Thread: DE Blade Life

Sensei Kyle,

I envy gentlemen shavers with beards on the lighter side. Mine is as thick as a Roman legion on the march. Throw in three passes per shave and the poor double edge blade doesn't stand a chance. That's why my rule of two shaves per blades.

Regards,

Obie

Back when I was using a safety I had eight Gillette Super speeds in a rotation, coupled with the fact that I have an extreemly light beard that cuts very easliy. So each razor was up rarely and when it was up had very little cutting to do so I could get six months to two years out of a blade.

I usually only get two or three shaves from a DE-blade.
However, now I only use DE for travelling.

Originally Posted by Obie

Sensei Kyle,

I envy gentlemen shavers with beards on the lighter side. Mine is as thick as a Roman legion on the march. Throw in three passes per shave and the poor double edge blade doesn't stand a chance. That's why my rule of two shaves per blades.

I can assure you, there are times I envy guys with a thicker beard. My other rule is once a blade begins to tug at all, it's replaced.

Has anybody used the Persona DE blades fro Walmart? They are less than $2 for a 10 pack.

I reckon about 3 for a Personna 7 o'clock yellow or Feather; 4 or maybe 5 for a Super Iridium; and easily 5 for a Swede. And about half a shave for a Derby.

I will get a max of 3 shaves out of a blade. I'm experimenting with hand stropping to see if I can extend that number.

Kind regards,

Back in the day when Gillette sold the blue which were carbon steel you used them 1x and that was it. A hardy soul might use it two times but rust was a real issue with those. When Wilkenson came out with the sword stainless probably in the 60s they advertised a minimum of 10 shaves and most got way more. These days the blades are really inferior to the old ones and rely on the coatings to do the job so when the coating go that's it. I usually get about 3 shaves from a mercur or feather. They will still shave after 3 but become uncomfortable.