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Keeping Track of Blade Use

It used to be easy to keep track of how many times I had shaved with a given blade; I shave every day, and every Sunday I would put a new blade in my razor. Seven shaves per blade seemed to work well for most blades in my DE razor. And I only used one razor. Now, like many folks here, I use several different razors with several different blade types: DE, AC, Gem and sometimes injector. I could just wait until a blade starts to feel a bit uncomfortable, but I am probably too OCD to leave it at that. In fact I must be, because that is what I have been doing, and here I am looking for a way to systematize the process.

The best idea I've come up with is to buy a handful of small (8mm) dice. I have my razors (the 5 or 6 that I am currently using) lined up on a glass shelf in the bathroom. I figured I could put one die next to each one and rotate it after each use. What do the rest of you folks do?
 
The dice seem to be what I've heard most people using. I have been doing what you are doing presently. I shave whenever it suits me while keeping an approximate sense of how many times I've used the blade. When I get to the point where I think it's been about 4 or 5 times I watch the quality of the shave. Any nicks and irritation and the blade gets put in the blade bank. I'm OCD about lots of things. I don't want to add another.
 
I used to be a maniac and keep track using a spreadsheet lol
Now I don't track anything. I just toss the blade when it starts to pull during a shave. I have done this mid-shave before. It's no big deal, takes 1 sec to discard the blade and change it.
I have far more important things to do than to track my blades, so I stopped.
 
Keep a notecard on the back of the medicine cabinet door. Make tally marks for each razor.

indefinite-1.jpg
"I'm here indefinitely."
 
I have also stopped keeping track. It doesn't really matter, and sometimes a blade will go a lot longer than you expect it to. I kind of think that our expectations sometimes fool us into thinking a blade needs to be replaced when it really doesn't.

I just shave until I don't like the way it is cutting, and then bin it. I use Schick Proline blades in a Feather SS, and I shave 4 times a week. All of the Prolines so far have made it a month, but one actually went six or seven weeks. So, you never really know.

Free yourself!
 

thombrogan

Lounging On The Isle Of Tugsley.
I just shave until I don't like the way it is cutting, and then bin it.

That‘s a great way to keep from chucking blades with life in them and having uncomfortable shaves from blades that dulled before their expected time.
 
I've given in to OCD and ordered three pair of dice. For all of those years where I used one razor and changed the blade weekly, I never had problems with the blades dulling before the end of the week, and I never worried about discarding one prematurely. The dice will allow me to return to that process while using multiple razors. (I'm sure my wife will think I'm crazy using the dice, but after 47 years I think she's figured that out anyway).
 

Ron R

I survived a lathey foreman
I used dice for a while when first starting out, if you bump the dice when cleaning that system is no good.
Then I used sticky paper & pencil and just ticked off each shave and that worked out OK.
Then as my collection grew with different Schick razors, Gem SE and DE blades tracking kind of was getting to be a chore feeling almost.
So I was going to buy some small counters off _bay and then I thought for the price and all these different counters lying about I just improvised and made some simple counters for my self. ( I'm retired and this was a nice little shaving project.)
Counting is not necessary but it will improve your quality of shaves if you are trying to get the most out of your blades. So if a blade is getting close to my average toss # and is starting to feel rough it will get the toss, if I reach my average toss # for a certain blade it gets a toss regardless how good it is shaving just to keep the quality of shave consistent. Gem SS PTFE blade average # is 10 then tossed, DE blades Average # is 6 and Schick injector Personna SS PTFE Average # is 10. Seems to work for myself and I,m happy with my system for my beard condition. You have to remember some fellows almost have full beards and they will get large # of shaves just trimming, so you have to tailor your shave #'s per blade accordingly to your beard type & coarseness IMO.
Some guys toss the blade after (1)use (waste full IMO) use, they have not even got to the best part of the blade yet which for DE is 2,3,4 shaves for just face shaving(sharpest life cycle for DE blade is shave 2,3,4 usually- Newbies might want to know). Remember 1st shave is usually the dullest until later in the blade life cycle because it has something to do with the coating wearing off a little. I'm kind of going off topic :lol: a little.

Top counter is for my Schick injector Twin ll Blade, you can get a lot of shaves on a Schick injector twin ll blade.(30 shaves it is reading and still life left in the blade, I doubt I will go past 40 shaves on it.)
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Blade counter 1.0 (2).jpg


Good way to store blades sandwiched between modified magnetic business cards until needed.
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Blade storage 1.jpg


Have some great shaves!
 
I've given in to OCD and ordered three pair of dice. For all of those years where I used one razor and changed the blade weekly, I never had problems with the blades dulling before the end of the week, and I never worried about discarding one prematurely. The dice will allow me to return to that process while using multiple razors. (I'm sure my wife will think I'm crazy using the dice, but after 47 years I think she's figured that out anyway).
But you have no way of knowing whether you threw away blades too soon, because you threw them out at a specified time. Some of the blades that you threw out after 7 shaves might have been good for 4 more, for all you know.
I don't really care if you throw blades out too soon. But you should know that you probably are. Blades are cheap so it isn't that much of a big deal one way or the other.
 
You could also take a Sharpie and draw hash marks on your blade for every shave. I personally just use a blade until it either gets tuggy or feels like its not cutting efficiently anymore but I also only use a DE and use the same blade until its toast.
 
Generally i just shave with one razor for a week and then throw the blade and either load a new one or switch razor. Before COVID i was shaving 6 days a week and my blades always lasted a full week.

Since working from home im shaving only 3x per week so blades are lasting 2 weeks now.
 
Generally i just shave with one razor for a week and then throw the blade and either load a new one or switch razor. Before COVID i was shaving 6 days a week and my blades always lasted a full week.

Since working from home im shaving only 3x per week so blades are lasting 2 weeks now.
I often start out the week thinking that I'll use the same razor for a full week, but inevitably I get the urge to use a different razor and figure I may as well use it if I'm in the mood to do so. Otherwise why have so many razors?
 
The dice idea seems sound. This is something I am trying to figure out as well. I have tendency to question myself and wonder if the bad shave was the blade or just me? To me knowing the number of shaves with the blade is not reaching a milestone of any kind but establish one measurable that could potentially help me with figuring out if the blade needs to go.

That being said, I would immediately get concerned if I remembered to flip the dice or not after my shave so it is probably not the best for me. Ha ha.
 
I often start out the week thinking that I'll use the same razor for a full week, but inevitably I get the urge to use a different razor and figure I may as well use it if I'm in the mood to do so. Otherwise why have so many razors?
back when i was in full RAD mode, i simply used "Notes" on my iphone and would write

Jun 1: Gillette Slim, 3
Jun 2: Gillette Fatboy, 2
Jun 3: Gillette Superspeed Flare tip, 1
Jun 4: Merkur 34C, 2
...

if i used the Fatboy again it would be
Jun 10: Gillette Fatboy, 3

It would only take be 30 seconds to type this in my phone while on the train to work or whatever.

It worked well enough for me.

But since i use my razors for a full week now i dont bother with it anymore.
 
A lot of guys look for pipe stands that have areas beneath which typically hold the pipe but can hold dice. I use D8 dice because they allow me to track a blade beyond 6 shaves, they look cool, and I bet they'd sit well in the rounded space below the slot
 

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A lot of guys look for pipe stands that have areas beneath which typically hold the pipe but can hold dice. I use D8 dice because they allow me to track a blade beyond 6 shaves, they look cool, and I bet they'd sit well in the rounded space below the slot
I go strictly by feel. After many years of wet shaving, I can tell immediately when a place is "done".
 
I go strictly by feel. After many years of wet shaving, I can tell immediately when a place is "done".
True. I do that too. I'll track a blade for 5 or 6 shaves and then lose track and think: "Man, I haven't touched dice in a week and this is a great shave."

I had a bit of "close" one today. Maybe 8th or 9th on a Gillette Platinum. It's probably not the blade - more likely because I was in a hurry, and so I was hammering away with all the subtlety of a teenage boy with a National Geographic. Hah... ;-)
 

Toothpick

Needs milk and a bidet!
Staff member
How bout just a simple white board? Dry erase board. Put the blade name up there and then a mark underneath for each shave. Simple.
 
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