I only use blades once

[mata_66]

If our grandfathers could read this post they would all turn in their graves. I guess it's an effect of consumerism taken to the extreme. Agreed, blades are cheap, but throwing them away just because I can...
It's like buying some bread and eat only the first three loafs because I don't like to eat at dinner from the bag I opened at lunch.
Please forget this unnecessary philosophical rant

 

[jcmGT]

I suggest you try a least 2 shaves with a blade because the 2 & 3 shaves when face shaving are the sharpest and can be the smoother, it is a known fact of shaving. There is a person that test blades and he has some fancy equipment for testing sharpest and feel of the blade + head shaves & he has found 2nd shave on the head is the sharpest. He tests the sharpness of a new blade out of the wrapper and then shaves and tests sharpness again and then he shaves a 2nd time and measures sharpness after 1st and 2nd shave and does a percentage gain or loss of sharpness.

This is exactly why I'm a one and done. I'm challenged with maintaining consistency in technique - blade angle, speed, cream application and stroke direction for various regions on the face. With one and done, at least the blade sharpness is repeatable, even if less than the sharpest it can be.
But, hey, that's just me.

 

[Ron R]

I'm the curious type, but how often do you shave?

 

[Chelko]

I use a blade at the very least 5 times. I actually almost never enjoy the first two shaves and will probably have excellent, safe shaves in the next 5.
For me, it is not a matter of how cheap they are, it is a matter of not being wasteful with things that haven't reach the end of their life cycles.

 

[jcmGT]

I'm the curious type, but how often do you shave?

If you are asking me, typically every 3 days.

Not trying to convince folks my way is right, only sharing what I do. Sharing ideas is how we learn.

 

[ivan_101]

I may be in a bit of a minority here, but I throw my blades out after every use. I've always been like that, going back to when I used to use the disposable cartridge razors. Using it more than once feels wrong to me, I can't quite get over it, despite how many people on here say that blades get better after the first use.

The only blade(s) I used multiple times were the gillette fusion/mach/whatever 5 blade cartridges, and that was mainly down to not shaving often and not wanting to fork out for the super expensive blades.

Good for you!

 

[Cal]

I can only get 6 shaves out of a SE AC blade, when many people get 10 or more... I'm sure some of it depends on our shaving techniques... but how our whiskers dull an edge has to be a factor too, one would think. I've read that shaving actually sharpens then hones the DE blades... but I don't understand that.. It that is true, when I use a kitchen knife, it would sharpen itself when cutting and hone it on the "back stroke", if there is one.

Think about the cutting angle, Kim.

Food is cut with the edge/front of the blade whereas whiskers are cut with the bevel/side of the blade.

 

[Phoenixkh]

Think about the cutting angle, Kim.

Food is cut with the edge/front of the blade whereas whiskers are cut with the bevel/side of the blade.

I have pondered it more than I'd like to admit. I still don't get it... all my good knives have a V bevel on them as well. I need to look more closely at a razor blade's bevel/side to see how it actually works. I don't understand it, that's for sure. I do know, or at least, I think I know... even with modifying my technique or I should say, improving it, DE blades tug and pull about half way through my third shave. That's why I started binning them after two shaves. I dislike changing blades in the middle of a shave but I have done that a few times.

 

[Chabu]

I get two shaves out of a Feather and four from my trusted Dorco ST300. I could stretch beyond those but I both blades show slight deterioration after those numbers. I really get amazing shaves from my Dorcos and they have become my top dogs. I have found that the 2nd shave is slightly better than the first and the quality holds through the fourth day.

 

[mozartman]

I may be in a bit of a minority here, but I throw my blades out after every use. I've always been like that, going back to when I used to use the disposable cartridge razors. Using it more than once feels wrong to me, I can't quite get over it, despite how many people on here say that blades get better after the first use.

The only blade(s) I used multiple times were the gillette fusion/mach/whatever 5 blade cartridges, and that was mainly down to not shaving often and not wanting to fork out for the super expensive blades.

I hear ya. Gillette Fusion cartridges are what got me out of cartridge razors and into DE razors and blades. Spectacularly overpriced and underperforming, especially in how many shaves one could, or couldn't, get out of them. As for how many shaves one can get from a DE blade, as many here have said already, you do you. I've found that Feather blades aren't quite as effective after the first shave, but as for most others, the 2nd and 3rd shaves are usually the best ones, the 4th and 5th still OK, and while some blades are usable more than five times, the resulting shaves may no longer be as close as one might want. But that's just me.

 

[Dalejr]

As a vintage blade user this would be wasteful for me for 2 reasons. One better quality and longevity & increased cost per blade but for the majority out there its a non issue to be a one and done kind of shaver. Cost per blade is still one of the cheapest elements of wet shaving and its the blade that's actually removing the hair, everything else is just an aid in the process.

 

[Zora]

If our grandfathers could read this post they would all turn in their graves. I guess it's an effect of consumerism taken to the extreme. Agreed, blades are cheap, but throwing them away just because I can...
It's like buying some bread and eat only the first three loafs because I don't like to eat at dinner from the bag I opened at lunch.
Please forget this unnecessary philosophical rant

You might be right but remember that blades were more expensive for them ( the companies made their profit on blades). They would also be shocked that you could get 100 Lord Silver Star blades for 7.99 or 100 Derby USTA blades for less than $5

 

[Alum Ladd]

You might be right but remember that blades were more expensive for them ( the companies made their profit on blades). They would also be shocked that you could get 100 Lord Silver Star blades for 7.99 or 100 Derby USTA blades for less than $5

In 1950 $5 had the purchasing power of $62.07 today.

In the same year $7.99 would be about $99.19. $7.99 in 1950 → 2023 | Inflation Calculator - https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1950?amount=7.99

the average US salary at the same time was $3,300. Income of Families and Persons in the United States: 1950 - https://www.census.gov/library/publications/1952/demo/p60-009.html

It probably works out about the same as cart prices now as a percentage of income, and if you use one a week.

They would probably have been just as depressed by 2023 DE blade prices given the average wage in say 1950!

Excuse my eccentricities on this, but I am fascinated by historical purchasing power and comparing income and commodity prices.

My history and political sciences degree interests still kicking in, after all these years!

 

[cwright]

If it works for you it's the right thing to do. The 2nd shave with a blade is usually the best for me.

 

[amdamsky]

In 1950 $5 had the purchasing power of $62.07 today.

In the same year $7.99 would be about $99.19. $7.99 in 1950 → 2023 | Inflation Calculator - https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1950?amount=7.99

the average US salary at the same time was $3,300. Income of Families and Persons in the United States: 1950 - https://www.census.gov/library/publications/1952/demo/p60-009.html

It probably works out about the same as cart prices now as a percentage of income, and if you use one a week.

They would probably have been just as depressed by 2023 DE blade prices given the average wage in say 1950!

Excuse my eccentricities on this, but I am fascinated by historical purchasing power and comparing income and commodity prices.

My history and political sciences degree interests still kicking in, after all these years!

Honestly that seems about correct. I've seen old film of people buying single blades at a time, showing that each individual blade must have cost enough to justify it from a shops perspective, as well as old "blade vending machines" which show how expensive packs of only 4 could be! Its not quite as much as cartridges cost today, but its definitely comparable.

 

[Eric_75]

I'm one and done with every blade now. I like a fresh blade with every shave.

 

[Sabres_Edge]

I've stretched Nacets out to 8 shaves with palm-stropping and making sure to flip the blade at the same time. But then I asked myself if saving a few cents per shave would be worth the cut I'll eventually have to heal?

3 shaves for most blades. Astra SP's only give me 2 before a steep dropoff.

 

[Lane101]

Honestly that seems about correct. I've seen old film of people buying single blades at a time, showing that each individual blade must have cost enough to justify it from a shops perspective, as well as old "blade vending machines" which show how expensive packs of only 4 could be! Its not quite as much as cartridges cost today, but its definitely comparable.

In a lot of third world countries DE blades are purchased one at a time. That's one reason Dorco changed its DE blade containers from plastic tucks with single wrapped blades to double wrapped blades on paper tucks. On the double wrapped blades the outer wrapping has a bar code to help enable single blade sales.

 

[srgjazz]

To me, throwing away a Gillette Nacet for example, after one shave, would be like throwing away a bottle of Glenlivet Scotch after one shot. But to each his own.

Not an equivalent analogy. The Scotch will be the same from the first sip to the bottom of the bottle. From my experience blades only get worse with each shave. I know a lot of people have a different experience and that’s fair enough. For me I prefer to shave with a fresh blade.

 

[srgjazz]

If our grandfathers could read this post they would all turn in their graves. I guess it's an effect of consumerism taken to the extreme. Agreed, blades are cheap, but throwing them away just because I can...
It's like buying some bread and eat only the first three loafs because I don't like to eat at dinner from the bag I opened at lunch.
Please forget this unnecessary philosophical rant

The French people typically buy a fresh loaf for each meal. They might be on to something.