Hello everyone. I am curious, what is a blade bank? Why would I need one and do I need one? How do I make one? Forgive me for this, I just throw my blade in the trash after each use. Is that bad?
What are these blade banks I read about?
- Thread starter s1mp13m4n
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Some people use a cheap can of chicken stock with a slit cut in the top and all of the contents drained and rinsed out. The problem with throwing blades out is that they are sharp.
When you buy as many blades as some of the guys here, you spend a lot of time at your bank. Hence the name.
The advice you've been given is right on, and you can purchase cheap blade banks for around a dollar at most of the shave sites.
What I do is take a soft drink or beer can, and just drop the blades in through the pull tab area. When it gets a fair amount of blades in it I just tap the top closed with a hammer, flatten the entire can and put it in a recycle bin.
As has been mentioned just throwing the blades in the trash leaves open the possibility of someone getting a nasty cut from the blade.
What I do is take a soft drink or beer can, and just drop the blades in through the pull tab area. When it gets a fair amount of blades in it I just tap the top closed with a hammer, flatten the entire can and put it in a recycle bin.
As has been mentioned just throwing the blades in the trash leaves open the possibility of someone getting a nasty cut from the blade.
A blade bank is a place to discard your blades when you're finished with them.
You do need one. It's the safest way to dispose of blades.
See the second post.
It could be bad for someone else who might have to handle your trash.
Oops, looks like it took me a bit too long to put my reply together. Oh well, repetition is a good way to learn, right?
For a dollar, Staples has these little plastic boxes called, interestingly enough, "really useful boxes." I slit a slit in top of the lid and there's my blade bank. No ugly soup cans in my bathroom!
Jeff in Boston
Jeff in Boston
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- #7
OK folks, when my elbow heals and I am able to go back to using a DE then I will use a blade bank. Right now I am using Bic disposables and you know what....they are not that great. LOL 
I just use a Motrin bottle... DE blades fit across the bottom and it doesn't look out of place in the washroom.
Just don't go shaking it looking for a pill at 2am
Just don't go shaking it looking for a pill at 2am
I use an old pill bottle too. Mine's a Lactaid bottle.
A slit cut in the top and you're done.
A slit cut in the top and you're done.
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- #10
I like the idea of an old pill bottle. I have a large vitamin bottle that holds 500 multis in it and it will be empty in a couple of weeks. Maybe my arm will be better by then and I can use that for a free blade bank.
I put a white label over the original label.
It says "Caution Used Razor Blades"
No mistaking what's in there.
It says "Caution Used Razor Blades"
No mistaking what's in there.
After DE shaving for over six months, I just realized last night that both of my medicine cabinets have one of the old blade slots in it. I've heard the negatives of such things - for those who happen to tear into the walls full of old blades, but I was giggling as i just put the blade in the wall.....and it wass gone.
I got a free bladebank when I bought my 34G from Leesrazors. I get a satisfying thunka-thunka sound when I shake it back and forth to remind me of how many blades I've use over the last 2 years.
Its time to get a new one, though. This one is full to the point that blades don't drop in anymore, they have to be pushed in, and I'm afraid of cutting myself in the process of adding one more to the pile.
Its time to get a new one, though. This one is full to the point that blades don't drop in anymore, they have to be pushed in, and I'm afraid of cutting myself in the process of adding one more to the pile.
This was originally a small tin of coconut milk ........ too easy!
I just use one of these ............
I snagged it from the hospital that I worked at. I also have one for my own personal sharps from Diabetes Treatment.
At the rate I use blades it will take me nigh on 10 years to fill this baby right up.
I snagged it from the hospital that I worked at. I also have one for my own personal sharps from Diabetes Treatment.
At the rate I use blades it will take me nigh on 10 years to fill this baby right up.
This was originally a small tin of coconut milk ........ too easy!
Sleek looking bank. Shine that thing up with some Maas and it'll look expensive.
I just use a Sharps container that I put my needles in from my medicine.
My blade bank consists of two parts: One section where I can borrow blades, and one where I can return them.
I go down to my blade bank, sign out a loan form and pick up a blade. I bring it home and put it in my razor. I use it for 5 to 6 days. I then take the blade out and return it to my blade bank, the return division (which consists of an empty Republic of Tea container - a round cylindrical metal can with the top glued on and a slot cut into the top).
In interest, I pay with skin, blood, irritation, and razor burn. As I get more knowledgeable about what I'm doing, I find that I'm paying a lower and lower interest rate.
K.T.
I go down to my blade bank, sign out a loan form and pick up a blade. I bring it home and put it in my razor. I use it for 5 to 6 days. I then take the blade out and return it to my blade bank, the return division (which consists of an empty Republic of Tea container - a round cylindrical metal can with the top glued on and a slot cut into the top).
In interest, I pay with skin, blood, irritation, and razor burn. As I get more knowledgeable about what I'm doing, I find that I'm paying a lower and lower interest rate.
K.T.
I've got the soup can with a slot cut in it hanging out with the cleaning supplies. In 20 years when it gets full I'll slap some duct tape on it and toss it in the trash. (I don't think you're supposed to recycle potential bio-hazards...)
These blade banks are a great idea. I've just started using DEs about 3 weeks ago and have been trying to figure out a good way to get rid of used blades. I have a 13 month old so I think I'll probably just use an empty diaper wipe box.
Why not sharpen them? I learned honing as a child in my father's fur store in the lower east side of NYC. Furriers have to use very sharp blades and here's what they did. The fur trade had these holders made of brass or steel that fit very comfortably in the hand (Dad cut a lot of skins!). The handle opened up and in would go 1/2 of a DE razor. He had a jig he put a Wilkinson blade into that snapped the blade in half on the diagonal. Two fur blades out of one DE razor blade. THEN he would hone the razor. The Wilkinson factory edge was not sufficient for his tastes (or his father's tastes) and he used a simple trailing edge stroke on an oilstone for the final edge. I have his well dished hone in my hone collection.
Sooooo, that's a long story to tell but why not try honing those DE blades? It worked for my father!
Sooooo, that's a long story to tell but why not try honing those DE blades? It worked for my father!
