1 and done for me. You only live once!! Plus when you ask your friend who's gone back to visit his family in India and your cousin who's going on vacation to Turkey to bring you back some blades, you know just a couple of boxes nothing big! Plus you pick drop off & both up from the airport including both their families which helps you net 600 Gillette 7 O'Clock-Black/Gillette-Wilkinson Sword & 700 Sharks/Lords/Racers & you just stocked up on 300 Feathers on sale you too would be smiling at spending some time on the highway driving people to catch a plane for the end result. The Feathers are in a vault by the way!!
Do we really need to stretch blade life?
- Thread starter msayani
- Start date
This question will be asked a million more times before B&B folds. I use my blades just twice. Maybe I'm not the most attuned guy around these parts, but often I don't know when a blade is done until I change it and suddenly realize that the new blade is SOOOO much better than the one I just tossed. I used to have this problem with carts all the time. I wanted to make those pricey suckers last, but it was always hard for me to tell just how long to keep them.
Pretty much any blade should be good for 2. I bought 200 Feathers for $49 (including shipping from Thailand). I'm comfortable with that price point, although the Feathers might be good for 3 (lots of different opinions on Feather duration, generally not favorable).
Everyone has to figure out their own mileage on this philosophy, because it varies more than almost anything else on B&B.
Pretty much any blade should be good for 2. I bought 200 Feathers for $49 (including shipping from Thailand). I'm comfortable with that price point, although the Feathers might be good for 3 (lots of different opinions on Feather duration, generally not favorable).
Everyone has to figure out their own mileage on this philosophy, because it varies more than almost anything else on B&B.
I tend to go to a different razor a couple times a week and hate to put a used blade into my next razor so I would not go more than 4 or 5 shaves on a single blade... New Blade, New Razor, New Shave... besides, why wait to get that "uncomfortable" shave? Who wants an uncomfortable shave? Keeping fresh blades and razors on the rotation greatly lessens the chance of this happening.
The responses that interest me are the "until it doesn't give me a good shave anymore". To me that means at the end of every blade's life the shaver gets a less than par shave. How sad...... over pennies?
I don't think it has anything to do with the cost of the blade. I don't believe anyone endures a bad shave just to stretch it to one more shave to save money. Obviously there are many differing opinions, but I would bet most consider it part of the overall enjoyment of wet shaving to monitor how many shaves one gets per blade. Doe anyone really care that they saved 2 cents by stretching the blade for just one more shave. NO, it's just part of the fun of wet shaving experience. Just like rotating razors, trying new products, even when your old products work well, it's just a fun hobby to have all these options and experiences. Another possible consideration, is that many people are generally brought up to not be wasteful about anything, water, blades, fuel or anything else, regardless of cost.
I personally measure the performance of the blade by the amount of stubble I have by the time of the next daily shave. I have noticed that a blade at the end of its life span gets duller and might need more buffing or a more efficient razor to produce a daily BBS.
I am not entirely sure what some members mean by this but I personally have no problem at all to detect the end of any of the five blades I use several shaves before I switch them out. I don't tolerate second rate shaves at all.
As I see it it's entirely a question of technique and knowing your equipment.
We should all do whatever makes us happy. I like to use a blade until it gives me a reason to toss it. Sometimes that happens on the 3rd shave. Sometimes on the 15th. I don't really ever have to tolerate a bad shave that way either. A little weeper on my chin is a good enough reason to toss a blade but hardly qualifies the shave as bad. I'll also toss a blade if I get any sting from my after shave, which to me indicates the blade is getting rough. A couple seconds of stinging is far from a bad shave. I think your technique has to be pretty refined to be able to do this though. For a long time, stinging from the after shave was the norm for me but now my technique is good enough that I can tell the difference between my lack of technique and a blade that's getting rough. And as long as a blade is giving me great, comfortable shaves I'll just keep using it.
I use once and toss. I have several reasons for this. One, I'm a head shaver, and my head is as big as two or three normal beards. Two I have a lot of blades, in different types and have not found my brand. Right now I'm determining which blade I like best brand new, later on I will try to stretch them. Three, my technique is still not fully developed. After only three months of DE shaving, and with one of my razors bring VERY aggressive, I don't like to chance my blades getting even a little rough. I still get plenty of aftershave sting with a brand new blade. Finally, they are cheap. Unbelievably cheap. So for right now these fickle first three reasons are plenty good enough to toss after one use without a second thought. However, I fully understand the sense of accomplishment to be had from pulling off twenty perfect shaves in a row with the same blade, and I imagine that in years to come, I'll be attempting to do just that on a regular basis.
I am definitely not the person to express an opinion about blades and their longevity. I recently took a common single edge blade from the hardware store designed for scrapers and box cutters, loaded it into a Gem Micromatic and got a DFS. With a little more effort, I probably could have achieved a BSS shave. I will say, that I could definitely tell the blade was not designed for shaving, as there was significant drag, and it took a number of passes. I actually did it, just to see how well it would work.
I leave a blade in a razor until it no longer gives me a good shave.
And I agree with Doc...
Everyone has to figure out their own mileage on this philosophy, because it varies more than almost anything else on B&B.
For example my lords blades I only use them one or two times I just don't like them.......
And I agree with Doc...
Everyone has to figure out their own mileage on this philosophy, because it varies more than almost anything else on B&B.
For example my lords blades I only use them one or two times I just don't like them.......
It's more a general way of thinking, I suppose. Most people wouldn't dump out half a gallon of milk two days before its expiration date "just in case". Then there are some who will drink the milk one day before the printed date but never ON the printed date. Then there are others (like me) who will drink the milk for as long as it doesn't smell funny, no matter what the date on the jug says. Now, I'm not really saving any substantial money by pushing the milk as long as it will go, and neither are shavers who push their blades as long as they will go. But the general thinking is the same for both: Why throw away something that is still perfectly good only to buy more? Why not wait until it's actually nearing the end of its useful life?
If you are shaving peach fuzz I guess I can see using your blade for 100+ shaves. Shaving redwoods down is another.
4 and done for me. I have enough blades to last a while.
Not anymore. But blades used to be (relatively) much more expensive than they are now. So it did make sense indeed to get as many shaves from a blade as possible.
Life is too short - I never leave a blade in my razor overnight, so that means removing and cleaning it, drying it, and then replacing it in the holder after it's dry...way too much overhead for a 3cent item..
The only thing that bothers me about it is the throwaway mentality that is connected to low price disposable goods. Of course it is great that blades are still the same price as in the 1960's, and disposable incomes three times higher (or even more?). But that does not encourage the re-use of goods as long as possible.
I noticed that in a lot of very vintage ads. Seen a lot of 10 packs for just under 2$, which is what I pay now. That would put them probably at par or a little higher than what Fusion blades are today.
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