Try it from any possible angle there is and then tell us if they are being too cautious.
So what is with the "Do Not Wipe Blade" printing?
- Thread starter Dusty1
- Start date
Not to go too far off topic, but one of my law school professors worked on the defense of this litigation. A couple of points: (A) She wasn't heavy - she was a 79 year-old who weighed around 105 lbs. (B) She was just holding the cup between her legs while she opened the lid to put sugar and cream in (the jury did find her to be 20% liable). (C) She suffered 3rd degree burns and needed skin grafting and needed two years of treatment. (D) McDonald's required that the coffee be served at 180-190 degrees, which causes 3rd degree burns with 12 seconds of contact ("normal" coffee is usually served at 140 degrees; McDonalds intentionally served their coffee hotter under the theory that someone would take it to a location and drink it there). (E) She sought to settle for $90K originally, but McDonald's fought instead (a mediator later recommended a $225K settlement). (F) While the original jury award was for approx. $2.8M ($160K in compensatory damages, $2.7 in punitive), which is the number everyone remembers, the trial judge reduced the punitive damages to $480K, and when McDonald's appealed, they reached an undisclosed settlement for less than $600K.
So, what seemed at first to be a big payday for someone acting stupid, I think its much more nuanced than that. What is the big point for me is the fact that McDonald's intentionally served their coffee about 40-50 degrees hotter than "normal" (McDonald's conceded that the mouth and throat would suffer burns at the temperature they served the coffee) without making the public aware of that. In fact, McDonald's had settled several similar claims than Ms. Liebeck's (the plaintiff) for probably similar amounts than she ended up with.
Also, don't wipe the blade!
And indeed this was the amount of her medical bills.
Regarding the OP, and the notion that this is a bulwark against lawsuits - why would companies who produce a product for a non-US market put warnings on the product in the off-chance that a third party imports it here and a lawsuit is filed? Most countries don't use the courts like a regulatory body like we do in the States.
The warning is there for me to ignore it.
Trial lawyers (even in training) can find expensive societal nuance in the most benign human activity, and always find someone with deep pockets to blame/collect a fee from (all in the cause of helping humanity, of course). Hot liquid requires care in handling. Hotter black coffee at the point of sale means hotter black coffee at the point of enjoyment. Well, it used to, anyway... Now, you can be sued for pouring piping hot coffee direct from the brewing device. Oh well, another one bites the dust...
In any event, I think the McDonalds award was nothing more than a prime example of the US tort lottery system in action, and a similarly prime example of why the "American rule" is flawed, and tort reform is imperative.
But I digress... I agree with you about not wiping blades. Load one, discard when done, load a new one... Simple, safe, and it just works.
I just realized that my peanut can contains nuts! I never would have known that if they didn't print the warning on the can.
I think they're afraid you'll wipe the numbers off.
Can you cite a brush manufacturer that makes such assertions? You're certainly free to do what you want but the word of the blade manufacturers carry more weight for me than random forum posters.
No, the a DE blade has to drag across whiskers. That's its purpose. Wiping with a towel isn't its purpose. Note the use of the word "can" in the statement. Just because you haven't experienced something doesn't mean that it can't happen. Multiple blade manufacturers make this assertion. If you have citations to refute this and to provide another reason then please supply them. If you're relying on anecdotal evidence then you should at least use double blind testing to eliminate any possibility of bias.
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Bearing in mind that every single assertion in this thread for the reason the statement is there is anecdotal, unless someone has had an analysis done on a wiped versus a non-wiped blade of equal use so as to determine that a statement on a blade wrapper can be taken at face value. Because - you know - Manufacturers would never print something on a product that isn't true, right?
Or, better yet, someone needs to contact each blade manufacturer and collate their responses as to why they print "do not wipe" on their blades.
I never even noticed this before I read this thread. What is odd though is that cartridge razors don't have this warning but if you search on google there are a lot of tips on how to "wipe the blade" so that they last longer. You would think that if nothing else this would be on the cartridge razors since they are so much more popular.
And the wax spots.
I've wondered about that, too. Ultimately, I decided I don't care why, but I do care about the crud they leave on my brand new toy, so I avoid buying them. Seems like the glue is just a nuisance, anyway.
Why don't you just wipe the blade and see what happens?
Be sure to let us all know.
Thanks,
Mike
Be sure to let us all know.
Thanks,
Mike
I'm not quite sure what to make of this post. It looks as though the majority of the people here have interpreted "Do not wipe" as a sign of drying the actual blade. My own humble opinion is similar to Predict in that it's a warning not to cut yourself.
The message "Do not wipe" probably took up less room than "Do not wipe your hand across the blade in the event you might cut yourself".
Secondly, someone commented on the fact that if it were a warning, it would be written on the box. I would have to object that most of the blades we all purchase are outside of North America. And for those blades alone, perhaps the by-laws in those countries would suggest the warning be placed elsewhere. (I am only guessing here.)
And finally perhaps wherever the blades come from, in whatever the primary language is- there translation of "Don't run your hand over the blade" comes out as "Do not wipe".
Chacun a son gout as they say en francais. (To each their own.)
Brad
The message "Do not wipe" probably took up less room than "Do not wipe your hand across the blade in the event you might cut yourself".
Secondly, someone commented on the fact that if it were a warning, it would be written on the box. I would have to object that most of the blades we all purchase are outside of North America. And for those blades alone, perhaps the by-laws in those countries would suggest the warning be placed elsewhere. (I am only guessing here.)
And finally perhaps wherever the blades come from, in whatever the primary language is- there translation of "Don't run your hand over the blade" comes out as "Do not wipe".
Chacun a son gout as they say en francais. (To each their own.)
Brad
I just did this. Each one of them, to a company, said the exact same thing: "There are grown men arguing about this on the internet? Ha ha ha ha..."
I was certain that the "do not wipe" proscription was popular long before lawyers changed the world for the worse, and there is an advertising history of the Gillette company posted on the Bruce on shaving site that supports my memory...
One of the print ads Gillette ran in the early days (pre-1920's?), announced their new, (and protected by exclusive license) Chrome-Manganese steel blade (they called it Chrome-man). It also announced the then new Deluxe razor system that went with it, but most important is the amount of copy space they used to hammer home the point that this new (for shaving) steel alloy was very corrosion resistant, and that the consumer no longer had to go through the "tedious" ritual of wiping blades dry after each shave. They also trumpeted the fact that because wiping was no longer a necessity, the consumer would never have to suffer anymore "cut towels" either.
i think that squarely puts the origin of the printed phrase in the Gillette marketing division of the pre depression days. As I suspected, it makes great marketing sense to introduce a new steel alloy that may be a bit sharper, and certainly eliminates a long held ritual that not only chopped up hand towels, but no doubt killed many thousands of blades due to poor technique. Manufacturers are always desperate to keep well meaning consumers from destroying their products, and blaming the production line...
With that nearly 100 year old evidence, I think it is just a coincidence that the "do not wipe" caution also appears to pay homage to the legal industry. It was all good marketing skill/industry response, and it just happened to turn out to be good insurance against the coming storm...
One of the print ads Gillette ran in the early days (pre-1920's?), announced their new, (and protected by exclusive license) Chrome-Manganese steel blade (they called it Chrome-man). It also announced the then new Deluxe razor system that went with it, but most important is the amount of copy space they used to hammer home the point that this new (for shaving) steel alloy was very corrosion resistant, and that the consumer no longer had to go through the "tedious" ritual of wiping blades dry after each shave. They also trumpeted the fact that because wiping was no longer a necessity, the consumer would never have to suffer anymore "cut towels" either.
i think that squarely puts the origin of the printed phrase in the Gillette marketing division of the pre depression days. As I suspected, it makes great marketing sense to introduce a new steel alloy that may be a bit sharper, and certainly eliminates a long held ritual that not only chopped up hand towels, but no doubt killed many thousands of blades due to poor technique. Manufacturers are always desperate to keep well meaning consumers from destroying their products, and blaming the production line...
With that nearly 100 year old evidence, I think it is just a coincidence that the "do not wipe" caution also appears to pay homage to the legal industry. It was all good marketing skill/industry response, and it just happened to turn out to be good insurance against the coming storm...
For info; The Gillette Kro-man blades were recalled shortly after release because of defects and were never re-released.
