Soaps and blade life: any correlation?
- Thread starter Rory1262
- Start date
Hmmm. I can only answer subjectively.
I am one to stretch the life of a blade I'm using. I recently completed the One-blade-in-Feburary challenge with a NOS Wilkinson Sword Classic blade. Thirty-one shaves. If one considers sharpness as a contributing factor to longevity, then I don't think sharpness of the blade is affected by the quality of the soap. But I do know that the slicker the lather, the better the shave, and therefore the longer I'm apt to use a blade. Certain soaps make me question if a blade is "done" or not. But that notion is usually dispelled if I seek out a soap that will provide the slickness I desire.
I am one to stretch the life of a blade I'm using. I recently completed the One-blade-in-Feburary challenge with a NOS Wilkinson Sword Classic blade. Thirty-one shaves. If one considers sharpness as a contributing factor to longevity, then I don't think sharpness of the blade is affected by the quality of the soap. But I do know that the slicker the lather, the better the shave, and therefore the longer I'm apt to use a blade. Certain soaps make me question if a blade is "done" or not. But that notion is usually dispelled if I seek out a soap that will provide the slickness I desire.
My understanding is that the alkaline nature of the soap softens the cuticle of the hair, so the idea that different soaps may do this to different degrees is not far fetched. I swear that I get better, closer shaves with Arko than most of the other soaps that I've tried.
I tend to believe that when I use Williams, it makes my blades last longer. I attribute that to the extreme slickness of the soap. But I have no real data to back that up.
I am sure slickness helps the blade cut more efficiently, however the alkaline nature of soaps react with mineral ions in water and create scaling on the blade, which I could see adding drag over many uses irrespective to blade sharpness.
I’d think technique has a lot more effect on a blade than soap; but well “oiled” tools to work better and soap is equivalent to lube for the face and razor.
AimlessWanderer
Remember to forget me!
To me, the purpose of the soap is just to lubricate the skin, and the blade is killed by mowing down stubble. I don't leave lather on long enough to chemically soften the hair, so I don't perceive any correlation between soap and blade life.
Vintage or modern Williams (or both?)
I don’t use both at the same time. So I’ll say, either!
Doesn’t matter between the two, slickness wise.
Sent from the Spider Phone
Wise words.
It's your hair that dulls the blade. The soap (and your skin) contribute very little, in comparison. If you want your blades to last longer, make sure your hair is well hydrated so that the blade can slice through, rather than tug at the hair. In any case, blades are dirt cheap, so it's hardly worth worrying about longevity.
+1! I agree! Cutting the hairs is what dulls the blades.
My correlation is not soap and blade life but lather and blade life.
There's no specific brand of soap that gives better blade life but if I nail every lather, I do find the blade lasts longer.
This however could be an illusion and that the better lather is facilitating a good shave and the blade is not lasting longer bit just performing how it was designed to perform...but I see it as lasting longer since I would have changed it out earlier than needed if my lathers were half-assed.
There's no specific brand of soap that gives better blade life but if I nail every lather, I do find the blade lasts longer.
This however could be an illusion and that the better lather is facilitating a good shave and the blade is not lasting longer bit just performing how it was designed to perform...but I see it as lasting longer since I would have changed it out earlier than needed if my lathers were half-assed.
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