Thread: My advice for DE newbies; blades

Originally Posted by hozhead

I agree..........its wasteful to throw a blade out that has 3 or 4 more shaves on it. I use feathers, and get at least 5 shaves before I feel any sharpness loss.........I was wondering tho.......does it do any good to flip a blade over to get more shaves????

I've tried a blade flips, after each shave , on the third shave and even palm or dungaree strop never noticed any difference except when I stropped and that gave me 1 extra shave, not as good as a new blade. I didn't find that it was worth it.

While I don't use a new blade for each shave, I can see why the OP recommends a new blade per shave for newbies. I would say to maybe limit the number of shave to 3. Why? Someone starting out in wet shaving may still be experimenting with building lather and shaving techniques, and testing what works best for him. If a blade is not cutting well, the shave is not going to be comfortable, and this could lead to the person giving up.

Personally, I would tell somebody starting out to pay close attention to the direction of the hair growth and also to see if a shave is more comfortable after one-day or two-day growth.

In my case, I usually get a more comfortable shave with a two-day growth. I think it's because all the hair had the time to come out. Before that some of them have not come out yet, but have raised the skin a bit, thereby causing the blade to cut through skin. I can sometimes see traces of cut skin.

Paying attention to the direction will make sure that one is actually going against the grain instead of across the grain. This will reduce the urge of going over the same spot a few times while chasing a BBS feeling.

I have been shaving with a DE razor for almost three years now, but last weekend I got my best shave. Paying attention to the direction of the growth after two days, shaving was effortless. It was a new feeling to me. The alum block test proved me right. For the first time in my life, the alum block did not sting!

Wow this got bumped back to life, but seriously guys, wasteful, I bet you can find ten times as much waste in your day to day life than a razor blade , heck a plastic bottle is more environmentally bad than a steel blade, and let's not forget how much paper ,food, fuel and electricity we waste everyday, yes you can use a blade more than once, and yes maybe some have gotten better shaves from a s cond and third us, but my self I shaved over 40 years with my DE and would say I was pretty good with one. So I've done the comparisons for "My Face" always better with a fresh blade , so when I use my DE, or my Feather RG it's new blade every time, I applaud those who get a great shave using them multiple times, makes my Wastefulness" less of an impact on the planet. Tc

I find that after the first shave, the following shaves are even better. I don't count how many times I use a blade. When the time comes to replace a blade, you can tell within the first few strokes. That being said, I estimate to get 5 or 6 uses from a blade. However, dpete makes a good point about removing a variable from the equation if you are new and simply use a new blade every time. I would also add, to use the same brush, soap or cream and lathering technique, unless things are clearly not working for you.

Originally Posted by Utopian

I average over a year per DE blade.

My safety razor sits unused, on a shelf next to my sink, except when I do a rushed single pass shave and afterwards notice that I missed a small spot. For those minute straight razor failures, I make use of the safety razor, only because they are noticed after I have already cleaned my straight.

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After a tough day, you sir just made my day...thanks for the great roaring belly laugh!