When do you change the blade of your DE ?

Cristobal · Sep 28, 2008

Sorry for my dumb question ...
As you perform several passes, when do you feel that the razor blade should be replaced by a new one ?
Not sure but if I have to push more (more pressure) or have to do an extra pass, it is a sign to change, of course I assume that it depends on different parameters (type of beard, brand of the blade, etc). What are your tricks ?

R-James · Sep 28, 2008

When she pulls, change her out for a new one. Really that simple, blades are cheap and if its not comfortable just change it.

AACJ · Sep 28, 2008

Her? Your blades are female? Hmm

But he is right, when they start to pull, it's overdue for a changin. I try to change mine before they pull though.

jpkunst · Sep 28, 2008

I have a fixed schedule for changing blades, which means that I change the blade before it becomes too blunt to use comfortably. I'm sure I could get a little more out of it, but it's not worth it, especially because the last shave would be uncomfortable.

So I would advise you to check how many days of comfortable shaves you can get out of your favorite blade (let's call this number n) and then commit to a schedule of changing the blade every n days. Don't try to get 'one more shave' out of it.

To answer the actual question, I would say if it feels like the blade is irritating your skin instead of cutting hairs it is spent.

crankymoose · Sep 28, 2008

I think on average most guys get 3-4 shaves out of a blade, as mentioned it is not worth it to go for 1 more shave

Monkeyboy · Sep 28, 2008

I usually toss after 3 shaves but can't always remember for sure what day I'm on. At 10 cents a blade it's not really worth it to try to squeeze one more shave out of it.

Not A Nice Person · Sep 28, 2008

I change after 3 shaves, generally speaking. Sometimes I'll get a clunker, and change it after the first shave (or even during, although that hasn't happened since I switched to Red IP blades) and sometimes, the 3rd shave is so smooth I go for one more day . . . but 3 and out's my habit.

NANP

ratcheer · Sep 28, 2008

I am conservative with my blade changes. I use Feathers and usually get five or six shaves per blade. My shaves are mostly three-pass plus a little touch-up. I generally just change blades every Saturday. That makes it easy to keep up with.

Tim

dpm802 · Sep 28, 2008

Lately, I've been putting in a fresh blade for every shave.

My go-to brand is Exchange Select, made by American Safety Razor. You will find the same blades house-branded at most supermarkets and drugstores. At Walmart, they are being sold as Personna Reds.

At just $1.49 per 10-pack, they are cheap enough to use a new one every time. But, even if they were free, I wouldn't use them if I didn't get a DFS result on a consistent basis.

With more expensive and harder to get blades like FEATHER, I'll go 2 shaves.
Really expensive blades like Swedish Gillette stay in for 3.

I can't see any reason to use any blade more than 3 times.

thirdeye · Sep 28, 2008

R-James said:
When she pulls, change her out for a new one.

Why????? Isn't that what most of us want?

Seriously, I get four shaves from a blade, that's it. For the price of a blade, why push it.

Generally you start to feel a tug or the blade starts to skip...change it out.

Kingram · Sep 28, 2008

I usually get 2-3 shaves out of each blade. I do not keep track. As soon as I feel that it pulling on my face I change it. So far, I am zooming on Lord Platinum. It is like knife and butter on my face. Welcome to B&B.

BroJohn · Sep 28, 2008

Cristobal said:
Sorry for my dumb question ...
As you perform several passes, when do you feel that the razor blade should be replaced by a new one ?
Not sure but if I have to push more (more pressure) or have to do an extra pass, it is a sign to change, of course I assume that it depends on different parameters (type of beard, brand of the blade, etc). What are your tricks ?

When to swap out the current blade for a fresh replacement?
Generally, there hasn't been a lot of discussion about this, in part because it is intuitive for most guys. The issue seems to arise when someone has a fixed notion that a blade should last a week or so, and in fact for them the blade may be past its prime after only two or three or four days due to personal factors. The remaining days are subsequently less than satisfactory, as blade longevity for them doesn't match their expectation or what some other guys report.

Here's a posting I made earlier on the blade change topic. It's important to shave only with a blade that is in its prime, regardless of brand.

You need to learn when to change to a fresh razor blade. Some newer DE shavers will try to get too many shaves out of a blade. Bulk purchases of blades make them CHEAP, so feel free to swap out a blade that has become sub-par --even in the middle of a shave.

Guys here will get 2 to 6 shaves per blade, all depending on personal factors to them. The average is probably 3 ~ 4 shaves or so. Factors are the brand of blade itself, lubrication, sensitivity of their skin, toughness and density of their beard/whiskers, type of razor, personal technique, and so on.

Again, only you can determine when swapping in a fresh blade is needed. So, when to change blades? At some point, the blade will become 'dull' in that it will not reliably 'shave' the whiskers. 'Dull' is relative, because a 'dull' blade is still very, very sharp and can easily cut you. But it will only 'cut' --not 'shave', the whiskers.

You will become aware that shaving takes somewhat more effort; that the blade is leaving some additional stubble/uncut whiskers behind after a pass; that there is a little additional 'tugging' or 'pulling' of the whiskers that was not present the day before. This can lead to additional strokes and overshaving an area and leave you with razor burn and facial irritation (and a shave that isn't very close, and certainly not comfortable).

So 'listen' to what your face and your whiskers are 'telling' you and change blades accordingly. The routine I've fallen into is 3 to 4 shaves per blade --that's two blades per week. I don't try to extend this. Ever. You should pay attention to the blade and always shave with a blade that is in its' prime.

Good Luck and welcome aboard.

-- John Gehman

Hey! I just noticed that this is my 3000th post! :a50:

Hoos · Sep 28, 2008

Like with underwear, real men don't change blades! Grrr. :biggrin:

When you notice that your current blade is tugging/pulling a little, that's a good time to change it. Sometimes you can get more shaves out of it, but the chance of razor burn increases.

Once you find a blade that you like, you'll get to know it. For me, there were some (Dorco and Derby) that were nice but needed changed 3-4 shaves. The Swedish Gillettes work great for me and I can usually get 6 solid shaves out of them.

R-James · Sep 28, 2008

thirdeye said:
Why????? Isn't that what most of us want?

Seriously, I get four shaves from a blade, that's it. For the price of a blade, why push it.

Generally you start to feel a tug or the blade starts to skip...change it out.

See, this is much worse than what I say, and yet ray doesn't get it as a custom title!

Something is seriously backwards in the B&B mod arena :lol:

ARG · Sep 28, 2008

Pick a specific day and change it on that day...

Gabriel · Sep 28, 2008

I change them every Saturday or so. I can get about 5 shaves per blade with Red IPs.

SobBill2 · Sep 28, 2008

3 and out!

apswartz · Sep 28, 2008

I'm still working through a sampler pack and I am amazed at the difference in the number of shaves you get from different blades - varies from 2 to 5 shaves, depending on the brand, for me.

Robotack · Sep 28, 2008

Cristobal said:
Sorry for my dumb question ...
?

I'm pretty new here but I've learned there's no dumb questions.

Personally I change after 3 shaves. That's because once I tried for a fourth and it just seemed to drag. Now I don't even bother trying for a fourth. The blades are so cheap I reckon I may as well get the best out of them then move on.

I'm using Wilkinson (UK) yellow package blades.

BeardBuster · Sep 28, 2008

+1 Three and out

Derby
Personna red

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When do you change the blade of your DE ?

Cristobal

R-James

AACJ

jpkunst

crankymoose

Monkeyboy

Not A Nice Person

ratcheer

dpm802

thirdeye

Kingram

BroJohn

Hoos

R-James

ARG

Gabriel

SobBill2

apswartz

Robotack

BeardBuster

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