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Keep your DE blades sharp !

Fellow DE razor users, pardon if this is a very "old hat" here. I searched but couldn't find anything related ...

Anyway, I store my razors that are in my rotation and loaded with a blade sitting on a magnet. Just a regular office (ferrit) magnet will do, a stronger neodym magnet will do better. I get 3 to 5 shaves (2 passes) regular usage from a blade. With the magnets I easily extend this to 3 weeks. Sometimes I can't remember when I actually last time put a new blade in. There is no scientific proof of any kind just personal experience. You get yourself a magnet for 2 bucks, ok the neodyms are maybe $4-5 a piece and give it a try. I change the blade edge that sits on the magnet everyday i.e. turning the razors so both edges get their fair share of magnet exposure. Works for me and just wanted to share it here.

Here the Mergress on the neodym magnet:

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And here a 37c on a ferrit magnet:
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If I was paying big dollars for the latest multi blade monstrosity I could see the advantage of extending blade life but as DE blades cost pennies I'm not inclined to try this!
 
why not just magnetize the blade(s) when its sitting in the dispenser,
prior to loading it into the razor?

years ago, you could buy (or make) a pyramid kit that was supposed to keep blades sharp, too.
Nobody ever figured out how to explain that one, either.
 
The magnet does exactly nothing to improve the sharpness or durability of the edge... just like the pyramids.

I'm not saying you aren't getting more shaves out of the blades, but so much of this is technique and in our heads... I can go a week of headshaving on a Fusion and it's fine.
The next week, I'll go 3 shaves and nick myself, blame the blade, and swap to a new one.
Sure enough, the new blade feels sharper (because it is)....
But that doesn't mean that the blade I nicked myself with was any worse than the one that went 7 shaves just last week.

You'd really need a double-blind to confirm this, but unfortunately, it's nearly impossible to do a valid test by yourself.
You'd have to have two identical razors and blades, put a mark on one razor handle, and have a helper store both razors.
Alternate days using both razors and go until both are too dull to use safely.

I'd put money on both becoming useless on consecutive days if the test is truly double-blind.

years ago, you could buy (or make) a pyramid kit that was supposed to keep blades sharp, too.
Nobody ever figured out how to explain that one, either.
That's because they didn't do anything. Wife had a few of those that she "energized" her crystals under.
I tried it with the Atra carts. Didn't do anything.
 
a little dab of vaseline on the edge will extend blade life, though.

Yup... like a swish in alcohol after rinsing.
Anything that will prevent micro-corrosion will help.

I do find that my blades last longer during the summer, because we are taking cooler showers (not as much steam).
 
I've found that when I keep my blades in their original wrappers in packages stored in a box on a shelf in my closet, they can last for years--decades perhaps.
 
why not just magnetize the blade(s) when its sitting in the dispenser,
prior to loading it into the razor?

years ago, you could buy (or make) a pyramid kit that was supposed to keep blades sharp, too.
Nobody ever figured out how to explain that one, either.

Magnetizing the blades before use will not help to keep the edge any longer, let alone some pyramid shaped kit that most likely cost as much as 200 blades... The good ole butcher steel to sharpen his deboning knife: How does it work ? The thin edge of a knife gets bent over during use, at some point the edge is so much bent it can't cut anymore. The knife is dull. What the sharpening steel is doing is nothing else but to bent the edge of the blade back into proper upright position.

As we are talking about about a few microns of razor blade edge and not a deboning knife, I can very well imagine that the magnetic force is sufficient to have a similar effect, i.e. pulling the egde into a straight position again and prevent the bending over of the edge.

Usually a blade is top sharp at the beginning of use and the next 2 or 3 shaves are still ok, then you already get the message that you might pull off one more decent shave. Finally there is a pretty clear tugging and it's time for a new blade. With the magnet the period of ok shave is significantly extended. Sure at the end you have the same tugging signal that it's finally over but until then you get at least 3x as many shaves out of a blade. I started this when still using a cartridge razor , well - this was before I discovered real shaving :001_cool:.
 
I don't see it. A properly sharpened straight razor has a thinner edge than a DE blade. We don't see to many claims of a rolled edge on a DE Blade and a magnet won't affect a straight razor because there are many users who put their straights up for storage in a magnetic case only to keep them standing up for display. A magnet doesn't affect their edge so it most certainly won't affect a DE Blade. The only benefit I can see is if you use it as your picture shows. The magnet seems to be protecting that edge from anything hitting / nicking it. Buy hey, if it works for you congrats but I just don't see it.
 
The thin edge of a knife gets bent over during use, at some point the edge is so much bent it can't cut anymore. The knife is dull. What the sharpening steel is doing is nothing else but to bent the edge of the blade back into proper upright position.
No... it doesn't get "bent over" and sharpening is not a process of "straightening it out".
It gets worn and rounded, and can only be sharpened by grinding that edge back to a point.

Even if the edge were simply being "bent over", simply resting it on a magnet would not straighten it out.

Look up some posts from user Seraphim. He's posted some beautiful microscope images of straight razors that he has sharpened, showing the various stages in the sharpening process.
Sharpening is a process of REMOVING metal... not bending it.
Every time a razor is sharpened, the width of the blade is reduced by a few microns.


Also...

Take your blade out of the razor and see if it even sticks to the magnet.
Most modern blades are stainless and a magnet will have no effect on it.
 
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I remove the blade from the razor after every shave, rinse it, dry it, and stand it upright against something all day. The soap residue dulls the blade before the blade becomes dull from shaving. I think I could keep a blade going indefinitely doing it this way but I generally replace after about 10 shaves. Same for SE blades.
 
Ancient Egyptians, in pre-Gillette times, shaved their heads, so there must be something to this.

I read it on the internet.
 
I used to store my cart razors in mineral oil - very unsanitary, most likely, but they would last for months. years, if I wasn't too picky about the shave you got.

The mineral oil would get very funky very quickly.
 
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