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New Blade - How Often Do you Change?

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
A single Gillette Rubie will last me about a year in my Ming Shi 2000S and I shave with this regularly.
 
YMMV. I get about 6-8 shaves on a blade before I opt to discard it; with shaves 3 onward being the most comfortable. You'll certainly feel it when it's time to change; and don't feel guilt in deciding to change a blade mid-shave!
 
It depends on the growth, the blade, the number of passes during shaving and how elaborate each shave is. I have 3-4 passes and I usually change after 3 shaves
 
I change my blade every week or two but it depends on the time of year. Summer: full face shave, 3 times a week, new blade every week. Winter: I grow a beard so just a neck shave, twice a week, new blade every 2 weeks. I can stretch that out much further with my mild beard but I have a crazy family to care for.


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I am new to DE razors and I have a beard so it probably takes two shaves to equal most peoples one. I am still in the blade trial phase so I am using one blade for seven days then switching to a new one. At this point I can’t say that any blade I have tried so far needed to be changed before I actually changed it. I think that once I go through my collection of blades I will try them again and see how long they last before the shave degrades to the point they need changing. You will have to find out on your own by testing them and seeing how long it takes before you need to change the blade. Expect to find that some blades last longer than others.
 
depends on the blade and how often you shave. If its a really nice, high quality and very aggressive blade I could go 10 sometime more shaves. I usually use mine for about 3-5 though as they are relatively inexpensive and I don't use feathers, personnas daily anyway. Parker/Derby/Astra for me.
 

ajkel64

Check Out Chick
Staff member
With a DE blade I usually get 7 shaves from a blade. I always aim for 7 but I have pushed a few to 14. With a cartridge razor I can usually get 21 shaves per cart. I did fairly recently push a BIC Flex 4 cart to 105 straight shaves.
 

Mike M

...but this one IS cracked.
My last shave was with a Gillette Silver Blue. It was my 51st shave with it. The second shave on a GSB is better by far than the first. If I remember correctly, at about the 18th or 20th shave I was less than happy with the blade, and put it in a Slant razor. It then went back to acting like it was shave number 2.

Everyone is different, and every blade is different. To me part of the fun of this "strange hobby" is the "hyper-miling" of the blades.

I have also found that using a blade in my slant seems to increase the number of shaves I get from it.
Would other B&B members find the same thing?
 

FarmerTan

"Self appointed king of Arkoland"
I have also found that using a blade in my slant seems to increase the number of shaves I get from it.
Would other B&B members find the same thing?
No they would not. They are a bunch of uncultured Neanderthals, unlike you and me!!!
 
I usually toss the blade every first or second shave if using a DE.
Wasteful I know, but I'm not buying expensive blades. 59p for a ten pack.
 
2-3 shaves for me. I have thousands of blades and I like using new ones.

Plus my most expensive blades are $0.25/ea and most are $0.10-0.15. Not exactly expensive to use a new blade every few days.
 
I use a Merkur Progress and Polsilver Stainless blades (brown package). I change blade every new month, so about 13 shaves per blade
 
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Since I normally shave 4 times a week, and I have 8 razors in my regular rotation, that means each blade gets about 2 shaves in a month. I try to swap them out as a new month comes in. That said, I used my Merkur Progress today for a 24-hour beard shave with a Personna Red blade from last month. Three shaves, I guess, and the blade did not tug or feel less than super sharp.

Probably I could go longer per blade. But changing them all on the first of the month is easy to remember.
 
On average, how many shaves do you get per blade? And, how can you tell when it's time for a change? I know blades are super cheap, so cost isn't a concern when it comes to replacing, but I don't want to be wasting unnecessarily either.

So far I've been replacing about every 5 shaves, but mostly because I'm still trying out different blades to see (1) what works best and (2) if I can tell any difference.
It’s not a question of how often, it’s a question of when.

The WHEN is when you’ve completed 3 passes and you still feel like you’ve missed a spot- but it wasn’t you but rather the sharpness of the blade becoming dull- so you touch up & toss the blade and change it out.
 
Since my original post, I have had 20 shaves out of a Feather and only disposed of it so I could try a second Feather to see if it would go 20. I’m at shave 6 on the new blade and expect no problem reaching 20 shaves and more.

I attribute this to improved shave technique.
 
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