Increase Life Of Blade

[sonny123]

Hi Guys,

Been switching between the the golf and cricket on telly and my eyes needed a break, so i'm on the PC for a bit lol.


I use the edge marked 1 on a blade. I've used it 4 x. First 3 x were fine. 4th was acceptable. I then rotated the blade to edge 2 for my 5th shave.

I could only get one shave out of edge 2? how come?
Also, anyone know what this brown stuff is:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/album.php?albumid=599&pictureid=892


I notice it develops on every blade I have tried from a sample pack.
I shave every other day. After a shave, I let the gilette black beauty razor (with blade inside) air dry.

After 4-5 days the brown stuff appears, not necessarily on the edge but on the top (see pic). If I flip over the blade so edges 3 and 4 are facing me, i see NO brown stuff. I've never tried using edge 3 or 4 for a shave. Should I use edges 1 and 3 from now as these are the farthest from each other?


Cheers,


Sonny


ps. I have seen the youtube clip of 'stropping'. This involves 'slapping' the blade onto and off the edge of the palm of your hand. I will try it. Should this help get an extra shave?

 

[gone down south]

I think 99.9% of the people here use both sides of the blade on every shave (ie, a couple strokes, flip the razor around, a couple more strokes, rinse, repeat.) Those numbers on the blade are just for internal factory quality control, nothing to do with your shave.

 

[RichGem]

Your brown gunk is soap scum and/or hard water build up. Some blades collect it more than others and it's nothing to be concerned about.

3/4 shaves per blade is normal (some blades do give more, others fewer). With blades so cheap, there's really no need to worry about extending their life.

However, most of us do not recommend flipping over the blade as there is no advantage to this. Do, however, try to shave with both edges of the blade... I usually shave one side of my face with one side and the other side, with the other. this keeps usage more-or-less even.

Stropping a DE blade works for some... it was apparently common during the Depression. But, again, blades are so cheap, why bother?

 

[sonny123]

Ok guys cheers. I will try and make more time to carefully wipe down the razor + blade after having a shave so as to not leave much moisture on it. there is never any cream left on the razor/blade as i rinse them both.

We do have a water softener so the water should be soft. the brown stuff won't scratch off with a nail.

I from now on use both sides (1 for each side of face). This should in theory give me 4-6 shaves per blade.

 

[sonny123]

hey, i just thought on 1 more question i forgot to ask in the original post.

After shaving and splashing cold/warm water on your face, how many tingling feelings do you get typically? I.e. how many nicks?


I'm getting 2-3 small one's almost every shave shave usually because i wasn't careful of the edge of the blade when i was shaving in a hard to reach area.

 

[82R100]

In the long run, the goal is to shave with no nicks.

If you look around at other people on the street, there are many who have no nicks on their face and that's a more comfortable way to be.

As far as using both edge of the blade, many of us will flip the razor around every couple of strokes to reduce the number of times we need to rinse. There's no need to keep count or track of which side is which. It will average out, if you ignore it.

- Chris

 

[RichGem]

Ok guys cheers. I will try and make more time to carefully wipe down the razor + blade after having a shave so as to not leave much moisture on it. there is never any cream left on the razor/blade as i rinse them both.

We do have a water softener so the water should be soft. the brown stuff won't scratch off with a nail.

I from now on use both sides (1 for each side of face). This should in theory give me 4-6 shaves per blade.

That sounds good, just don't wipe the blade edge if you're going to wipe down the blade... again no need to do this... just dip the razor in water and give it a good shake down when you're done shaving. Wipe the edge of the blade is not recommended (most blades warn against this on the blade or package) as it will dull the edge.

 

[oze1911]

kind of along the same lines - what is the most effective way of getting a DE razor dry after use? Extend the life of the blade and the razor!

 

[Stubblefield]

Wipe the edge of the blade is not recommended (most blades warn against this on the blade or package) as it will dull the edge.

Another reason might be that if they did not put a warning on the package, some yahoo might cut themselves and sue.

 

[luvmysuper]

Another reason might be that if they did not put a warning on the package, some yahoo might cut themselves and sue.

How about - Knowing that wet blades leads to micro-rust, and that micro-rust means shorter blade life, telling people not to wipe the blade would result in increased blade sales. Gillette pioneered the give-away handle to make a profit on the blades.

Kinda like GEM telling people to put the head of the razor flat against their face.

I'm really not a conspiracy theory nut.

 

[giantcanopy]

Usually i just flick it dry and thats about it, i never flipped the blade cause i figure if that edge is blunt, flipping it ard will not make it any more sharper. I usually switch a new one every week.

The only time i thought of conserving blades was when i was still using those gillette cartridges..

Ryan

 

[_JP_]

I'm constantly amazed at the efforts gents go to in order to get an extra shave out of a 50 cent or cheaper blade. If it lasts you for five shaves, then that's a dime a day or $36 per year for blades. Any cartridge system costs several times more than that for the same number of shaves.

 

[RichGem]

I'm constantly amazed at the efforts gents go to in order to get an extra shave out of a 50 cent or cheaper blade. If it lasts you for five shaves, then that's a dime a day or $36 per year for blades. Any cartridge system costs several times more than that for the same number of shaves.

Funny thing is, the cheapest blades I buy (astra super platinum, and yellow gillette 7 o'clocks) run to under a nickel per shave (yes I did the math) and they last the longest at 7 shaves per blade. I think I've more than gotten my money's worth without worrying about making them last any longer. But, each to his own.