Why can't I wipe a blade?

[chicken neck]

I have been using some Crystal blades recently and absolutely love them. Ocassionally, I use some shaving oil on my last pass and inevitably it leaves some residue on the blade (oil and whiskers). It's impossible to remove this just by rinsing, so normally I just wipe the edge of the blade with a cotton wool stick. However, on the wrapper of the Crystals it states in bold writing: "Do not wipe. Rinse and shake dry".

Anybody know why? Does it really matter?

I guess the alternative would be to leave the dirt on the razor each shave. Would this make any difference? Since it is oil based, I imagine it would not harm the blade. It would build up though over 3-4 shaves.

Thanks gents

[TSWebster]

Two reasons that I can think of are:

1. Rinse and shake only ensures that there is practically a 0% chance you will come into direct contact with the blade and cut yourself.

2. Wiping anything along the edge of the blade will cause the blade to cut into it and cutting things wears the blade out. You don't want to get fewer shaves due to some cotton tips.

[gone down south]

You're overthinking things here....

Razor blade.
Fingers.
Wiping motion.
Spurting blood.
Lawsuit.

[ContenderhunterPA]

Like he said. I think that TS hit the most important points.

Dave

[SavantStrike]

Like he said. I think that TS hit the most important points.

Dave

I'll have to say +1 to that.

I'd also say that with the fact that the blade only has to last 3-4 shaves, just let it be and clean your razor well when changing blades. The cotton swab has more of a chance of dulling the razor than helping things.

[rabidpotatochip]

You're overthinking things here....

Razor blade.
Fingers.
Wiping motion.
Spurting blood.
Lawsuit.

I was coming in here to give a variation on that answer. :biggrin:

"You like having fingers, right?" :tongue:

[huracan]

You may accidentally hone the edge, improving it and giving yourself extra shaves per blade.
Now, what blade manufacturer wants that. :biggrin:

[SavantStrike]

You may accidentally hone the edge, improving it and giving yourself extra shaves per blade.
Now, what blade manufacturer wants that. :biggrin:

Yeah come to think of it he could just hand strop the blade to clean it...

[just1nsturm]

You may accidentally hone the edge, improving it and giving yourself extra shaves per blade.
Now, what blade manufacturer wants that. :biggrin:

:lol::lol::lol:


Yeah come to think of it he could just hand strop the blade to clean it...

I was just about to say, if you really want to continue wiping the blade, make sure you do it lightly and carefully in a stropping motion.

[wizard]

As it has been stated in different ways here you may cut yourself. Before I go any further I do WIPE my blades off! Some manufactures tell you that it should or could be done by blotting the blade dry.
Like the song from Green Day (Live with out warnings). Remember when we could live life without "Warnings". When you just learned not to do something from a bad result instead of blaming it on someone or some business & trying to sue the one with the deepest pockets.

[shaved_*****]

I think if you wipe it off is a stropping fashion then it shouldn't hurt.


I have been using some Crystal blades recently and absolutely love them. Ocassionally, I use some shaving oil on my last pass and inevitably it leaves some residue on the blade (oil and whiskers). It's impossible to remove this just by rinsing, so normally I just wipe the edge of the blade with a cotton wool stick. However, on the wrapper of the Crystals it states in bold writing: "Do not wipe. Rinse and shake dry".

Anybody know why? Does it really matter?

I guess the alternative would be to leave the dirt on the razor each shave. Would this make any difference? Since it is oil based, I imagine it would not harm the blade. It would build up though over 3-4 shaves.

Thanks gents

[OldSaw]

If it is lawsuit prevention, then why wouldn't all blades have this warning? Also, seems to only be in English on the blades that I have had with the warning, yet they are sold world wide.

[rabidpotatochip]

If it is lawsuit prevention, then why wouldn't all blades have this warning? Also, seems to only be in English on the blades that I have had with the warning, yet they are sold world wide.

Then it must be lawsuit protection. :wink:

Unfortunately, North America is the easiest place to get sued for someone else doing something stupid.

[Stubblefield]

However, on the wrapper of the Crystals it states in bold writing: "Do not wipe. Rinse and shake dry".
That would be the lawyer disclaimer. Thankfully, right after that, in really tiny text, it says "Feel free to ignore the previous warning if you are a responsible person and are willing to accept the consequences of your actions."

You may need a high powered microscope to see it, tho.

[Sullybob]

You're overthinking things here....

Razor blade.
Fingers.
Wiping motion.
Spurting blood.
Lawsuit.

I really like this answer. :001_smile

[OldSaw]

Then it must be lawsuit protection. :wink:

Unfortunately, North America is the easiest place to get sued for someone else doing something stupid.

As soon as I posted that, I thought, "Oh yeah...ding, ding, ding, ding, ding."

[dirtdog]

coated blades
wiping them may remove it

[DE Shaver]

coated blades
wiping them may remove it

Coatings cannot be "wiped" off as they are designed to provide a smooth shave and a protective barrier to the blade edge. I remember reading an article with a designer at Schick talking at length about coating technologies and how coatings are developed.

The warning servers two purposes, one of liability mitagation and the other to help protect the delicate blade edge from improper maintenance.

[dirtdog]

thanks for clarifying that for me

[DE Shaver]

thanks for clarifying that for me

You're very welcome. :thumbup1:

[adaumus]

cut yourself, cut up cloth, dull blade...but it's your blade so do what you want!!!

[cswann1]

Chicken_neck, You might consider storing your blades in a pill bottle filled with alcohol between shaves. (Use tweezers to remove it)

It will:

1. clean
2. sanitize
3. prevent corrosion from exposure to air-moisture.

Even high quality steel can be susceptible to the effects of oxidation/corrosion and when you're talking about something as fine as a razors edge it's really a pretty good idea to store them this way I think.

[DE Shaver]

Chicken_neck, You might consider storing your blades in a pill bottle filled with alcohol between shaves.

Bear in mind the OP (Chicken_neck) posted this thread a year and a half ago.

[Shavely Manden]

I have been using some Crystal blades recently and absolutely love them. Ocassionally, I use some shaving oil on my last pass and inevitably it leaves some residue on the blade (oil and whiskers). It's impossible to remove this just by rinsing, so normally I just wipe the edge of the blade with a cotton wool stick. However, on the wrapper of the Crystals it states in bold writing: "Do not wipe. Rinse and shake dry".

Anybody know why? Does it really matter?

I guess the alternative would be to leave the dirt on the razor each shave. Would this make any difference? Since it is oil based, I imagine it would not harm the blade. It would build up though over 3-4 shaves.

Thanks gents

Carbon steel blades would rust if you didn't dry them thoroughly between shaves, so wiping the blades down (or dunking them in alcohol or something) was essential -- on the wiki, there's a picture of the instructions from a WWI Gillette shave set telling the soldiers to do exactly that to prolong the blades' life. Modern stainless blades, however, don't need wiping--they'll dull from cutting before they rust. I guess the manufacturers are scared of somebody suing over cutting themselves while unnecessarily wiping the blade down and then producing instructions from 1919 as evidence -- in a world where coffee cups have to be labeled "contents may be hot", it actually seems pretty sensible.

I doubt that wiping the blade would wipe off the coatings...if your whiskers don't take them off, there's no reason I can think of a towel would.

ED: Whoops, didn't notice this was a bump. Here's (http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/images/e/e3/WWI_Khaki_2a.jpg) the scanned instructions I was referring to--check out the cover on the right. Honestly, this seems a perfectly sensible thing to be concerned over lawsuits -- it was standard practice at one point, and there's even documentation of it being officially recommended (admittedly, it's recommended here to people being shot at by Germans--I guess getting cut on a Gillette is a lesser concern). If I was a manufacturer, I'd put the disclaimer on my packaging, too, and not even feel silly about it.

[cswann1]

Bear in mind the OP (Chicken_neck) posted this thread a year and a half ago.

LOL. I didn't even look at the date.:blushing:

[Skanzo]

two reasons that i can think of are:

1. Rinse and shake only ensures that there is practically a 0% chance you will come into direct contact with the blade and cut yourself.

2. Wiping anything along the edge of the blade will cause the blade to cut into it and cutting things wears the blade out. You don't want to get fewer shaves due to some cotton tips.

+1

[DE Shaver]

LOL. I didn't even look at the date.:blushing:
It's OK, it's easy to miss. :thumbup1:

[noahpictures]

This happened when I was trying to wipe the soap scum off the top of the razor (blade inside: surprise!) with my thumb. The cut was deep and I was bleeding bad enough that I couldn't leave the sink without making a bloody mess. Did I mention it was my primary hand? Wrapping my thumb to stop the blood and shaving mostly with my left hand was not fun. Enjoy.

[DE Shaver]

This happened when I was trying to wipe the soap scum off the top of the razor (blade inside: surprise!) with my thumb. The cut was deep and I was bleeding bad enough that I couldn't leave the sink without making a bloody mess. Did I mention it was my primary hand? Wrapping my thumb to stop the blood and shaving mostly with my left hand was not fun. Enjoy.

That looks painful. Sorry about the cut. I guess its shake drying for you going forward.

[Pumpkin]

Anybody know why? Does it really matter?

For the same reason McDonald's print "Caution: Contents may be hot!" on their coffee cups!

If I notice that there's some particularly persistent residue on a blade, I will (occasionally) wipe it on a piece of TP (wiping towards the edge). However, I generally don't bother inspecting too closely as I never leave a blade in a razor for THAT long :thumbup1:

NB: It's sometimes worth resurrecting some of these older threads :biggrin1:

[DE Shaver]

NB: It's sometimes worth resurrecting some of these older threads :biggrin1:
Hail the zombie threads!

[M80]

"Do not wipe. Rinse and shake dry"

Most of you are over thinking this. It is not a safety warning. Lets say there is no warning. You wipe the blade, and in doing so you do damage to the edge that you cannot see with the naked eye. Then next time you shave with it you get a bad shave because of the damage. But you are not aware that you damaged the edge, so you blame the bad performance on the blade itself. Maybe you stop buying that brand because you think the blades are bad, when in reality your bad shave was caused by the damage you did while wiping the blade.
The warning is simply to try to and avoid this situation. If you are careful you should be able to clean the blade with a swab and do no damage. Not everyone is so careful.

[goby]

This happened when I was trying to wipe the soap scum off the top of the razor (blade inside: surprise!) with my thumb. The cut was deep and I was bleeding bad enough that I couldn't leave the sink without making a bloody mess. Did I mention it was my primary hand? Wrapping my thumb to stop the blood and shaving mostly with my left hand was not fun. Enjoy.

I'm sorry. I "almost" did that exactly thing and breathed a sigh of relief when I just missed the blade.

I keep a jar of 99 cent alcohol under the sink, and just dunk the razor in there and swish it for a few seconds. I probably don't even need to to that. But I don't want to risk a nasty cut to get an extra use or two out of a 20 cent blade.

[adaumus]

LOL. I didn't even look at the date.:blushing:

+1:tongue_sm

[Monkeydad]

I HAVE wiped a blade.


Don't do it! :bored:

[SafetyRazorDave]

I recently wondered the same thing when I was looking at a pack of Feathers. I only reasons I could see they would advise against wiping the blade is so you don't hurt yourself or accidently dull the blade.

After every shave I simply take the blade out, gently place it on a piece of tissue on the counter apply a bit of pressure to blot it dry, flip it over and do the same thing, then put it back in the razor. I also dry to razor out with a tissue after each use. It would probably suffice to simply shake it off as the makers advise, but I'm a little OCD and like to make sure the blade and razor is dry after each use.

[DE Shaver]

I recently wondered the same thing when I was looking at a pack of Feathers. I only reasons I could see they would advise against wiping the blade is so you don't hurt yourself or accidently dull the blade.


Bingo!

[my19]

Well, I'm glad this thread was inadvertantly resurrected -- since I just noticed the same warning yesterday morning while peeling the wrapper off a new Iridium.

It took me a minute to figure it out ... yeah, liability protection.