Once again my thanks to all of you here who helped me find my way through the endless array of options for wet shaving. I'm no expert at this point, but I'm really enjoying shaving right now.

Since I've found I really like shaving with a sharp blade, I limit my blade use to only 'two' shaves before the blade is replaced. Maybe extravagant, but I really love the way a sharp blade cuts, and with how inexpensive double edged blades are, I'm still saving money (and getting a better shave) then I did when I was using a cartridge razor.

FYI This is not a thread about what blades you use or like, but instead, how often you change them.

Question:
So for those of you shave with a safety razor, how many shaves do you subject a blade to before replacing it?

Choices:
1-2 shaves
3-5 shaves
5 or more shaves
I ride that puppy until its butter knife sharp

 

Are you assuming that shaving with cartridge blades isn't wet shaving?

I shave until the cartridge pulls at my skin.

Way sharper than a butter knife, but still not that sharp.

I knew someone at Gillette years ago. The sharpest blade they ever made was the two edge razor blade.

It was the sharpest and it dulled the fastest, compared to the initial sharpness when it left the factory.

So they designed the blades after that not as sharp but the edge lasted longer on blades after that.

That is what customer research said their customers liked.

I didn’t vote in your poll as I use a cartridge and I don’t want to skew the results.

I probably get 10-15 shaves from a cartridge. I have a beard, so the shave is just from the jawline down.
I rarely use any soap or shave cream, just wet the blades and hack away. I have always viewed it as a chore.

Maybe I need to kick off some music, break out a can of cream, and try to enjoy it...

I shave my face and my entire head, typically every other day. I can get ~2 weeks out of a cartridge, which is about 6 total shaves.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
I shave my face and my entire head, typically every other day. I can get ~2 weeks out of a cartridge, which is about 6 total shaves.

It’s funny, as we (I) associate an image of what we think a person would look like based off of their posts and what we know about them. I had always figured you to look like Tom Selleck, thick hair and a mustache/goatee.

I get my favourite double edge blades from Amazon at about $20 for 50 of them. Since I retired I usually only shave twice a week. I only use a blade twice, then pitch it, because I like a very sharp blade. I could go maybe five or six shaves, but realistically, $20 for almost two years worth of blades is nothing. I've wasted a heck of alot more money than that on dumber stuff.

quote:

Originally posted by Beancooker:
I had always figured you to look like Tom Selleck, thick hair and a mustache/goatee.

Nope. My celebrity twin is Michael Chiklis.

Oops; voter fraud. I hastily voted "5 or more", but use a cartridge blade on my wet face.

Not sure how this counts but I shave twice, once down than lather again up and shave up.
I voted butter knife sharp. I only shave once a week so I loose track of how many times I use my blade before I change them.

I toss the blade after 2 shaves. I don't like the feeling of the blade not being the sharpest it can be. I've been using some Japanese stainless blades and they've been awesome. The cost of the blades doesn't make me want to skimp so I shave and flip the blade for the shave next time and then toss it. I wouldn't be saving much since I don't shave everyday and depending on my schedule, I might touch up with an electric on the way to work.

My shaving routine has changed since Covid. I now typically shave off my pandemic beard about every week, but not by wet shaving. I takeoff the big stuff with my cordless clippers and then run the electric shaver over it. Repeat in roughly 2 weeks. Since I'm not going anywhere and when I do, I wear a mask, who cares?

I'm not a cheapskate by any means, but I never change a blade before it's gone white with use from either the shave cream or minerals in the water. I find I still get a decent enough shave with an old blade. I also only shave every other day and sometimes not even that often.

I shave every day using water and shaving cream. I just use the cheap 3 blade disposables from Walmart. I just use them till dull then grab a new one. Works well for me.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
I shave my face and my entire head, typically every other day. I can get ~2 weeks out of a cartridge, which is about 6 total shaves.

This, I shave every day that I work, so 15 days a month and I shave my head every 3rd Day.

I get a month out of a cartridge but by the end it's pretty rough. I also shave in the shower which helps greatly taking really hot showers. I'd never use a month old razor at the sink.

I gave up 'wet shaving' long ago. I dry shave every other day with a Mach 3 cartridge. I get maybe 3-5 shaves on a blade.

quote:

Originally posted by houndawg:
Are you assuming that shaving with cartridge blades isn't wet shaving?

I know this is semantics, but no, that’s not really what that phrase indicates. It implies traditional shaving with straight and safety razor types that predate the cartridge razor. I didn’t come up with the terminology or tell people how to use it, but that’s just how I see it referred to “in the community.”

Any more than two uses on a DE blade and I’m asking for trouble. I know you also didn’t ask about blades brands, but for example, I can get about half of a shave out of a Derby Extra and about three decent shaved with a Feather loaded into the same razor. The third shave is always a bit of a gamble and I try to limit it to two. SE blades so far only give me one decent shave and then they murder my face, so I’ve basically stopped using my SE razors.

I've been wet shaving all my adult life (I'm 65 now) and believe the number of shaves per blade is dependent upon several factors including:
How heavy the beard of the user is.
The quality of the blade(s) used
The level of salinity of the water used. (Soft water=more shaves, Hard water=less shaves)

I've always had little facial hair, mostly on my chin. I shave maybe every 5 days so a cartridge last weeks and weeks. I just run them till it doesn't feet right and swap.

There's very few things in life I dislike more than shaving.

I shave two-three times per week. I shaved off my goatee when we first started the mask business as the goatee itched and the mask moved around (slid?) when I wore it for more than a few minutes.

I've grown it back and it seems to be getting along better with the mask, but still dislike shaving. I have a light beard (likely the result of the radiation for throat cancer 5 year ago) but it is not so light that I can simply stop shaving.

I go three or four and occasionally five shaves before changing Harry's blade. I do like Harry's system, but use a different shave cream.

Bob

This message has been edited. Last edited by: straightshooter1,