on flipping blades

[Zen Shaver]

I only took one course in material science when I got my engineering degree. I found it very interesting. Steel and other metal alloys were a large focus of the course. The lab portion was especially cool. I had wondered for years why blades dull so quickly, with my interest in wet shaving.

I don’t mean to “hijack”. RE the the OPs question, I don’t flip. I have a three shaves and out policy. Blades tug after three shaves for me. I figure that blades are the cheapest part of the hobby for me. That said, I’m totally for whatever works best for everyones shave.

 

[Furex]

I never pay attention, so I must've flipped blades countless times with no noticeable consequences.

For stropping, however, flipping midway would expose both sides of the blades. The benefits of stropping would be removing deposits from the cutting edge and possibly re-aligning it.

I don't think there are any conclusive results whether stropping blades in a DE razor actually works, though some claim it made a difference for them.

 

[TexOkie Shaver]

I never pay attention, so I must've flipped blades countless times with no noticeable consequences.

For stropping, however, flipping midway would expose both sides of the blades. The benefits of stropping would be removing deposits from the cutting edge and possibly re-aligning it.

I don't think there are any conclusive results whether stropping blades in a DE razor actually works, though some claim it made a difference for them.

I strop all hour cutting sides of my Feather blades after every use. This also involves drying the blade first. I’m not sure whether it’s the dryig or the stropping, or both, but I’m up to my 32nd shave on my current Feather. Others can’t seem to get more that 4 out of a blade. Something is definitely working for me.

 

[dcuttler]

Interesting new science on how human hair (50x softer than steel) “dulls” blades.
Why shaving dulls even the sharpest of razors - https://news.mit.edu/2020/why-shaving-dulls-razors-0806

Very interesting study

 

[muzichead]

I take the razor apart after every shave to clean and dry the razor off so its no big deal to flip the blade after I've wiped it off. I use a DC Timeless OC/SB and use both sides every shave so it all works out. I only use a blade 4-5 shaves anyway but its what works best for me and has for 3-4 yrs now.

 

[ivan_101]

I have not noted much advantage to flipping my blades, so I don’t bother. YMMV for sure!

Same here. I tested the theory years ago. Longevity is the same.

 

[Lord NSIC]

Like others, I've heard of flipping blades, and I'm sure I've done it, I just never intended to, and if I did, I doubt I would have noticed the difference... I'm just not that data driven when it comes to longevity of a wear item that costs ~.20-.30 cents to replace, but I applaud others that are.

 

[ajkel64]

I never pay attention when I take the blade out of the razor. I rinse the blade and then put it back into the razor. Therefore I suppose that I am a flipper although I don’t pay attention.

 

[Runnin_Ute]

I flip the blade daily. Always have. Of course with a TTO it's a lot easier.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[MHBru]

i only use a blade twice and toss it.... the first time I load it with the 1 / 2 corners facing away from the top cap. second shave the other way. does it make a difference with only two 3-pass shaves? no idea but it seems like a good thing to do...

 

[Trent in WA]

That was a really interesting study. In terms of its implications for how best to shave, my sense is that it makes a good argument for keeping the razor edge perpendicular to the direction of the shave stroke, so no more "Gillette slide." I'm going to try to implement that--I've been using the slide on my XTG passes for a long while and have been getting 6 weeks to 2 months' use out of my blades.