Feathers are insanely sharp. They go through whiskers like hot butter. I used Feathers for a few months, but went back to Derbys and IPs. Lately, I've been using Merkur blades, and they work fine for me now, though at one time I thought they were too dull. I haven't tried the Dorcos either, but I think I'll buy Red Pack Personnas next.
how many passes before you toss the DE blade?
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Feathers are insanely sharp. They go through whiskers like hot butter. I used Feathers for a few months, but went back to Derbys and IPs. Lately, I've been using Merkur blades, and they work fine for me now, though at one time I thought they were too dull. I haven't tried the Dorcos either, but I think I'll buy Red Pack Personnas next.
Wow, I got about 3 months use out of a Astra SP (shave about 3 times a week). It was still good IMO. I only tossed it to try something else.
I can probably get between 3-5 shaves from my Astra SP's. I have a somewhat light beard so I don't have to put much effort into shaving. I can even skip a day and people won't even notice that I didn't shave that day. As a matter of fact I normally skip one day most weekends for a break. Ultimately the deciding factor as others have already mentioned is when my whiskers are being tugged out. That's when it's time to toss the blade.
10+ shaves seems to be where I am at right now, seems a lot of it depends on technique and if I am too lazy to do a proper prep as than I imagine the blade doesn't last as long but the shave definitely suffers. I usually do a 2-3 pass shave too.
I was at a few shaves per blade (Astra SP), and than I doubled it when I started trying to keep lather on my face more often to soften the beard. So I would shave one area then reapply lather instead of finishing the shave and then relathering. Than I easily doubled the longevity of the blade again when I changed my technique by changing the angle of the blade so it goes down my face at an angle in an attempt to mimic a slant to try to get more of a slicing motion as it provides a more effective cut. Seems to work quite well for me so I am trying to work on that technique right now as I just started doing that more recently.
I was at a few shaves per blade (Astra SP), and than I doubled it when I started trying to keep lather on my face more often to soften the beard. So I would shave one area then reapply lather instead of finishing the shave and then relathering. Than I easily doubled the longevity of the blade again when I changed my technique by changing the angle of the blade so it goes down my face at an angle in an attempt to mimic a slant to try to get more of a slicing motion as it provides a more effective cut. Seems to work quite well for me so I am trying to work on that technique right now as I just started doing that more recently.
3 tops.
After 1-10 shaves.
So large gap, I know but all depends from the kind of blade, mood and razor used.
So large gap, I know but all depends from the kind of blade, mood and razor used.
And the answer is....it depends, or YMMV! 
I average 4-6 shaves per blade, 6-10 with some vintage blades.
With experience, you'll know when a blade has crapped out on you!
I average 4-6 shaves per blade, 6-10 with some vintage blades.
With experience, you'll know when a blade has crapped out on you!
I've found that most brands start tugging and getting dull after the 5th shave, so ideally that's when they get tossed.
Being the forgetful person that I am though, I change the blade when I feel tugging.
Being the forgetful person that I am though, I change the blade when I feel tugging.
Like many people I have stubborn growth in hard-to-shave places, so my shaves are combination of passes and touch-ups. I typically do 2 passes, WTG and ATG, and some uncounted number of touch ups under the jaw and chin. I would guess that is the equivalent of 4 1/2 passes. I pitch the blade after 3 uses if I particularly feel like trying another sample, or after 6 if being practical, so do the math and it can be up to 27 passes. With such regular rotation I cannot think of any occasion when the blade became problematically ineffective before it went into the blade bank.
When is that?
I usually swap blades, regardless of brand, after 3 or 4 shaves. So I run thru 2 blades per week.
Feathers consistently give me 4 amazing shaves of 3 passes each, then I toss them. Works perfect every time. 
About 10 passes on a Personna Red. Switched to a GSB out of snoredom... now I've got about 8 passes on the GSB and considering switching back to the Personna to see if it is still good. I'll maybe try my Feathers next but I stillhave a bunch from my Try-A-Blade samplers to use.
So many blades; so little time.
So many blades; so little time.
I’m still a bit of a noob and I do three passes on my cheeks and four on my chin and neck and still require a bit of buffing after that.
With this procedure I find I can get two excellent shaves per Feather blade. If I try a third shave it starts to get uncomfortable, so I stick with two shaves and toss, and I get consistently good shaves with no surprises.
With this procedure I find I can get two excellent shaves per Feather blade. If I try a third shave it starts to get uncomfortable, so I stick with two shaves and toss, and I get consistently good shaves with no surprises.
If this thread were a child, it would be entering 2nd Grade.
