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Prolonging the life of a blade

Mike M

...but this one IS cracked.
I am starting this thread to both share my own experiences prolonging the life of my blades and to see how others achieve some of the insane shave numbers with a single blade.
This is not a discussion of why you should prolong the life of a blade, I know they only cost cents and some people use a blade for a certain number of shaves before binning it.
First things first it is largely about technique, when I started out I would get maybe 4 shaves from a Derby Extra and maybe 6 from an Astra SP. Nowadays I can get around 20-24 from an Astra which is all down to the improvement in my shaving technique.
The blade itself is very important, I have between 55 and 60 different blades I am working through at the moment noting the ones that last for me. As with anything in this hobby YMMV and my favourite blades (Personna Plat & Med-Prep, Gillette Plat, Bic, KCG and Schick) won't necessarily work as well for you.
Razors are important, I generally start with a mild razor like my R89 and see how many shaves I can get until the efficiency drops to an unacceptable level. Once I reach that I opt for a more efficient razor like the Rockwell 6C or the Rocca R94 and keep going until I reach my most efficient razors like the R41.
Soap can help prolong blade life, by using my slickest soaps not only do I get a better quality shave, but it prolongs blade life. Some of my favourites would be SV, MdC, ZM and for cheaper options MWF and Tabac.
Finally I take the blade out and clean it with running water before patting it dry and carefully storing it in the paper.
These steps seem to have made a difference to the number of shaves I can get out of a blade and I hope that it may act as a place people can get advice on this topic.
 

Ron R

I survived a lathey foreman
This is not a discussion of why you should prolong the life of a blade, I know they only cost cents and some people use a blade for a certain number of shaves before binning it.
First things first it is largely about technique, when I started out I would get maybe 4 shaves from a Derby Extra and maybe 6 from an Astra SP. Nowadays I can get around 20-24 from an Astra which is all down to the improvement in my shaving technique.
The blade itself is very important, I have between 55 and 60 different blades I am working through at the moment noting the ones that last for me. As with anything in this hobby YMMV and my favourite blades (Personna Plat & Med-Prep, Gillette Plat, Bic, KCG and Schick) won't necessarily work as well for you.
Razors are important, I generally start with a mild razor like my R89 and see how many shaves I can get until the efficiency drops to an unacceptable level. Once I reach that I opt for a more efficient razor like the Rockwell 6C or the Rocca R94 and keep going until I reach my most efficient razors like the R41.
Soap can help prolong blade life, by using my slickest soaps not only do I get a better quality shave, but it prolongs blade life. Some of my favourites would be SV, MdC, ZM and for cheaper options MWF and Tabac.
Finally I take the blade out and clean it with running water before patting it dry and carefully storing it in the paper.
These steps seem to have made a difference to the number of shaves I can get out of a blade and I hope that it may act as a place people can get advice on this topic.


When I first got into Traditional wet shaving I started counting uses and still do because it could confirm when a razor is ready to drop off being a nice shave.
What I did was usually shaved until a blade was tugging and then made note how many uses and stuck with that blade brand if possible for around 5 blades used and then I would just average the best # average not to push the blade past.
Example would be using the Astra SP my first 100pc bought and would average about 4-8 = 6 average decent shaves for this Greenhorn back 6 years ago so I will be hesitant to go past 6 uses on that blade even it was working well and just toss it. If a blade is not working well even below the average it will get tossed, it could be from accidental bump or just a Dud blade.
It is amazing how many blades I still have after 6 years and I'm a daily shaver + my technique has matured a lot also.
Some of your disciplines of blade caring is what I also do and newbies might want to get as much out of blade to justify his $ outlay for getting his set up into DE or SE shaving.
 
I’ve been getting 10-12 out of an Astra with most razors, typically only changing them when I clean my razors. But for some reason the R41 GS seems to dull them within a few uses.

I’m experimenting with blades again after using nothing but Astra SP for like 10 years. I’ve gotten quite a few uses out of Nacet blades too, but lately I’ve been changing blades after 3 or 4 shaves just to try something different.

This seems like a pretty interesting experiment. 👍
 
I've done some extended use experiments in the past with couple different blades.

The most recent was a Bic CP that I got up around 50 before losing interest. It was still shaving great when I finally tossed it.

When I do this (which isn't often, btw) I don't usually do anything special along the way besides flipping the blade every 6-8 shaves or thereabouts.

The Excalibur guys are for sure the ones to chat with regarding this.
 
I don’t understand. I pay about 9 cents for a Lord Plat. I discard it after 3 shaves. That’s 3 cents per shave. Do I need to go cheaper than that?

As brother @LeroyR said above:

This seems like a pretty interesting experiment.

Just gear goofin, really. Why not?

My own occasional forays into long-term use of a single blade have more to do with curiosity than economics.
 
I don’t understand. I pay about 9 cents for a Lord Plat. I discard it after 3 shaves. That’s 3 cents per shave. Do I need to go cheaper than that?
Don't you typically advocate against spending a lot on shaving gear? Granted, 3¢ is pretty cheap, but why stop there?

That being said, I do spend a lot on shaving gear, but this seems like a worthy-enough endeavor, no? It's something to do, at least. 🤷‍♂️
 
I spent a decade of my life on making Mach3 blades go a full month to save money. What a relief it is to be able to bin a blade at any point in its use without feeling like I am flushing $$!

For me, the desire to push a blade is to find out all of its characteristics, not just its longevity. Is the first shave rougher than subsequent shaves? How long does the "sweet spot" last? From the point at which I feel the tug of dullness begin, how quickly does the blade degrade to unusable?

In addition to these questions, I am also trying to eliminate other variables - how much does soap or or pre-shave treatments play into the quality of a shave? Is a single bad shave a one-off due to impatience/bad soap choice/lack of prep? Does the razor itself play a significant part in the speed of blade degradation?

I now possess more blades than I could ever use in my remaining years, so I am unbound by economic factors. I do this for my own amusement, much as my grandson stands on his toy cars to see how much weight they can take before they won't roll anymore.

tl;dr - Loi Titanium, Sharp Titanium, Sharp Platinum, Astra SP, Astra SS, Nacet, Derby Premium, Parker Premium Platinum - all these blades give me a great first shave and last 12 or more before any tugging or dullness begins. All other brands I've tried have characteristics that make them second tier in my estimation.
 
I never thought about cost with how long to use a blade. I also never wanted to count uses until last month. I also didn't want to wait till the blade started pulling on my hairs.

So, I settle on changing out my blades on the 1st and 15th every month. Simple to do for me. I just need to know what day it is. Which sometimes I don't and end up an extra day or so on the blade...
 
Oh, as for how I prolong a blade. I don't think I do anything special. I take the blade out of my razor after use and attach it to a magnet in my cabinet until next use. If I didn't use different razors just about every day I'd just leave it in the razor.
 
These steps seem to have made a difference to the number of shaves I can get out of a blade and I hope that it may act as a place people can get advice on this topic.

The one thing that has helped me prolong the life of a blade was finally accepting the concept that a bad shave didn't necessarily mean a bad blade. There are too many factors beyond the blade itself--shave prep, pre-shave products, lather, razor choice, technique, etc., that can contribute to a poor or uncomfortable shave.
 
I hate waste.

Like leaving lights on in an empty room, even for a short time. It doesn't cost much, but it bugs me. It's unnecessarily wasteful.

With blades, it seems like more of a curiosity than economics - well, obviously when blades cost pennies.

I use mine for 5-6 shaves which for me is 10-12 days. I can't do one-and-done (waste), though I have wondered (curiosity) how far a blade may go. If I ever do "push" a blade to more than 5-6 shaves it would likely be an experiment just to satisfy that curiosity, rather than economy.
 

ERS4

My exploding razor knows secrets
I do use a similar concept on the adjustable DE - gradually increasing the scale numbers with use to extend blade life.

I left the DE blades in the razor until I felt it was no longer effective, and use my abacus to count, I averaged about 27 uses per blade.

Before the last few shaves, I occasionally use the old glass trick or a 1930s blade hone tool, purely for fun aimless experimentation. It's hard to really restore the sharpness of the blade, but it can prolong the smooth feel a bit.
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
I have counted a few blades past 30 shaves. Astra, Feather, Gilette SharpEdge, and Wilkinson. However, if I don't count shaves, a blade can last me months, making me wonder if counting makes me focus on the blades decline, and causing me to chuck it instead of just carrying on until it can't do the job anymore...

So ignoring how many shaves a blade has done, seems to be a good way of me getting better blade life... except, I don't really have any idea of how much better. 🤷‍♂️
 
I have counted a few blades past 30 shaves. Astra, Feather, Gilette SharpEdge, and Wilkinson. However, if I don't count shaves, a blade can last me months, making me wonder if counting makes me focus on the blades decline, and causing me to chuck it instead of just carrying on until it can't do the job anymore...

So ignoring how many shaves a blade has done, seems to be a good way of me getting better blade life... except, I don't really have any idea of how much better. 🤷‍♂️

I believe this to be true. Ideally, use it 'til it stops working, whether that is one shave or twenty. I only change mine after 5-6 as that is approximately one week's use.
 
I use mine for 5-6 shaves which for me is 10-12 days. I can't do one-and-done (waste), though I have wondered (curiosity) how far a blade may go. If I ever do "push" a blade to more than 5-6 shaves it would likely be an experiment just to satisfy that curiosity, rather than economy.

Not shaving daily, 5-6 shaves is quite an amount of wear on a blade over 10-12 days. I don't think you could ask or expect for anything better.

This, to me, is vastly different than an average daily shaver who bins a blade after 4 or 5 consecutive days. Even then. Not every one shaves every day, so 5-days isn't all that bad. I prefer to keep my blades for a week or seven shaves.

Throwing away things that are still perfectly useful never made much sense to me. If I bring home a soda from a restaurant, I will typically rinse out the cup and throw it in the cabinet. I will reuse it in my car for coffee or water.
 
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