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View Full Version : I used a 4 day old blade today...Uh oh!



Duggo
04-08-2009, 05:23 PM
I couldn't believe it. I'm speechless. My angle was good. (I listened.) I used a 4 day old Gillette Swede. (It's not like I hadn't before.) Actually, now that you mention it, I used a Swede for 6 days, 11/21/08 to 11/26/08 . That's why you need an Excel spreadsheet. I even studied the patterns of my hair growth on my neck last week. (I took photographs in 06.)

I don't know what happened today. Here's the funny thing, I seriously thought about changing the blade out for a new one, lest I'd want to suffer the consequences.

According to to the Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) I did, today I saved a whopping .03. So instead of .20 per blade, after 4 uses, it's now .17 after 5 uses; and not worth it, because at the end of the shave, my neck was on FIRE! It's not that bad now, but the discoloration remains. Usually, after the shave the skins settles down and it's no big deal. Not this time.

DunEdinRanger
04-08-2009, 05:26 PM
WOW :thumbup: I thought I was the only doing that with an Excel Spread Sheet. Except of course, I not only have the cost per shave per blade, but overall for the year...

Ok, I just didn't type that.:001_cool:

sphiny
04-08-2009, 05:46 PM
I had a 2nd-shave Feather bite me today. It was probably a combination of several things (rough shave the day before, switching razors). However, this has happened to me several times with Feathers; 1st shave, awesome.....2nd shave, painful.

Anyone else experience this??

Robxcarlson
04-08-2009, 05:49 PM
I had a 2nd-shave Feather bite me today. It was probably a combination of several things (rough shave the day before, switching razors). However, this has happened to me several times with Feathers; 1st shave, awesome.....2nd shave, painful.

Anyone else experience this??

You're not the first.
This is why I'm not that into feathers... great first shave, and then the blade's no good... for the price they charge, feathers aren't worth it for me.

mankini
04-08-2009, 06:02 PM
... That's why you need an Excel spreadsheet.



WOW :thumbup: I thought I was the only doing that with an Excel Spread Sheet. Except of course, I not only have the cost per shave per blade, but overall for the year...

Ok, I just didn't type that.:001_cool:

Excel spreadsheet? You guys have a sickness :eek: that only people around here understand :smile:

I have bought time on an IBM Roadrunner to calculate every possible shaving parameter known to mankind to give my optimal path foward.

The results were not surprising, they suggested I stop micro managing my shaves and just do what feels right. :cool:

FLTiger
04-08-2009, 07:29 PM
I was using Excel for awhile, but then I started posting my SOTD's here, and I stopped using it.

sphiny
04-08-2009, 09:21 PM
You're not the first.
This is why I'm not that into feathers... great first shave, and then the blade's no good... for the price they charge, feathers aren't worth it for me.

Glad to know I'm not the only one. It's hugely disappointing, to go from such a great shave to a painful experience. I guess everything comes at a cost, right?? I think I'm personally going to stick with Astras, which have been working great for me, and are much less expensive, while still being almost as sharp.

waterbear
04-08-2009, 09:36 PM
:confused::confused::confused::confused::confused:
I don't get it. If I am shaving and I feel any discomfort or pulling I change the blade, whether it was just put in at the beginning of the shave or sitting in the razor for a week (yes, sometimes I go a whole week. It depends on which blade, which razor, and which soap or cream I have been using).
Blades are cheap. I could use a new one every time if I wanted but sometimes, as many of you know, a blade can be better on it's second or third shave.
It's not rocket science and I just don't get the need for tracking my blades in a spreadsheet. I believe there is a name for that conditon, OCD, and that there are several effective medications available these days!:wink::rolleyes:

I say, enjoy the shave and screw everything else!

para-frame
04-08-2009, 10:07 PM
I must have very soft facial hair because I am still on the blade I put in 12 days ago. (to be fair I only shave every other day.) It still cuts like new.

wazazzle
04-08-2009, 11:31 PM
hmm... I never really thought of that. The more frequent i shave the longer my blades last. Blades take more of a beating on thicker whiskers. But i guess it's kind of logical thinking. Learned something new for the day.... now i don't have to learn anything else :biggrin:

arghblech
04-08-2009, 11:42 PM
I get 5 or 6 shaves out of a feather on average.

sphiny
04-09-2009, 06:22 AM
I get 5 or 6 shaves out of a feather on average.

Like I said, my bad experience could be attributable to any number of things (I changed a lot of variables), but it has happened to me several times when no variables were changed. Who knows...:confused:

al7jj
04-10-2009, 05:42 AM
FWIW, I never managed to get more than 4 good shaves from a Swede. But the only blades which do better for me are the Chinese Gillette blues (5 days) and the Merkurs (7 days) which most people here hate, so YMMV :-)

DunEdinRanger
04-10-2009, 05:50 AM
:confused::confused::confused::confused::confused: ...

It's not rocket science and I just don't get the need for tracking my blades in a spreadsheet. I believe there is a name for that conditon, OCD, and that there are several effective medications available these days!:wink::rolleyes:

I say, enjoy the shave and screw everything else!

It's not rocket science, but it is science! This is research investigating the length of time each blade lasts in each razor. Yeah, that's the rationale... :wink::rolleyes:

waterbear
04-10-2009, 11:54 AM
It's not rocket science, but it is science! This is research investigating the length of time each blade lasts in each razor. Yeah, that's the rationale... :wink::rolleyes:

Yeah, I see what you mean. Gotta excuse me now....gotta go arrange the toothpicks neatly in the box and pick lint off the dog!:wink::wink::rolleyes::biggrin:

StGeorge
04-10-2009, 12:05 PM
You should have handstropped the blade then you would have been fine.

Duggo
04-10-2009, 06:39 PM
You should have handstropped the blade then you would have been fine.

Me thinks I would have bled to death. :lol: (sorry, couldn't resist.)

Duggo
04-10-2009, 07:04 PM
The worst part of all of this, is I've been shaving with an electric razor. It does an adequate job on the face, but the neck...it's like why bother. But I guess that's the point. I'm not shaving as close, which allows my neck to heal. I'm also slathering on Aloe Vera Gelly. I know, I know, but that's how they spell it. It's by Lilly of the Desert and it's good.

auee1977
04-12-2009, 05:39 PM
I use my Personna blades from Walmart four times only and then on to the next one. My blood is more valuable than an extra day on a $.17 razor blade.

ateace
04-13-2009, 09:12 AM
My blades are never used more than three times before they are changed, but today, I went into uncharted territory - four shaves on one blade. It's a Swede that I've hand stropped after each shave. We'll see how long this lasts.

Even if hand stropping significantly extends the life of this blade, the risk involved with handling a loose blade every day won't be outweighed by the extra blade life. It is an interesting experiment for now, though.

StGeorge
04-13-2009, 10:00 AM
You guys kill me, you make it sound like its handling a live grenade or something. Do you wear gloves when you shave? :lol:

Greyfox
04-13-2009, 10:48 AM
You guys kill me, you make it sound like its handling a live grenade or something. Do you wear gloves when you shave? :lol:


:lol::lol::lol: +1. I guess I did not learn enough about shaving this last 40 years or so. I must have missed that recording thing on Excel spread sheets lesson. Oh wait....there were no Excel spread sheets 40 years ago:eek: That must have been why when we were out of blades Daddy just went and bought some more.:smile:

Tommy_C
04-13-2009, 11:05 AM
Today I had my fourth shave on a Feather, and it was smooth as silk: no razor burn, one tiny weeper, and a fabulous BBS shave. This is my first Feather blade, but I'm reasonably certain that I will get at least seven shaves from it -- they are that sharp. I found that the first two shaves with the Feather were particularly harsh but, in my opinion, it really improves by the third shave.

I have also gotten six shaves off a yellow Gillette 7 o'clock. If I'm really careful, I can get 4-5 shaves off a Derby (although I usually draw the line at 3).

Stubblefield
04-13-2009, 11:35 AM
I couldn't believe it. I'm speechless. My angle was good. (I listened.) I used a 4 day old Gillette Swede. (It's not like I hadn't before.) Actually, now that you mention it, I used a Swede for 6 days, 11/21/08 to 11/26/08 . That's why you need an Excel spreadsheet. I even studied the patterns of my hair growth on my neck last week. (I took photographs in 06.)
So now we have Shave Software Related Analysis disorder, or SSRAD. Just great. :biggrin:

StGeorge
04-13-2009, 12:00 PM
So now we have Shave Software Related Analysis disorder, or SSRAD. Just great. :biggrin:

OCD just doesn't come close to spreadsheets for shaving.

Ricko78
04-13-2009, 01:34 PM
You're not the first.
This is why I'm not that into feathers... great first shave, and then the blade's no good... for the price they charge, feathers aren't worth it for me.

I used a feather for its 7th shave in a Merkur HD today. I corked it before the first go and that’s it. It still shaved close and well this morning and I’ll be using it again tomorrow and then we'll see.....

Duggo
04-13-2009, 04:03 PM
I used a feather for its 7th shave in a Merkur HD today. I corked it before the first go and that’s it. It still shaved close and well this morning and I’ll be using it again tomorrow and then we'll see.....

Where do you get cork from? :confused:

Duggo
04-13-2009, 04:07 PM
You guys kill me, you make it sound like its handling a live grenade or something. Do you wear gloves when you shave? :lol:


:lol::lol::lol: +1. I guess I did not learn enough about shaving this last 40 years or so. I must have missed that recording thing on Excel spread sheets lesson. Oh wait....there were no Excel spread sheets 40 years ago:eek: That must have been why when we were out of blades Daddy just went and bought some more.:smile:

Never a dull moment at B&B. :wink:

waterbear
04-13-2009, 10:14 PM
ocd just doesn't come close to spreadsheets for shaving.

+100

Ricko78
04-14-2009, 04:58 AM
Where do you get cork from? :confused:

A wine bottle. I also have read that you can use polystyrene packing for the same effect. I'm sure a search of "corking" will throw up a few threads about it. Some will disagree but it seems to be working for me.

8th shave on the feather this morning and still good. Am getting worried about over doing it now but just can't bring myself to change it yet when there’s nothing wrong with it.

Doc Bugg
05-08-2013, 04:46 PM
I had a 2nd-shave Feather bite me today. It was probably a combination of several things (rough shave the day before, switching razors). However, this has happened to me several times with Feathers; 1st shave, awesome.....2nd shave, painful.

Anyone else experience this??

I sometimes experience the same thing. Feather does not hold it's sharpness for very long.

rxonmymind
05-09-2013, 04:44 AM
.03 cents. That's funny. What will you do with all that savings?

turtle
05-09-2013, 04:56 AM
I use a different razor and blade every day. I may have anywhere up to a dozen blades unwrapped at any given time

When I finish my shave, I remove the blade from the razor, drop it on a towel, fold a corner of the towel over and pat it dry. I then move the blade to one of 6 blade wrappers that are marked 1 thought 6 for the number of shaves the blade sitting on that wrapper has on it.

When I shave, I decide which razor to use, then I grab one of the unwrapped blades and shave. Once done I dry the blade and move it down to the next numbered wrapper.

This is about the only way I can keep track of how many shaves I have on a dozen open blades.

http://i1066.photobucket.com/albums/u414/turtle-web/blades/blades_unwrapped.jpg