What's the down low on the glue dots?

[RollingStop]

I've looked around and may have missed it, but is there something I should know about these glue dots on razors? Is this just an aesthetic thing, or might it mess up my shave?

I get why the manufacturer is doing it. But am I missing something?

 

[ThinkStopThink]

I was always told the wax was to hold the blade still inside the wrapper to protect it during transport. I don’t know if that is really a concern, as my Kai blades have no wax and are perfectly sharp. Another person mentioned that it might be a side effect of some packaging process. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Alum Ladd]

Any colleague who can slip wonderfully evocative November 1940 Punch Gillette blade advert images into a glue dots question will always get a love out of me.

 

[RollingStop]

Again I understand why the manufacturers do it, a blade sliding around when you've unwrapping it, might drive away customers. But it's not going to impact my shave, right?

(Starting to feel this may have been a silly question)

 

[Alum Ladd]

Again I understand why the manufacturers do it, a blade sliding around when you've unwrapping it, might drive away customers. But it's not going to impact my shave, right?

(Starting to feel this may have been a silly question)

Not silly at all. Here is a past thread with thoughts about this scourge. How Do You Remove The Glue From Blades? - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/how-do-you-remove-the-glue-from-blades.617988/#post-
11572824

I recommend however you do not follow Brother @lasta in his suggestion of licking the blade.

I suspect he was being 'playful' there.

 

[RollingStop]

Thanks for sharing that link, tells I'm far from first to wonder and I should spend a we bit more time on the search feature.

 

[BradWorld]

There was a participation blade PIF for vintage Polsilvers somewhat recently where the glue dots of some of the blades had moved down to the blade’s edge over the decades. This definitely adversely affected the shave. I had such an example. A simple corking took care of that. So, it can affect the shave if the glue is not far from the edge. But otherwise they won’t affect anything shave wise if they are more towards the center of the blade. They will mess up the inside of a razor though.

 

[DEgeezer]

I've found the best way to deal with glue spots, is to ignore them.

 

[BigJ]

I've found the best way to deal with glue spots, is to ignore them.

+1! Precisely! KISS works for me!!

 

[Rtfm]

I have found that the razors that clamp a larger area of the blade are very adversely affected by ANY wax remaining on the blade.
The wax will cause the blade to ripple along the length of the blade if any is caught in the clamping region. I’ve seen it on blades where most of the wax was scraped free. I now wash away the wax and get straight, ripple free edges. This makes all the difference in the smoothness of the shave.
To see for yourself, try loading a blade with no wax dots, then try a blade where you tried removing most of the wax or didn’t try at all. Note the rippling of the blade. This test assumes you have removed all the residual wax from your RAZOR first! It’s in there.

 

[Cezar]

I have found that the razors that clamp a larger area of the blade are very adversely affected by ANY wax remaining on the blade.
The wax will cause the blade to ripple along the length of the blade if any is caught in the clamping region. I’ve seen it on blades where most of the wax was scraped free. I now wash away the wax and get straight, ripple free edges.

This 100%. Never thought anything of the dots until I got a Tatara razor. It clamps a wide area of the blade close to the exposed edge. I was getting inconsistent results until I noticed the ripple, clearly visible to the naked eye. Before loading a new blade, run your faucet full hot and rinse the blade for a good few seconds.

 

[gpjoe]

...

(Starting to feel this may have been a silly question)

Not silly, but these threads usually come apart quickly for some reason.

As far as the dots, some guys scrape em, some guys rub em, some guys run em under hot water, and some guys - like me - don't worry about em.

If you're a "don't worry about em" guy, the next logical question is: When inserting the blade into the razor - dots up (towards the cap) or dots down (towards the base plate)?

So many things to consider, but again, I don't worry about it.

 

[Quaznoid]

Life is too short to ruminate on wax dots on razor blades.

 

[Barrington Stanley]

Oxy-acetylene blow torch will remove any unwanted wax, however it does have a tendency to melt said blade.

 

[Rhody]

I've found the best way to deal with glue spots, is to ignore them.

It’s a sticky situation for sure

 

[Happy Jack]

It's just wax, not glue. If it bothers you it will come off easily with hot water and gentle brushing. Alternatively you could buy blades that don't have wax on them, such as BIC or Kai. Perhaps the good people here could list any other blades that don't come with wax blobs on them?

 

[Sherlock40]

Buy 100% acetone professional strength nail polish remover and this gets rid of the dots easily after rubbing with a Q tip. I do this to all of my blades before using…takes a few minutes. I use Polsilver SI and Wizamet SI.

 

[luvmysuper]

I've never been concerned about them and never had an issue with them, therefore I just ignore them.
A well made razor should have the clamping force necessary to power through a small dot of waxy adhesive.
If a glue dot on your razor blade makes a difference in your shave, you might want to consider your choice of razor.

 

[desrgrl]

I've not done any kind of exercise to see if it makes a difference, I've never noticed one. That said, I have the smallest amount of OCD like thinking, and dots remind me of adhesive left after you take a price tag off. It bugs me. I'm also lazy, once its in the razor, I don't get to see it again.

Apparently they can come into play when dating various brands/varieties/models/birthplaces of razor blades (there are some here that take it very seriously, and one has to be careful of those Personna Reds that are made of Swedish/Peru steel, made in Mexico, but sent to Germany to be shipped to the US via Norway, which have two dots of glue, versus the Personna Reds that are made of German Steel, shipped via Sweden to Mexico for packaging and sold to the US via Peru, and have four dots). <-- this is only a slightly exaggerated fictional example.

 

[NiOOH]

I don't like the wax glue spots, since it leaves this tacky, gunky residue on my razors after 3-4 blade changes. Every now and then, I wipe my base plate and cap with a tissue paper and some isopranol to get rid of the residue. This has the added benefit of disinfecting the head as well.