Keeping track of shave per blade

I have three razors ('59 Fat Boy, Merkur HD, and Merkur Futur) that I like to use in my rotation depending on my mood, the day, moon phases, etc. I like to keep my shaves to three per blade and I am wondering how people keep track? I haven't found any reasonably simple methods yet (not quite ready to create a spreadsheet on my laptop ). Let me know if you have a fairly simple process to keep track. Thanks!

I actually do have a spreadsheet on my laptop to track all aspects of my shaves- it works well and takes 2-3 minutes to put in all the data from a shave. It's also a great way to help me learn from my mistakes. That being said, it might be overkill for some people.

I would suggest business cards and an old pen- maybe you could have one card per razor, then write the blade name (and/or date) on there (skip this if you don't change brands of blades), and next to it just do simple tally marks (you know, like when you did 4 vertical lines and one diagonal as a kid, only this time do 2 vertical lines). When you reach three tally marks, you know to chuck the blade and start a new one. Hope I'm not sounding pedantic here, just trying to explain the idea.

That's the simplest thing that I can think of, and it would take you all of 2 seconds a shave.

Hope this helps and gives you some ideas.

I actually kept a little notebook when I ws running the experiment. My conclusion...Schick injector blades the hands-down winner.

For counting shaves on a blade, I use a Ultra-Fine Sharpie and put a dot on the blade after each shave.

Treadstone said:

For counting shaves on a blade, I use a Ultra-Fine Sharpie and put a dot on the blade after each shave.

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Hmmmm.... interesting. Henchman like.

Hench

Thanks for the ideas. I do currently have a spread sheet to track blade/razor/soap/cream/brush/pre-post/prep preferences but think the dot method is just what I am looking for.

I've been fortunate to find a blade brand that lasts me a full week, with some of my best shaves occurring on the seventh day. I remove the blade daily (most of my razors are TTO's), and begin with a new blade every Monday.

Chuck

gagarin said:

I've been fortunate to find a blade brand that lasts me a full week, with some of my best shaves occurring on the seventh day. I remove the blade daily (most of my razors are TTO's), and begin with a new blade every Monday.
Chuck

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Chuck, two questions: Which blade lasts you a week? You must have some seriously refined technique! 3-4 days for me tops, no matter what blade. (Hmm, Astra lasted 5 though, and so do some Wilks.) Second, when you remove the blade daily, do you then place it in whichever razor you'll be using for the next day, using the same 7-day blade in many razors?

Wish I could get 7 days... But I know my technique is sloppy. New goal.

TonyO said:

Chuck, two questions: Which blade lasts you a week? You must have some seriously refined technique! 3-4 days for me tops, no matter what blade. (Hmm, Astra lasted 5 though, and so do some Wilks.) Second, when you remove the blade daily, do you then place it in whichever razor you'll be using for the next day, using the same 7-day blade in many razors?

Wish I could get 7 days... But I know my technique is sloppy. New goal.

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The Red Personna is still going strong for me through seven shaves. I shave my head and face daily, so that's actually more than seven typical shaves. The Red has very strong mid-life in my experience, giving me the smoothest shaves between days five and seven, and it could probably go more. Since I'm a big spender, I choose to retire my ten cent blade after a week.

My shave routine is a bit idiosyncratic. I shave in the shower following my morning workout at the gym, and have found that I'm able to use soap, brush and DE. I carry the soap and brush in my gym bag in two small tupperware containers with screw-on lids. I don't like the American Personna blades, but they have a great blade dispenser. The dispenser allows for re-insertion of blades, and that's where I carry my Reds between shaves. I often like to change razors day-to-day, and this procedure makes doing so easy.

I know it sounds a little complicated, but it works for me.

Chuck

I mark the wrapper, by strokes , then by grade as to what type of shave i get.
When I vette the blade to compare between blades it tells me a story.

Simplest way to count to 3..... use any two movable objects in your shaving area. Place both together on one side of the sink etc. After the first shave, move one to the other side. After the second shave, move the second object. After the third shave, change blades and move the two objects back where they started. I usually use pennies, but anything will do.

I now use Derby blades which last a week, so I just change blades on Monday morning.

I have a spreadsheet to track razor/blade combinations. It's very useful if you have a large blade sampler pack and a couple dozen razors. I typically have about 7 razors in rotation, with about 3-5 different blades between them. I use a small notepad to record the number of shaves with each blade.

jim

I must be a shaving geek. I just realized that I spend more time tracking my shaves than I spend tracking my stocks!

MooingLizard said:

I must be a shaving geek.

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I guess we knew that the moment you confessed to using a spreadsheet to track your shaving activities

I really don't understand why people make things more difficult on themselves. I change my blade when it doesn't feel sharp anymore. Not rocket science.

Handy said:

I really don't understand why people make things more difficult on themselves. I change my blade when it doesn't feel sharp anymore. Not rocket science.

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I think the reason is that the blade is likely to cut you badly before it "doesn't feel sharp anymore". I may push a blade too far one time, but after that, blades of the same type get tossed before they reach that "dangerous" point.

Depending on how you store your razors, you could tilt them a little to the left after the first shave, a little to the right after the second shave and keep them straight after the third shave, or similar ideas.

Best - MM

mozart said:

Depending on how you store your razors, you could tilt them a little to the left after the first shave, a little to the right after the second shave and keep them straight after the third shave, or similar ideas.

Best - MM

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That sounds like a fun thing to do with a Schick Shift (the name may be slightly off- something like that)! But then you'd have to find a good way to store your razor upside down so that you could have the knob on top.

OK, so today I installed my low-tech way of keeping track of how many shaves I have had with which blade. Also allows me to use different blade makes on consecutive days without getting confused. As a relative beginner (4 months in) I am still trialling different blades.

Bought some magnetic strip with sticky back (£1.33/m off Amazon), cut half inch pieces off, stuck on the inside of my bathroom cabinet in a grid. First column is 'used once', second 'twice' etc. I don't tend to use a blade more than five times.

Has the advantage of allowing air on the sharp edges of the blade so it dries properly.

For me it is easy. I only shave 2x per blade and keep the razors sans blade in their stand after the second use. If there is a blade in the razor, it has only been used once. For those going for the record # shaves per blade, obviously would be a bit more complicated.