Shaves per DE blade

[Ron R]

With most of the Blades I use I recieve 4-7 average shaves of 2 1/2 passes per blade. Blades I like and are the best IMO are Gillette Nacet, Astra SP, Polsilver SI, Gillette silver Blue(GSB), 7 oclock greens and Personna Reds-Smooth and sharp all of these great blades. If you want to get more life out of a blade I take my blade out of the razor and dry it off after each use and store it on a fridge magnet and flip the blade when placing it in the razor to it other side to even the wear for the next shave(face stropping). I like changing razors so I use the same blade in the different razors I own. I tried stropping DE blades on denim with diamond paste and it really did not make any difference -in fact made it worse most of the time. When they hone the blades in the factory they are using trade secrets and special equipment. The best shave is the 2nd use of the blade most of time and most people will tell you that from their experiences.

 

[Invicta]

I do a 4-pass shave, averaging 21 shaves per blade and the best shaves are when the blade is at the buttery smooth stage. Some blades go well beyond the average and I have not worked out why that occurs. GSB, Astra SP and Nacet are my preferred blades. I also use Astra SS, Rapira Super Stainless and Voskhod which are not far from my top three. Derby Extra are okay for 7-14 shaves but are a third tier blade for me.
I don't support the throw away because it is cheap argument.

I have a technique for checking the condition of the blade with a torch (flashlight), and discard when the blade starts reflecting light from a significant portion of the edge. That seems to correspond with the blade feeling uncomfortable for me to use.

Is that with the naked eye or do you use a jeweller's loup?

 

[G-Dogg]

I do a three-pass shave with touch-ups, and ditch each blade after five shaves. Some blades could go an extra shave, but life is complicated enough already and blades are cheap, so everything gets binned after five.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I do a 4-pass shave, averaging 21 shaves per blade and the best shaves are when the blade is at the buttery smooth stage. Some blades go well beyond the average and I have not worked out why that occurs. GSB, Astra SP and Nacet are my preferred blades. I also use Astra SS, Rapira Super Stainless and Voskhod which are not far from my top three. Derby Extra are okay for 7-14 shaves but are a third tier blade for me.
I don't support the throw away because it is cheap argument.

Is that with the naked eye or do you use a jeweller's loup?

Naked eye. A sharp edge doesn't reflect light, but as it dulls, it develops flat spots which do reflect light. If you shine a bright light on the edge you can see how much of the edge is affected by flat spots.

This is an example of a blade that's bouncing light off the edge. Not an easy thing to photograph, and you need to move the beam along the edge to inspect the full blade, but hopefully it shows it well enough. It helps as a check to see if bade shaves are operator error, or if there really is a blade issue.

 

[Esox]

So for now I maintain my assumption that blades simply get duller, never sharper, and when people say the blade is smother on subsequent days, what they're really saying is that they prefer a duller blade than whatever their preferred blade is out of the package.

I thought along the same lines, but the Polsilver I used up to 20 shaves, all shaves done first pass directly ATG, the shaves became easier and more comfortable. The 20th shave, again directly ATG first pass at 51 hours growth tugged a bit. The bit of tug was no worse than a fresh blade cutting the same amount of growth so the cutting efficiency was the same or very nearly the same.

The smoothness however, was on a whole other level. I think its all in the coating process, or in the case of Cal at 120 shaves with a Polsilver, the lack of coatings by that point. You can clearly see the edges are polished and smooth.

Naked eye. A sharp edge doesn't reflect light, but as it dulls, it develops flat spots which do reflect light. If you shine a bright light on the edge you can see how much of the edge is affected by flat spots.

I've seen you mention this before Al, and I cant honestly think of a better way to inspect an edge. I'm not sure I can see well enough to find out haha.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I've seen you mention this before Al, and I cant honestly think of a better way to inspect an edge. I'm not sure I can see well enough to find out haha.

It's easy enough to see, so long as the light is the other side of the blade. It can take a bit of jiggery pokery to get the angles right at first, but once you get the knack, it's a very easy test indeed. Checking it at dusk or under low lighting rather than in bright daylight helps too.

 

[Tokyospike]

A sharp edge doesn't reflect light, but as it dulls, it develops flat spots which do reflect light. If you shine a bright light on the edge you can see how much of the edge is affected by flat spots.

I have seen you write about this before - the photograph helps immensely. I may have to move my MiniMag into the Shaving Theatre and check this out . . .

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Mini Maglights aren't that powerful in my experience, so if it doesn't work for you, a desk light is another thing that might work.

 

[albsat]

Does flip blade helps in longevity?

 

[Invicta]

Does flip blade helps in longevity?

It puts the other 2 bevels into play if the edges continue to perform. So you probably need 6+ shaves out of a blade to get the benefit of flipping.

 

[rdherric]

Well, I can report back on my Lord Stainless experiment. I got 5 shaves in before the blade started to tug. It wasn't a really bad shave, but was certainly not my best. Having said that, I also showered right before (usually I wait a couple of hours), so that may have affected things as well. I put in a new blade last night and got a beautiful shave, so...who knows? It was worth an experiment.

 

[ackvil]

I typically do a four-pass shave on my face and neck and a two-pass shave on my head. I find that the razor makes a big difference in the number of shaves I get with a blade. I find that milder razors, such as the Feather AS-D2, give me more shaves per blade. I also find that SE razors with the /GEM PTFE blade and injector razors give me more shaves per blade over DE razors.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Does flip blade helps in longevity?

This is one of those YMMV things. I inspect my blade edges with a bright light looking for reflections off the edge. Personally, I find that it's flat spots forming on the edge that kills a blade, rather than bevel wear, and so flipping a blade seems to me to be a superfluous action.

I also feel that this is potentially increasing the wear on the threads and other mechanical aspects of the razor, by opening and closing it twenty or thirty times more often than necessary. Considering the difference in price of the two, I'd rather risk shortening the life span of the blade than the razor itself.

 

[Ad Astra]

Like many, I use a die (dice). Hand-forged by a smith, with imperfections. I am drawn to handmade personal items.

So six shaves, and if the blade is still doing great, I salute it as it goes into the disposal (prescription pill-bottle). Make a mental note of which brand. You don't get six great shaves out of all of them.

It is of course possible, routine and normal for some people to get more than six, but I just hate having a blade die in mid-shave, having to change blades with lather drying on-face, so.


AA

 

[Saltchuck]

This morning's shave was #30 on a Polsilver Super Iridium. This is new territory for me, but what I've learned along the way is that blades tend to fade gradually, not abruptly. So, if a blade seems good on one shave and bad on the next shave, the problem is probably not the blade. It may be the lather, the prep, the blade angle, the amount of pressure, or who-knows-what-else. So give it another shot and the next day that "bad" blade may turn out to be not so bad after all!

 

[timetofly]

At $.10 a blade, I change weekly. At a yearly cost of $5.20 for blades, why overthink it?

 

[Saltchuck]

At $.10 a blade, I change weekly. At a yearly cost of $5.20 for blades, why overthink it?

For me, the cost is not the issue. As you correctly pointed out, there's not a lot of money involved. For me, the issue is honing my shaving skills (so to speak). Better prep, better lather, and better technique makes the shave easier on the blade as well as easier on my face. How long the blade lasts is simply a proxy measure for how good a job I'm doing with prep, lather, and technique. As always, YMMV.

 

[Chevyguy]

Why would you want to throw a blade away after 4 shaves if it will do 20 with no irritation?



The people who get longer shave
counts aren't enduring a succession of bad shaves to get them. They aren't "trying to milk it", they just aren't throwing the blade away until it's stopped cutting efficiently. A good analogy that I heard on here was throwing away a blade early, was like throwing out a bottle of ketchup because you'd used it 5 times already, rather than waiting for the bottle to be empty.

I use a blade until it doesn't cut well. If a blade still cuts well but is a little rough I strop the edges to smooth them out. I use a blade till it's worn out basically.

Clayton

 

[sm29]

Like many, I use a die (dice). Hand-forged by a smith, with imperfections. I am drawn to handmade personal items.

So six shaves, and if the blade is still doing great, I salute it as it goes into the disposal (prescription pill-bottle). Make a mental note of which brand. You don't get six great shaves out of all of them.

It is of course possible, routine and normal for some people to get more than six, but I just hate having a blade die in mid-shave, having to change blades with lather drying on-face, so.


AA

Same process for me with Chessex dice and blades discarded after four shaves unless out of town for five days and I will push the 5th day. At 16 cents or less per blade, I’m not too concerned if I discard a blade slightly early to ensure my shaves remain comfortable and effective. This has worked for all but Voshkod blades which became uncomfortable after 2 shaves.

 

[albsat]

I got 5 shaves for the first time as a month old de user from a supermarket blade. I am looking for getting other 5 other shaves. Why not?