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To Cork or Not to Cork

musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
I use PolSilver SI blades, which seem to have very good quality control. But occasionally I find a blade with one edge "less smooth" than normal. Not what I would deem a bad edge, but not up to par either.

I tried corking the blades for a while and couldn't tell if it was an advantage. Then I tried corking only one side of each blade. Turns out if you don't mark the razor you have no idea which side was corked. Maybe that's telling in itself?

Does corking shorten the longevity of the blade (fewer shaves)?

How many times do you pull the blade through the cork?

Any thoughts?
 
I don't cork, but I do palm strop my blades every time I open a new one. I've noticed with the blades I use that the first shave is rough, and they get smoother from there.

10 strokes per side per edge does the trick for me. If this takes a couple shaves off the life of the blade: so be it.
 
I don’t bother with corking as it did not help my blades.

Others here swear by this approach. So best to try for yourself.
 

ajkel64

Check Out Chick
Staff member
Many swear by "corking" the blade. I have only used one blade that I thought that I might have to do this to. I bought 100 of them as they were cheap. I have not been back to revisit this blade but I have a piece of cork ready for when I do. Then I will make a proper judgement.
 

AimlessWanderer

Remember to forget me!
Never corked a blade. Never will. If it's not fit to use out of the wrapper, I get another one. However, the very few blades which haven't been fit to use out of the wrapper have had flat spots, and corking wouldn't have fixed those anyway. I have palm stropped occasionally.
 
But occasionally I find a blade with one edge "less smooth" than normal. Not what I would deem a bad edge, but not up to par either.
I am curious as to whether the blade settles down to that buttery smooth stage after a few shaves or remains below par. Also, how long does a Polsilver last you on average.
I have tried one Polsilver and noted the first shave was not as smooth as subsequent shaves but that is anecdotal and I don't like making an assessment on just one blade use; a couple of posts have corroborated my experience with that blade though. I did get 9 shaves out of that Polsilver and there were still a few shaves left in it. I am currently on a Feather blade participating in the 'one blade in February' challenge so won't get back to another Polsilver till sometime in March.
I don't think corking has any benefit but some say different.
 
I don’t bother with corking as it did not help my blades.

Others here swear by this approach. So best to try for yourself.

+1, Some say it works ; other say it does not.

Always best to try out for yourself to see how it works for you.
 

musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
I am curious as to whether the blade settles down to that buttery smooth stage after a few shaves or remains below par. Also, how long does a Polsilver last you on average.
I have tried one Polsilver and noted the first shave was not as smooth as subsequent shaves but that is anecdotal and I don't like making an assessment on just one blade use; a couple of posts have corroborated my experience with that blade though. I did get 9 shaves out of that Polsilver and there were still a few shaves left in it. I am currently on a Feather blade participating in the 'one blade in February' challenge so won't get back to another Polsilver till sometime in March.
I don't think corking has any benefit but some say different.

Yes, they are smooth for the second shave.

I can't get 9 shaves from any blade. I usually do 4-5 for PolSilvers. I get two shaves from a Feather.
 
I palm strop mine between shaves.
I used to get 4-5 good shaves from my better blades. Now I usually get a minimum of 10 from them.
For me it works.
 
I tried palm stropping a new blade today for the first time. Not sure if it was just a placebo effect, but it seemed to be a smoother shave than other times I've used a new blade of the same brand. So.....I'll keep doing it, why not ? It only takes a few seconds.
 
If corking was an improvement wouldn’t manufacturers cork their blades at the factory?

In that case, I would without delay register as one of the specialists who provide razor blade manufacturers with these corks by pulling them out of wine bottles and disposing of the contents of these bottles in an environmentally responsible way (through their gullets). :001_tongu

As I did not find that corking makes a significant enough difference to safety razor blades, I do believe however that chances of finding such employment are remote.



I do palm strop the blades of my Feather AC straight razor though, where there is a noticeable difference between a fresh and well broken in blade.

For both safety razor and Feather AC blades I found that they tend to reach their optimum performance after 2-3 shaves.


B.
 
I cork the blades with my face, I just take it easy on the first 2 shaves rather than go for the closest shave ever.
My sentiments exactly; that coating overspill soon gets cleared off the edge. You can still go for a close shave but keep a light touch and let the blade do the work.
 
Manufacturers coat these blades for a reason. Removing said coating is probably best done on the face during the act of shaving than on our palms and forearms.
 
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