razorpit review

[FireDragon76]

I have this gadget called a Razorpit. It's basically a kind of silicone strop and razor holder for cartridge and disposable razors. I have been using it for about a week with a Gilette Guard and my wife's Venus. It is supposed to clean the razor blades and "sharpen" them.

You put shave cream on the Razorpit and push the razor up the "strop" a few times. It costs 20 dollars, which, for what this thing does, is rather steep. It looks to be mostly cleaning the blade off. I have not noticed blades lasting all that much longer (maybe a few days), there is a gradual decrease in sharpness with each shave. The shaves are becoming less and less comfortable and easy with each use. Maybe I'm just pushing the cartridge more consciously- I've gotten about ten shaves out of it, but the last few shaves have been rough.

Another thing I don't like about this is that Barbasol shave cream in the can doesn't really work with it, there's not enough lubricity. Mixing in water helps, but only for one pass. My wife's Up and Up Lavender shave gel works fine. I end up using bar soap a lot of the time, lathering it up. That's a lot of work to touch up a blade.

One thing I did notice, with the barbasol, even if I get it lathered up a bit with water... occasionally I will see some very fine black rubbery looking stuff, like what you find coming off an eraser. That might meant the surface is being worn down a lot by bare metal.

I have a feeling that just wiping the blade up on a terrycloth towel would work the same. I have also seen an ad for a small, vintage-looking strop being marketed for cartridge stropping, and that honestly makes more sense. And of course, I've seen youtube videos of a guy stropping a cartridge on blue jeans, or even a forearm (sounds like it could get irritating to skin after a while). All those make more sense and are probably easier.

If they could find a way to make this product at half the cost... it might be worth it. But as it is now, I'm sure there are many alternatives.

I have actually thought of looking for an inexpensive straight razor strop and trying that out, and letting my wife have the Razorpit to hold her razor and clean up the blade.

 

[Ducati Scotty]

Lots of people strop their cartridges on a pair of jeans or piece of canvas. Lay them flat across a table and just do a few backward strokes. Plenty of YouTube videos.

 

[tm3]

blades supposedly deteriorate by oxidation, so the claims of prolonging life by soaking or storing in alcohol have always made sense to me.

stropping one side, not so much, but i have not done it.

it is worth trying to figure out how to extend the life of $3 carts, however.

 

[Highspeedlane]

I've had one of those for a few years now. I originally bought it for use with my Mach 3 carts.

Honestly I can say that I can't tell any noticeable difference. Prior to using the Razorpit I was getting about a month out of Mach 3 carts (shaving 5x a week). While using it I still felt the need to replace the carts around the 1 month point and at no time during its use did I feel the blades were "sharper", but it did accelerate the loss of the wear pad on the top of the cart.

 

[StubbleOfSteel]

As mentioned. Old blue jeans and alcohol dip after seems cheaper.

 

[KeyserSoze]

Recently i've brought some gillete mach3 cartridges i use to shave my armpits. I'm not sure why, but lately i get them very dull. Would be scary to even try them on face... Something definitely wrong with the quality. Anyway... I thought i will try to sharpen them. First on a blue jeans, then finished with old newspaper... Night & day difference. And no 20$ for nothing.

 

[FireDragon76]

I ordered a cheap leather strop to try out, but I may try out newspaper.

I shaved today with a Bic knockoff... the shave was not so great. I got irritation on the sides of my neck, despite getting a great lather with Van Der Hagen. I'm trying to figure out if its my soap or my technique that caused it. I do notice on the sides of my neck, the grain abruptly changes. But I also suspect the blades may be not so smooth. I've used the blade once before, and the first shave was flawless. But I did use the razorpit in between. I'm worried its actually dulling the blade, even if its making it a bit smoother.

 

[BobbyB]

Palm stropping, along with the daily rubbing alcohol dip after shaving and cleaning are working well for me. I use Ladas blades exclusively at this time, and average 6 shaves per blade.

 

[Gabeson]

Lots of people strop their cartridges on a pair of jeans or piece of canvas. Lay them flat across a table and just do a few backward strokes. Plenty of YouTube videos.

I have heard this to. Much cheaper than a 'razorpit'.

 

[FireDragon76]

I'm thinking about trying the Razorpit again, just because I have seen enough Youtube reviews by folks that run reputable businesses that get it to work. I think the issue may be that I'm not using either enough pressure, or enough strokes. I also plan to try stropping the razor on leather and comparing it to the Razorpit.

I've been reading more about blades and there is just no reason a razor blade should dull after 4 shaves. However, the idea that soap scum is dulling the edge of the blade makes perfect sense.

 

[Mr Daniel]

I dip all of my razor heads in alcohol to displace the water. Alcohol evaporates quickly and TM3 is right, water dulls blades. To see how well the razor pit really works I would possibly try using 2 carts for a week or 2, one on each side of my face and use the razor pit on only one razor. Seems a bit tedious but if you really want to know it's definitely work the experiment.

 

[Roderick]

I would just use what I am using now, a DE, SE, or Injector razor and throw the Carts and the Razorpit in the trash. If any one want to save $5.00, I will accept 15.00 from you via paypal. You get nothing in return, which is what you get from your razorpit, but you will have the satisfaction of helping a brother out.

 

[FireDragon76]

I've had one of those for a few years now. I originally bought it for use with my Mach 3 carts.

Honestly I can say that I can't tell any noticeable difference. Prior to using the Razorpit I was getting about a month out of Mach 3 carts (shaving 5x a week). While using it I still felt the need to replace the carts around the 1 month point and at no time during its use did I feel the blades were "sharper", but it did accelerate the loss of the wear pad on the top of the cart.

A month is pretty impressive. I got more like a week out of Mach 3's.

By chance do you have soft water? I have a hypothesis, that hard water dulls razor blades.

 

[bosseb]

... I have a feeling that just wiping the blade up on a terrycloth towel would work the same. ...

I have the same feeling, although I haven't used a Razorpit.

Prolonging blade life is the subject of one of Mantic's videos:

​

 

[FireDragon76]

I've used the Razorpit on a 3-shave old Mach 3 the past few days. So now it's up to shave 5. The shaves still seem ok, irritation seems no different than a new cartridge.. Arko shave stick makes a fantastically slick glide when lubricating the Razorpit, it is better than most shave gels I have tried. I will see how many shaves I can get out of this Mach 3 before I feel the blades go south. I have mildly sensitive skin so I don't plan to push things.

I am finding it better to "strop" the blade on the Razorpit before and after the shave.

 

[FireDragon76]

Shave 6 was fine, I used VDH Glycerin and my skills at using the Razorpit are getting better, I'm figuring out ways to drag the lather that piles up on the cartridge back onto the Razorpits surface to keep it slick.

It seems like Mach 3 is only marginally better than shaving with an Atra, provided you have a good lather going. Once I get through this Mach 3 cartridge I think I will be putting the handle away as I don't plan to buy any more Mach 3

 

[FireDragon76]

Shave seven... using VDH and the same Mach 3 blade. I nicked myself twice. The blade feels more or less the same and there wasn't much irritation. Maybe VDH Glycerin doesn't offer much cushion. The nicks were painless and I didn't even realize I cut myself until I was done. If anything the blades may feel a little sharper than yesterday.

The razorpit seems to be doing its job so far, however, and keeps the blades clean and they don't feel dull. I strop it at least 5 times at the end of a shave, and 5 more times at the beginning.

 

[FireDragon76]

I'm fairly confident now to say that the Razorpit is working. Usually by the seventh shave with a Mach 3, the shave starts getting unbearable.

I've also read that Mantic already tried out the Razorpit and found it doubled the life of cartridges. So it's does work, though if its only doubling the cartridge life, it still would take a lot of use to justify the cost of the Razorpit. Mantic also found using a hand to strop the blade worked almost as well. I think on my next cartridge I will try using my leather strop exclusively. I've tried using my forearm but I noticed some skin irritation by doing so.

 

[The Old Spice Whistle]

The "arm-stropping" technique made famous by the shirtless grandpa on YouTube seems to work OK. Granted, I have never used the same cartridge for two years like he did but I definitely noticed a reduction in tug-and-pull.

 

[FireDragon76]

Shave 8 with Mach 3 and this time using Williams Mug Soap. I got a great, irritation-free 2 pass DFS. I've never been able to get this many comfortable shaves out of a Mach 3 cartridge.