Two & Out

[Barney14]

I have fairly normal stubble and do a 3 pass shave twice a week.

I am not interested in finding out how many shaves I can get out of a blade.

How often should I change a blade?

 

[Multum in parvo]

Most of the time I change after 5-6 shaves but there are a lot of variables. The broader range would be 2-10.

Are you using only one blade and one razor?

If so, the best would be to to find it out for yourself just once. Could be anything between 2-4 weeks.

 

[BradWorld]

I usually go three shaves on a blade. 3 pass shaves 2 to 3 times per week. But blades are cheap. I will sometimes toss a blade after one or two shaves even though it’s still good. Maybe I want to try a different blade. Etc. And even though I usually don’t care about how many shaves I can get on a blade, I may get the hankering to find out. So I break out the d20 die and keep track. That usually happens with a blade that is known for Excalibur-like endurance. But that might happen once per year. If a blade has anything funky happen to it, I toss it. Like if it comes out of a razor funny, or touches the counter, or has a rough shave in a particular razor… I toss it in the blade bank. Blades are cheap, and life is too short to worry about conserving a ten cent disposable item.

 

[Barney14]

Thank you for your excellent answer, I will now change blades every 2 weeks after 2 x 3 pass shaves a week.

Life as you say is too short to be worrying about a few pence.

Merry Christmas and Happy New year

 

[awk_m4]

Some of us belong to this club:

One & Done Club

Hi everyone! Welcome to the One & Done Club!! This little spot here at B&B are for those that find that razor blades hit diminishing returns after one or two shaves. I'm a daily head and face shaver so using a fresh blade everyday is something that gives me much enjoyment.

www.badgerandblade.com

One and done for me. Life is too short for crappy shaves.

 

[Barney14]

Some of us belong to this club:

One & Done Club

Hi everyone! Welcome to the One & Done Club!! This little spot here at B&B are for those that find that razor blades hit diminishing returns after one or two shaves. I'm a daily head and face shaver so using a fresh blade everyday is something that gives me much enjoyment.

www.badgerandblade.com

One and done for me. Life is too short for crappy shaves.

Thanks for the link

 

[musicman1951]

If so, the best would be to to find it out for yourself just once. Could be anything between 2-4 weeks.

This absolutely. I depends on the razor, and especially the blade. I think for the majority of blades you'll be happy with every 4 shaves/2 weeks. Most of my blades are good for 12 passes, except Feather.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Most blade will comfortably give me 10-14 good shaves. Some will go 30+ shaves.

However, a blade that will go 10-14 shaves, usually give me the best (most comfortable) shaves from the 3rd or 4th shave onwards. Once that initial sharpness dulls very slightly, I can get a much smoother feel off the blade, without it losing any efficiency. A blade that will give me 20 to 30 shaves, will give me its best shaves after the 6th or 7th shave. So throwing out a blade just because it's had 4 or 5 shaves on it, would rob me of the best shaves.

So by all means, change frequently to start with, but when you start to feel settled and proficient, consider letting the blade tell you when it needs changing. You just might find that you enjoy the next phase of the blades life.

 

[Jay21]

I change blades every 3-5 shaves. I get bored and like to switch. I have a mountain of blades. Blades are about 10 cents a piece. When blades go dull on me, I get a lot of aftershave sting. I’m sure I could get several more shaves than 5 out of them, but I don’t care to find out for the reasons mentioned above.

 

[Hawkweber]

I shave every day with a 3-pass. I had tried the "let's see how long I can make a blade last" thing, but always seemed to find that on the 4th shave it would start getting uncomfortable and/or irritating. And this was with different brand blades. So I have adopted the "3 shaves and yer out" mentality. Of course if a blade really sucks at 1 or 2 then it will get tossed, but max of 3. This seems to work well for me.

 

[psfred]

I'm on the other side of this debate, normal blade life for me is 90+ shaves on a good blade. Takes a few shaves for the "super sharp" sensation to go away (which is probably the PTFE coating wearing off) and then I get 30 or 40 or more nice comfortable irritation free shaves. Eventually the blade stops giving me close shaves and I consider it done or change sides, I shave with the same edge until it's done.

Prep, beard density, technique, and coarseness of the hair all make a difference. I have a light but coarse beard, and the first place that gives me trouble is my chin where the hair is thickest. If someone has a very dense, coarse beard they won't get as many shaves, but still, two is a very low number, you've just work the PTFE off the blade.

I found that paying attention to good technique and attempting to shave with the least discomfort and irritation led to long blade life -- key points being getting the pressure (light but consistent) and razor edge angle (which varies by razor) as close to ideal as possible makes for nice shaves, and the side benefit is long blade life.

 

[BigJ]

Well, blades are the most YMMV aspect of ‘traditional’ wet shaving IME.

That said, my ’top-tier’ blades are good for 7-10 fine shaves. I have gotten as many as 20+ on occasion.

Other blades, merit the bin after 4-5. And my ‘bottom-tier’ blades are often one and done.

 

[Halfbeard]

I have fairly normal stubble and do a 3 pass shave twice a week.

I am not interested in finding out how many shaves I can get out of a blade.

How often should I change a blade?

You answered yourself - you are not interested in blade life. What else - one and done !

 

[Andris83]

I have fairly normal stubble and do a 3 pass shave twice a week.

I am not interested in finding out how many shaves I can get out of a blade.

How often should I change a blade?

only you can answer this question. whenever you feel it is time for a new blade.
I have settled to 3 (2-4 mostly), but on occasion a blade works for 5-6 shaves.

 

[Dave himself]

3 and done for me. I can push a blade to 4 or 5 shaves, but at 4 or 5 they aren't as smooth.

 

[TheVez2]

I've never understood just arbitrarily tossing a blade after X# of shaves. As someone who routinely gets 30+ shaves from a blade, thanks to the Excalibur Club and several One-Blade February challenges, the longevity of one blade to the next is never the same. The variables involved in longevity are many, especially when you change your razor and/or soap.

I only track blade usage when doing One-Blade challenges. Other than that, I just use a blade until it gives me signs that it's on its last leg. Many people hear me say that and respond with something on the order of them not wanting that last use to be a bad shave, and they'd rather toss it before having a bad shave. I never have a bad shave due to my blade. I'm definitely tossing it before it gets to that point. There are many ways to determine that a blade is going downhill, and through experimentation you will see what works best for you.

Your outlook has a lot to do with it too. If you think it's only going to last 3 shaves, you'll find a way to convince yourself that it is done after 3 shaves. 1 minor second of irritation (that was probably caused by technique or lather) will convince yourself that the blade is in fact done. But if you tell yourself, let's try to get a week out of this blade and see where it goes after that, you will probably surprise yourself how long it can last. If I ever feel like I may have had a sub-par shave, I don't immediately blame it on the blade. It was more than likely my fault, a minor lack or attention or lack of focus on my technique. I give the blade another chance tomorrow and usually it continues on just fine.

 

[psfred]

I find that shave get smoother as the blade wears, but I don't get a nice close shave that lasts all day. My SuperMax Stainless that I shaved with today is a case in point, getting to the end of life on this one (76 shaves) and I have more than normal stubble this evening. Will pay more attention next week, might be good for a few more, but it will be done soon. Doesn't pull or cause discomfort, but isn't cutting the hairs properly any more.

 

[nlife]

I tend to toss the blade after it starts to give me weepers, irritation, or is plain old rough. This tends to be after 2-3 shaves.

 

[LRod]

It depends!
See what works for you by experimenting.
For DE, I put a new blade after 3-4 shaves. I can probably get more shaves out of one but I like a fresh new blade
without ever finding out what it's lifespan would actually be. My stubble is hard which means I can dull a blade pretty quickly. My best shaves are the first 3-4!
For SE blades (GEM, AC & Injector) I can get up to around 10 shaves max on one blade. They are more rigid than a DE blade so they tend to last longer.

 

[muzichead]

My shaving New Years resolution is I'm officially joining the 1 and Done crowd!! I was a two shaves per blade but recently realized I get a very close great 1st shave on most all blades I use and have pretty much settled in on Perma-Sharp's as my go to but the # of strokes are definitely more on the 2nd shave and let's face it, blades are 2nd behind soap as the cheapest expense in this hobby and compared to what I used to go through when I used carts, pennies!! I shave every other day so we're looking at around 180 shaves so for the year I'm less than $20 /yr so no big deal...