like someone else to give it a try and see how it works out.


This, I think, deserves a new thread. As noted, this particular blade may be a statistical outlier, so it may fail to pan out. But follow up of anecdotal evidence is how most experiments start.
 
I started out thinking I would use a blade until I thought it was worn out, but I ended up just starting anew on Mondays. Now I figure 5-7 shaves on a blade is good enough, and I don't want to be bothered with starting a shave and realizing the blade needs to be changed. I've used a few blades so far and it doesn't matter, new blade on Monday, works for me.
 
I go for three shaves and then get a fresh blade. I am using feather blades in a Gillette Super Speed A1. One hting that I find interesting is that the second shave with these blades is by far the best. Has anyone else experienced this?
 
4 about on average but really when I feel performance slipping. Varies by blade. When sampling a new blade I will also always take it as far as I comfortably can to see where the line is.
 
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I was using the RiteAid brand blades my first few weeks and I noticed they were pretty used up by my 3rd shave. I would get bad razor burn on the lower part of my neck. This was always a troublesome spot as I have to go in a few directions to get it bbs but I never got razor burn there before. I was geting the burn even on the first shave with those blades. My buddy Toothpick on here sent me a sampler and I tried one for the first time yesterday, Gillette silver blue. What a difference! Very smooth sharp blade. No irritation whatsoever.
 
2-3 depending on blade. Got 5 once out of an Astra SP but that was pushing it. Most of the time 3 is safe and 4 is starting to hurt.
 
I've found 5 shaves to be the magic number for me. On some blades 5 is pushing it, and on some blades they could go a day or two more, but 5 is a nice happy median that doesn't require any thought, so it is naturally what I go for.
 
I do about 5 for astra, but I do not count normally. The wife got me a 10 pack of Lord's and I did not make one shave with it.
 
I use Astra SP's and previously the Walmart Wilkies. I usually can get 5 shaves from either and then I tend not to shave on my weekend.

But every now and then I may go an extra shave or two, and sometimes a blade seems shot after 3-4 shaves.
 
I voted three as I'm still working my way through my sample packs and that's roughly what I get out of even the dullest blade.
My top blade choices so far , Labs and Tesco's; I can get six.
I think I could stretch a Lab to seven or eight but don't see the point as they're pretty cheap by the hundred.
 
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