For those who don't remove/clean the blade after every use...

**pipskicks** · 04-22-2012, 10:11 AM

I've been keeping the blade in, I figure 3 uses and washing it out well should be fine.

However, twice I've noticed (once really bad) a ton of gunk on the blade when I was replacing it. I am wondering do you guys get this a lot? I think it could be some not-well hydrated lather that got real thick and stuck, but it also happened more than once. I am wondering if I should at least unscrew the blade, wash it, then put it back in.

Do you guys ever have this problem? I know it's only 3 shaves but the gunk was so hardened it seemed like it had to make the blade less effective.

**smalltank** · 04-22-2012, 10:31 AM

gunk shows up on your blade..normal..just slowly flick it off under water with your finger..if not..try a Q tip n wipe it away..OR flip your blade and rinse with hot water

**TonyH** · 04-22-2012, 10:31 AM

I generally get 5-6 shaves out of a blade, and the only time the blade comes out is to go in the trash.

**pipskicks** · 04-22-2012, 10:57 AM

Originally Posted by thubbard76

I generally get 5-6 shaves out of a blade, and the only time the blade comes out is to go in the trash.

But you don't get gunk on it?

I have been doing 3 shaves and noticing some pretty heavy gunk on it, cleaning it off seems smart, I think I'm going to do that for now. Maybe I'm making the lather too thick and that is getting stuck, I'm not sure but since it's showing up it makes sense that at least my blades seem to need a bit of a rinse.

**Pkrankow** · 04-22-2012, 11:00 AM

Loosen the handle and rinse under a strong stream of water. Tighten it up right away so you don't forget.

Phil

**pipskicks** · 04-22-2012, 11:03 AM

Originally Posted by Pkrankow

Loosen the handle and rinse under a strong stream of water. Tighten it up right away so you don't forget.

Phil

Maybe that's enough since I hadn't been doing that, I flipped the one I had used the last 2 days and I did unscrew and rinse, but this time I did take it out, rinse and flip it over, but that did seem like overkill there was no gunk on there after unscrewing and rinsing so far. I guess maybe I'll do both and see if taking it out is necessary or not.

There was just quite a bit of gunk on at least 2 of my used razors and it made me a bit concerned, seems like it may shave really poorly with as much gunk as it had on it.

**mmack66** · 04-22-2012, 11:16 AM

Originally Posted by thubbard76

I generally get 5-6 shaves out of a blade, and the only time the blade comes out is to go in the trash.

+1. Never noticed any build-up of gunk.

**pipskicks** · 04-22-2012, 11:20 AM

Originally Posted by mmack66

+1. Never noticed any build-up of gunk.

Interesting, I wonder if it would either be the razor (Merkur 34C) or the blade.

This has happened only to me on the Blue Crystal Personna Israelis, they aren't great for me, but I gave them a good shot and they are better than some of the other blades I've tried that I didn't like. But the weird thing is my roommate uses those exclusively and I've seen gunk on his too (he has a Merkur 180 long handle so different razor too).

Maybe it could be the blades? Weird issue though, now I'm wondering if I should bother cleaning it out or just let it go, I guess I might just try and see if the gunk shows up on the other blades I use.

**turtle** · 04-22-2012, 11:27 AM

It's not the razor. It's not the blade....

Like others have suggested you can unlock the blade (crack the head loose) and rinse in your sink (swish it back and forth under water) or under running water.

I remove blades after each shave and even after using a blade for 8 or more shaves I've never seen anything other than shine on the blade.

You DON'T want to wipe a blade as you will wipe off the coating that is put on the blade (not to mention that you can cut yourself if you wipe it).

**pipskicks** · 04-22-2012, 11:35 AM

Originally Posted by turtle

It's not the razor. It's not the blade....

Like others have suggested you can unlock the blade (crack the head loose) and rinse in your sink (swish it back and forth under water) or under running water.

I remove blades after each shave and even after using a blade for 8 or more shaves I've never seen anything other than shine on the blade.

You DON'T want to wipe a blade as you will wipe off the coating that is put on the blade (not to mention that you can cut yourself if you wipe it).

Then how come some people seem to get no gunk and it only happens some of the time? I find it weird that it's happened with that one blade only so far it seems like to me. but unscrewing a little and swishing is not hard at all, that is probably what I'll do for now to make sure nothing builds up like before.

**TonyH** · 04-22-2012, 11:44 AM

I've shaved with single edge, two-piece, three-piece, TTO, straight, and kamisori style razors. I've never gone through any kind of blade removing/wiping, alcohol/barbacide dipping, head-loosening rigamarole, and I've never had any build up.

My guess is:
a) Your lather is too thick.
b) You aren't rinsing the razor well enough during the shave.
c) Your rinse water isn't hot enough to dissolve the gunk during the shave.
d) a&b
e) a, b, c

Of course, I'm not there to see, but that's just what I'd suspect.

**TallyShave** · 04-22-2012, 11:46 AM

The exposed part of the blade is easy to rinse (without any effort or unscrewing) and it is the only part of the blade that matters / that you actually use.

**dpm802** · 04-22-2012, 11:55 AM

Originally Posted by smalltank

gunk shows up on your blade..normal..just slowly flick it off under water with your finger..if not..try a Q tip n wipe it away..OR flip your blade and rinse with hot water

Using your fingers to clean a blade is a BAD, BAD IDEA ... for obvious reasons.

I keep a cork in the shave-den, and use that to restore a used blade to squeeky clean. Just run the razor head under hot water to loosen as much gunk as possible, then swipe it a few times with the cork to remove any residue.

On some razors, you can do this with the blade installed. On others, you'll need to remove the blade (be CAREFUL) to clean it.

**pipskicks** · 04-22-2012, 12:02 PM

Originally Posted by TallyShave

The exposed part of the blade is easy to rinse (without any effort or unscrewing) and it is the only part of the blade that matters / that you actually use.

It wasn't so visible (although probably would be if I really inspected the head) but was just behind the edge of the blade, I would assume it would affect the way the razor would glide....

Not being hot enough water and thick lather may be a combination of my problem at least. I use hot water to start with, but since people cold shave I really don't pay much attention to keeping it hot...

**Go West Young Man** · 04-22-2012, 12:23 PM

If it's not on the edge, it won't affect the shave so I don't worry too much about it.
Maybe you have hard water? That could contribute as well.

**TonyH** · 04-22-2012, 12:25 PM

Originally Posted by Go West Young Man

If it's not on the edge, it won't affect the shave so I don't worry too much about it.
Maybe you have hard water? That could contribute as well.

Oh, good point!

**pipskicks** · 04-22-2012, 12:33 PM

Originally Posted by thubbard76

Oh, good point!

Hmm yeah I have no idea how to tell if my water is hard or not. I also had another thought, I have been using tallow-based soaps recently which I realized are a different technique in lathering than most of the glycerin soaps I had used until then (mostly pucks). So I think a lot of the soap I had used was made thick on accident by myself and I bet that did contribute.

I don't really know how to tell if my water is hard or cold, I'll try and look up some tests.

**pipskicks** · 04-22-2012, 12:42 PM

From looking up descriptions I would say I've noticed some hard-water spots rarely, and never seemed to have a problem lathering any other soap, so maybe it leans to the hard side but not extremely hard water? I don't know so well how it works and I obviously Googled and didn't use a decent home kit.
Would actually help explain the gunked blades because my roommate was the other one with the gunk, so that may be the answer...

If I do have hard enough water to make this a problem what would I do to fix it? Clean the blade more regularly because of the water?

**Ruston** · 04-22-2012, 02:15 PM

I used to get gunk quite often and it was due to my lather being too gooey (not quite enough water). With that fixed I almost never have any gunk. I do loosen the handle on my 34C after shaving and rinse the blade under running water without removing it just to be sure it's clean. BTW, I use lukewarm water to shave. I also quickly rinse my razor frequently (every 3-5 strokes) in a sink of lukewarm water while shaving.