When to throw away

How do i know when to throw away my blade/razor?

I've just used a razor for the 9th time. The razor still cuts good and i got a clean shave. I did 2 and half passes with the grain and 2 passes against the grain, the only difficult areas being around my chin and around the lips.

While shaving and even now i have irritation just under my chin.

It took about an hour to achieve a full clean shave.

Different blades have different useful cycles. I generally change my blade every 4th or 5th shave. Blades are cheap and not worth risking irritation. When you feel the blade pulling it's time to change to a new blade.

What factors do you use to determine its time to bin it?

how blunt it is?
(some areas it shaves well, others areas not so good)

the amount of time it takes to shave?
(i know some people complete their shave in 20 minutes but it took me an hour)

Irritation/razor burn?

[Any other factor] ?

All of the above. If it doesn't cut well, or it doesn't shave you without irritation, it's time to toss it.

disposable_man said:

How do i know when to throw away my blade/razor?

I've just used a razor for the 9th time. The razor still cuts good and i got a clean shave. I did 2 and half passes with the grain and 2 passes against the grain, the only difficult areas being around my chin and around the lips.

While shaving and even now i have irritation just under my chin.

It took about an hour to achieve a full clean shave.

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What razor are you using? a disposable razor? I would toss that after every use-

A DE blade I use 2-3X's at the max-

Yep, as the name suggests, a disposable. Disposable I am, Disposable it is, Disposable it will be

At the moment im using a Bic Sensitive.

I dont know how other people to do it in around 20 minutes, is it because they shave everyday or every other day so their stubble is not too long?

Im thinking if theres irritation, it would be all over my face not in one place. However, using the same bic razor for the 9th time its given me a close than from the 1st to the 8th shave, how mysterious.

The time to throw away your razors, and your creams and aftershaves, is whenever I'm directly in front of your house.

ouch said:

The time to throw away your razors, and your creams and aftershaves, is whenever I'm directly in front of your house.

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whaasat suppose to mean?

Disposable=scary. If it works for you, great! But I would be scared to use one more than a couple of times. 9 times! Wow!

As for me, DE it is, DE it will be!

i will get a DE soon i think, i've tried already and when i told other people that im gonna start DE shaving they were horrified, i asked one of my friends once and they said they used to DE shave in the past, ages ago, now they changed to a mach3. I think the one thing me and my friend have in common is we just want to get it over with and go in a rush, he leads a fast busy life so do. I think its as the saying goes 'no matter how hard you press on it you cant cut yourself with mach3'.

A DE is just an open blade isnt it, when i tried picking up a DE, the people around me were more scared that i would cut myself handling the blade, than me being scared. When i looked at a DE the difference i noticed was with a DE theres more blade exposed than the small amount on a disposable so maybe thats why theres higher risk of a cut.

When i watch Scary Movie, this guy goes into the bathroom and starts shaving with a DE and instantly there is a cut, i know the blade looks scarey enuf.

It's time to throw a blade (or in the cae of a disposable, the whole razor) when you start feeling it tugging at your whiskers. My guess is that it's time for you to move on to the next one in the bag -- or to a DE.

If you're taking an hour to shave, you must be pretty meticulous. If that's the case, you may really enjoy using a DE -- it requires more attention to detail and technique. But frankly, as detail oriented as I like to be with my shave, I really can't imagine spending a whole hour at it. Are you presently using shaving goop from a can with your disposable? If so, using a good lather will probably speed up your shave, as it lubricates waaaay better.

Alright, there are two things in your post that make me cringe. First, that it takes you an hour to shave. It takes me a half hour tops, and I consider myself a little on the slow side. Second, that you're using a Bic disposable. I tried one of those once. Emphasis on ONCE. I would never use one of those again, even if it meant I'd have to grow a beard.

Whatever your friends say about using a DE, keep in mind that the other name for it is a safety razor. I've cut myself as many times with a DE as I ever did with a Mach 3, and lately far less now that my technique has improved. Buy yourself a DE (probably a Merkur HD,) you will NOT be disappointed. And just think of how cool it looks to be using on your face what your friends regard as a deadly weapon.

I agree with the life of a disposable. I've used them, and was LUCKY to get 2 shaves out of it. Even the first shave feels like its tearing my face off.

I'll also echo what Kevin just said. Its called a safety razor for a reason! I have YET to have a worse cut than I ever got with a cartridge (M3, Fusion etc). With a DE, you only have one chance to get cut. You are 5 times more likely to cut yourself with a Fusion (6x if you employ the completely useless "trimmer" on the back). As long as you dont do anything stupid with the razor, you wont get cut. If you do, its hardly more than a small nick, which alum or styptic and a cold water splash will usually fix.

Once you make the switch, you will wonder why you ever pulled an M3 (or Bic disposable for that matter) across your face.

Good luck, and ask lots of questions!

zachster said:

It's time to throw a blade (or in the cae of a disposable, the whole razor) when you start feeling it tugging at your whiskers. My guess is that it's time for you to move on to the next one in the bag -- or to a DE.

If you're taking an hour to shave, you must be pretty meticulous. If that's the case, you may really enjoy using a DE -- it requires more attention to detail and technique. But frankly, as detail oriented as I like to be with my shave, I really can't imagine spending a whole hour at it. Are you presently using shaving goop from a can with your disposable? If so, using a good lather will probably speed up your shave, as it lubricates waaaay better.

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It doesnt tug, it only used to tug when my stuble was bit long.
No im not meticulous or i dont take any attention to detail coz i want to go. I think when i have long stubble the first pass doesnt cut all the hairs only some and on the 2nd pass most of the hairs are gone, on the 3rd pass or 3rd against the grain pass its a decent shave and i would do maybe one more pass to ensure i have a smooth shave, the remainder of the time is used up in lathering goo from a can, applying it, cleaning the razor or washing the face.

I think it is time for this razor to go since although i have good shave, its been about more or less than 9 hours and i still have irritation under my chin.

I was thinking about shaving with it a 10th time because this 9th time i got a good decent shave than any of the other times but the irritation is sting like hell.

Also, if you want to keep using the Bic disposable, they are cheap enough that you dont necessarily have to strech out the life. Even though you could theoretically get 9 shaves out of it, why risk the irritation?

Thats why I dont try to strech my DE blades life. Theyre cheap enough that I can throw them away after even 3 shaves without being worse for the wear.

Dansk said:

Alright, there are two things in your post that make me cringe. First, that it takes you an hour to shave. It takes me a half hour tops, and I consider myself a little on the slow side. Second, that you're using a Bic disposable. I tried one of those once. Emphasis on ONCE. I would never use one of those again, even if it meant I'd have to grow a beard.

Whatever your friends say about using a DE, keep in mind that the other name for it is a safety razor. I've cut myself as many times with a DE as I ever did with a Mach 3, and lately far less now that my technique has improved. Buy yourself a DE (probably a Merkur HD,) you will NOT be disappointed. And just think of how cool it looks to be using on your face what your friends regard as a deadly weapon.

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yeh, this 1 hour thing is also getting me bored as well, i could be doing other things with that time. I know the bic disposables you're talking about those orangy ones i seen it myself that you get a face full of nicks or cuts, im using the bic sensititve so i never had a nick or cut.

Disposables are already angled so you just put on your face pull down whereas DE's arent angled so you have to find the right angle or its a cut isnt it and they dont have a safety/guard wire?

disposable_man said:

Disposables are already angled so you just put on your face pull down whereas DE's arent angled so you have to find the right angle or its a cut isnt it and they dont have a safety/guard wire?

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Yes, but use one and you'll find out quickly how irrelevant that guard wire actually is. Just because the blade is exposed doesn't mean it's any more dangerous to use than your Bic disposable. In fact, I cut myself a LOT more the one time I used a Bic than I ever have with the DE. And as for the proper angle, getting the wrong angle won't necessarily cut you, unless you're really pressing down on it. In fact, I could shave at almost any angle the blade touches my skin at, but the right angle makes it more comfortable and results in less irritation. The fact that you can get nine comfortable shaves out of a Bic disposable tells me you have incredibly tough skin, and I bet you'd be amazed at what a DE can do for you. You'll probably be one of those lucky people that never gets a nick and can use a Feather blade every day.

Disposable Man, it sounds like you might be confused on what we mean by a DE razor. We're talking about old-fashioned safety razors, not the "cut-throat" straight razors. There's nothing scary about a DE razor; you won't cut your throat open with one. It's just as safe as your Bic disposable. But they work great (most of us think they're far superior to anything else out there), and the blades for them are dirt cheap...sometimes as low as 15 cents or so for a blade.

Im almost convinced to use a DE now after reading all these comments but let me just finish my disposables coz i got a stack of them and i dont want to waste my money, then im gonna give DE a try.

peacefrog said:

Disposable Man, it sounds like you might be confused on what we mean by a DE razor. We're talking about old-fashioned safety razors, not the "cut-throat" straight razors. There's nothing scary about a DE razor; you won't cut your throat open with one. It's just as safe as your Bic disposable. But they work great (most of us think they're far superior to anything else out there), and the blades for them are dirt cheap...sometimes as low as 15 cents or so for a blade.

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its ok i know the difference between a cut throat and DE.