Maybe Flipping Works

[Cino]

I've been getting 12 to 14 shaves from AC blades during my foray into SE shaving. Most recently i've been flipping the blade every 3 or 4 shaves just for Schitz & Giggles. I just completed my 18th smooth, close and comfortable shave on a single Proline blade with my Vector. It seems like the blade is still going strong.

I'm hardly the voice of experience but I thought I'd share this to see if anyone else has had similar results.

 

[rabidus]

Of course it works, welcome aboard! I flip the blade every shave.

 

[GearNoir]

I’ve tried flipping every shave a couple of times, it does indeed seem to give slightly longer blade life, IMO. Given the razor I’m using though, it is sometimes not worth doing to me. I usually get around 15 shaves per Feather Pro anyway, without flipping.

 

[Bogeyman]

So if it indeed does work (which IMO it doesn't) then why do SE blades last so long? Think about it.

 

[rabidus]

For me, it's not exactly about longevity with DE or SE blades, that's a bonus. With some blades, there's a transition point where the blade, for lack of a better word, is not as smooth and then it smooths out again. Flipping the blade every shave, the blade feels the same every shave. It's more noticeable with DE blades but works with SE blades as well.

A blade edge will typically bend before it dulls making you think it's dull, the edge doesn't bend if you flip the blade.

 

[rockviper]

Using an AC blade, I would get around 10-14 shaves. With a Schick in an Injector, I get a month; no flipping required.

 

[santamariasteve]

I want to believe flipping a blade after each shave has a benefit, but I've never seen any empirical evidence that it does. I do like the thinking behind the theory, though.

 

[Cino]

So if it indeed does work (which IMO it doesn't) then why do SE blades last so long? Think about it.

Because they last longer if you flip them occasionally, I think. We'll see. It's not like i've been at this for years.

 

[dotKomo]

I've never flipped my AC blade, but get about 15 shaves per blade.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

It works for me, but that's because my technique favours one half of the edge over the other. Flipping the blade swaps the more used half with the lesser used half, and gives me a few extra shaves.

 

[Clay S]

Y'all are flipping crazy!

Just wanted to say that. No opinion of whether it actually works. My mind says no, but haven't tried it, and am sure there are factors I'm not taking into account.

 

[DCP]

Schitz & Giggles.

Goats ****!

Sent from my Nokia 7.1 using Tapatalk

 

[Bogeyman]

It works for me, but that's because my technique favours one half of the edge over the other...

Huh?

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Huh?

If you were to hold the razor up in front of you, the left hand side of the edge wears faster than the right. That side does more work during a shave, due to how I shave my jawline against the grain. Flipping the blade brings the sharper side back into play.

 

[GaryTha]

If you were to hold the razor up in front of you, the left hand side of the edge wears faster than the right. That side does more work during a shave, due to how I shave my jawline against the grain. Flipping the blade brings the sharper side back into play.

I flip diagonally, so the bottom right corner ends up in the top left. Just turn the razor 180 degrees after removing blade and flip horizontally. Theoretically, this way, bent edges will be bent back, and there will be equal wear on all corners.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I flip diagonally, so the bottom right corner ends up in the top left. Just turn the razor 180 degrees after removing blade and flip horizontally. Theoretically, this way, bent edges will be bent back, and there will be equal wear on all corners.

I'm not sure how that works, Gary....

As I wear the left side of each edge, it's diagonally opposite corners which have received the most wear. Swapping the places of those two, just puts the blade back in the same orientation, with the same worn edges at the left side when the razor is spun around. Turning the blade over, swaps top left and bottom right, with top right and bottom left, meaning the more worn side is moved to the right, and the sharper half is moved to the left.

 

[GaryTha]

I'm not sure how that works, Gary....

As I wear the left side of each edge, it's diagonally opposite corners which have received the most wear. Swapping the places of those two, just puts the blade back in the same orientation, with the same worn edges at the left side when the razor is spun around. Turning the blade over, swaps top left and bottom right, with top right and bottom left, meaning the more worn side is moved to the right, and the sharper half is moved to the left.

You are right!

 

[santamariasteve]

I'm not sure how that works, Gary....

As I wear the left side of each edge, it's diagonally opposite corners which have received the most wear. Swapping the places of those two, just puts the blade back in the same orientation, with the same worn edges at the left side when the razor is spun around. Turning the blade over, swaps top left and bottom right, with top right and bottom left, meaning the more worn side is moved to the right, and the sharper half is moved to the left.

Kinda like flipping and rotating a mattress?

 

[August West]

Is that what the numbers on the blade mean?

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Kinda like flipping and rotating a mattress?

No need to rotate, just flip.

I rotate the razor in use anyway, and use both edges. So both edges get used, but one half gets more use, and therefore more wear, than the other.

Here's a spent blade out of the spent blades pot, which I've added colour to. As the blade is used, one side of each edge gets more worn (marked red) leaving the other half sharper (marked green). Spinning the razor around, just does exactly the same to the other side.

Taking the blade out, flipping it over, and putting it back in, brings the sharper parts on the blade into the area where the most use is. This evens out the wear across the two halves of each edge, and gives me a few more shaves per blade.

So for me, blade flipping works due to the asymmetrical wear I put on the edge. I only do this when the edge seems to be fading and struggling against the grain, and keep going till the other half gets as worn. As some of the shave routine uses the whole blade, it doesn't double the life of the edge, but if I flipped a dulling blade at shave ten, I might get another three to five shaves from it.