Thread: Which edge?

Thinking about it I probably use both sides of a DE equally each shave with them. Tell you one thing I do, I pull the blade out of the DE, or SE, and rinse it off and lay it on the edge of a square scuttle. I pick it up the next time I shave with a contraption instead of a straight. Sometimes I have a sense of how many shaves I've gotten out of a blade, other times it is too long ago to recall. When I start the shave if it isn't smooth and comfortable I change the blade for a new one.

I noticed 30-40 years ago that if I left a blade in a DE it would begin to rust and stain the chrome or nickel on the DE. That was the main thing that motivated me to start removing the blade, rinsing it and setting it aside. Might be better for the longevity of the blade, maintaining sharpness, as well.

I don't worry about how many on each edge, etc. I usually have 7 or 8 types of DE blade in use at once, since I am in a testing phase. When I'm done with a shave, I dry the blade off, put it back in it's wrapper with a little dot from a permanent marker on that wrapper to indicate number of shaves on a blade.
I toss a blade when I can no longer get a clean, close, smooth shave from it. I have been averaging between 4 and 6 two pass shaves with touch up per blade.

I don't follow any pattern of use. I use both edges randomly and toss the blade after three shaves. Using straights, primarily, one blade will last quite a while. DE blades are relatively cheap so I never try to push it.

When I used to DE shave, I would use one side for 1/4 of my face and then the other side for the next 1/4, rinse and repeat for the other half of my face. I would shave every other day, and discard after a week's use (either Sat or Sun). I could probably get two weeks out of the blades (Lord), but it was easier to just replace on a schedule.

I usually do a pass with one side and the next pass with the other or if the razor really gets loaded with soap lather, I might switch sides before then. Lately, I tried turning the blade over after a couple of days, and I also tried rotating the blade, wanting to see if the numbering on the blade (1-4) was of much use and really made any difference. Flipping the blade did make a little difference, but I use yellow 7 o'clocks and get about five good shaves in my Merkur slant per blade either way. Of course, YMMV.