A-Ha Moment (Reusing Razor Blades)

[GaryTha]

Yeah .... I tried one them new fangle toilet brushes .... once

You are supposed to scrub the toilet with those, not your butt.

 

[Wombat ESQ]

You are supposed to scrub the toilet with those, not your butt.

OH? ...

 

[Stikeyoda]

You are supposed to scrub the toilet with those, not your butt.

Unless you're in parts of Asia...

 

[GaryTha]

Yeah .... I tried one them new fangle toilet brushes .... once

I know it's off topic, but this is the internet. I prefer butt floss. Google it.

 

[Lane101]

Have you seen this thread?

Excalibur Club - Blade Longevity DE, SE and Injector

What: A club with a focus on getting the longest useful life from DE, SE or Injector blades. Why: There have been a number of posts on "above average" blade life in the Blades forum, and elsewhere. These include the legendary "One blade in February" threads, and of course the 100+ shave...

www.badgerandblade.com

After 10 years of shaving, I routinely get 60-100 shaves per blade. My current blade just hit 300, from a one-blade February challenge.

This must be a benefit from all the slickness from your remaining Williams Shaving Soap puck that is still going after 320 shaves per your WISE post! What is your guess as to which item will last longer, the puck of Williams or your current blade.

 

[Lane101]

I'm just genuinely impressed that you shaved your face with a Van Der Hagen TTO and Treet Platinum 12 times.
Well done sir !

Weishi 9306 razors (Van Der Hagen TTO is a rebranded Weishi 9306) are excellent! My 9306 long handle has been delivering excellent shaves for 4+ years with typically 6-12 shaves per blade (varies by brand). Surprisingly my record was 20+ shaves from a Derby Extra that is normally in the lower end of my blade longevity range.

@cranewarrior , I see you joined us last month. Welcome to B&B. Your Van Der Hagen/Weishi is an excellent razor. Agree with you that is delivers a moderate/medium level of aggressiveness that's easy to work with.

Note that blade manufacturers advise us not to wipe the blades as it can remove the coatings. All I do is rinse with very hot water and air dry between shaves.

 

[TheVez2]

What is your guess as to which item will last longer, the puck of Williams or your current blade

The soap will last longer I’m sure.

 

[LJBraaten]

I take apart my razor after ever shave and carefully scrub the parts and blade with soap and a soft tooth brush, and rinse in hot water. I then dry each with a towel, being careful not to touch the blade edge. I immediately put the blade in my twinplex stropper and give it 20-40 cranks(10-20 full revolutions). I sharpen it more aggressively in my Allegro every 5 shaves. I just finished shave 441 on my Feather Blade.
I occasionally switch blades to try something different, like for Shark Week or Micromatic Monday, etc. But I haven’t noticed any advantage in letting it rest.

 

[Wombat ESQ]

I immediately put the blade in my twinplex stropper and give it 20-40 cranks(10-20 full revolutions). I sharpen it more aggressively in my Allegro every 5 shaves. I just finished shave 441 on my Feather Blade.

441? ... I knew I was collecting d/e & s/e razor stroppers/sharpeners for a reason, @ 441 shaves a blade I'll be 9261 years old

 

[LJBraaten]

441? ... I knew I was collecting d/e & s/e razor stroppers/sharpeners for a reason, @ 441 shaves a blade I'll be 9261 years old

When I started DE shaving again I acquired around 130 blades. I think most of them will go to my heirs.

 

[RAD patient]

That is disgusting, why can't people simply remove the blade, rinse it with water and dry it with a towel?

Because a lot of people don't even know how to open these razors anymore.
For me, I don't particularly care. Some of my nicest razors came absolutely disgusting looking and cleaned up really nice. Like all the grime protected the finish or something. So please keep on not buying them. All the more for me!

 

[A41capt]

Just move on to another thread if you don't care about prolonging the effective life of a 10 cent razor blade...

So, I have been reading various threads about reusing razor blades. People have mentioned using short strokes at shallow angles, stropping on a towel or your palm, drying thoroughly, even outright sharpening with vintage blades. I find all this interesting, not so much because I think 10 cents is a lot of money, but as I get older I like more and more the idea of consuming less and being minimal. So if I can get a couple of weeks out of a single blade, that's great!

I've used the same Treet Platinum blade as mentioned elsewhere for 13 shaves now. On #9, the blade was leaving some stubble and getting louder when cutting. On shave #12, the blade was outright not cutting some stray hairs and I had to go over the region carefully several times to complete my shave. I have been using a Van Der Hagen TTO and various people have reviewed this as a medium to aggressive razor. I was close to binning the Treet blade because its performance had deteriorated past an acceptable level for me.

Well for kicks I tried the blade for a 13th shave this morning in one of those dollar safety razors. The blade exposure is a lot more than on my other razor. It looks cheap, feels cheap, is cheap. But the aggressiveness of the razor changed the cutting qualities of my spent Treet Platinum. I had no issues at all getting a PFS on a single WTG pass.

When people say that blades behave differently in different razors, I now find for myself they are exactly correct.

I’ve been shaving for 60 years, have tried many different razors and blades, and still can’t hit on the right combination. I usually only get two shaves out of my Laser branded blades with either of my knock off clamshells, so I guess I need to keep trying and/or get a different style of razor.

 

[TheVez2]

What is your guess as to which item will last longer, the puck of Williams or your current blade.

Welp, I was wrong. The soap lasted 379 shaves, and the blade is still going at 383 today.

 

[Lane101]

Welp, I was wrong. The soap lasted 379 shaves, and the blade is still going at 383 today.

Impressive, that's 13/100ths of a gram of soap per shave - good chance it's a record for minimal soap use. Williams is my hardest soap. I get around 75-90 shaves from a puck so under 2/3rds of a gram per shave. Typically a gram or slightly more per shave from my other soaps.

Wonder if you are close to a record on number of shaves from a blade?

 

[TheVez2]

I get around 75-90 shaves from a puck so under 2/3rds of a gram per shave.

That's pretty good, and close to what I'd get if I was actually using a brush to load the soap.

Wonder if you are close to a record on number of shaves from a blade?

Doubt it. There's a few other crazies out there, LOL.

 

[Winking Whale]

All I do is rinse with very hot water and air dry between shaves.

Ditto. Though I also like to flip the blade every 3 or 4 shaves at which point I will gently wipe it with an alcohol-soaked cloth. Current record #14 comfortable 2-pass off a Bic Chrome Platinum in a 70's Tech. I am in awe of those who get 30 shaves off a blade let alone 100s! I think few if any do this kind of thing for reasons of frugality but out of curiosity.

The main down side is it holds up the job for weeks on end when you have a load of other blades you want to try out.