Safety Razor Shaving Update

It's been a while since I've posted anything here but its been an especially long time since I've posted an update about shaving with a safety razor. That's partly due to the fact that nothing has really changed since I last posted, until now. My last useable blade from the purchase I described in May 2009 is in my razor now and is almost too dull to use. I say useable because I was only able to endure 2 or 3 shaves with the Dorco blades and will likely throw the rest away.

So that's 40 blades over 3 years? It sounds hard to believe but I haven't shaved with anything else except on business trips or vacation when I use the remaining cartridges from my old razor. I do that because they are easier to fly with (no bag checks) and because I still have some left over from before I got my Merkur razor kit. When those cartridges are gone I'm not sure what I'll do.

At this rate it looks like I'm going through about 12 blades a year. I only shave between one to three times a week and I have a pretty light beard so that helps.  I am about to buy 100 Feather blades from West Coast Shaving for $40.00.  When I started shaving the Feathers were too sharp for me but now I have the touch and have found them to give the best shave and to last the longest. It looks like I won't be buying more blades for about 8 years or so.


Related Posts:
Father's Day Gift Idea: Traditional Double Edge Razor
Shaving in Style with the Merkur Safty Razor
Razor Blade Sharpener
Wet Shaving Update
More Blades Arrive
Shaving Update

Shaving Update

Eight months ago I bought a 5 pack blade sampler from West Coast Shaving and I have barely made a dent in the 40 blades. I haven't even been sharpening them with the cool sharpener that Phoenix gave me. Originally I thought I would go through all of the blades once without sharpening to see how many shaves I got out of each and then run through the pack again to see how many times I could resharpen each type. Somewhere along the way I lost count and the rigors of my research went down the drain.

Here's a count of the blades I've used so far:
4 Derby ($0.20 ea. made in Turkey)
3 Dorco ($0.08 ea. - Korea)
2 Merker ($0.45 - Germany, note: these weren't in my sample pack but I had 3 left from my original gift and still have one left now)
Crystal Super + ($0.18 - Israel, note: I don't see on WCS anymore but I got the price from Amazon)
1 Gillette 7 o'clock blades ($0.34 - Russia)
1 Feather ($0.40 - Japan)

That's $3.00 for 13 blades used over 8 months. Gillette double blade cartridges are $1.37 each. The Fusion cartridges are $2.47 each and I don't think they'd give as many shaves. At this pace I won't have to buy blades again until April 2011.

I have learned a few things from these 8 months:

1. My favorite blades are the Crystal Super +. They last a long time, are sharp but not too sharp like the Feathers. I also like the Derby blades and the Gillette 7 o'clocks. Merkers aren't worth the price and the Dorcos - well, see number two.
   
2. I may throw away the rest of the Dorcos rather than suffer through another shave with them. They seem to start out dull and get duller quickly. Dull blades tend to nick more because they don't cut cleanly through the whiskers and deflect into the skin. They also tend to cause a rash more often. After a break I'll give them another chance, or keep them around for a year as a backup when I run out of everything else.
3. Rinsing blades with alcohol after a shave can extend the life of the blade considerably. I guess one of the things that dulls blades as much or more than use is oxidation. The rubbing alcohol gets rid of the water and stops the oxidation that happens along the edge of the blade. Some people soak their razors in caster oil or in rubbing alcohol but I just give it a little squirt from a bottle I keep in the medicine cabinet.
   
4. You don't have to buy an expensive razor handle get into wet shaving. The other day I used one of the old handles that Julia had collected in her travels and although it looks a little beat up and has a lighter feel than my Merker, it shaves just as well if not better. I think you can get these on Ebay pretty cheap. Or the RetroRazor could be a good option.
   

All told, I could not be happier having made the switch to the traditional double edge safety razor/wet shaving set up. I can't imagine ever going back to the over priced, over plastic, and at times hard to find cartridge type razors no matter how many blades they can glue to 'em.

More Blades Arrive

The rest of the blades from my sample pack arrived yesterday. So far since the original batch arrived I have used only two blades. The first was a Feather. It was true to it's reputation - extremely sharp. Maybe too much so. I nicked my self once or twice that first shave without even knowing it. On the bright side, however, I got 5 shaves out of one blade without resharpening at all.

The next blade I tried was a Dorco. It was not nearly as sharp. So far I have gotten 2 shaves out of it but I doubt I'll get a third. I think I'll go through all of the blades to see how many shaves I get out of each without resharpening and then go through the lot again, this time sharpening each to see how they fare. I got the feeling with the Feather that "sharpening" it my have had the effect of dulling it. It was that sharp.

Overall I couldn't be happier since I abandoned the plastic disposable multi-blade razors. I am really happy to not be involved in the disposable razor head arms race or subject to the planned obsolescence of the brand specific head/handle combos. My new blades all fit my razor. There is very little plastic involved (some come in plastic boxes but many come in cardboard with wax paper wrappers) in my new routine. My cost of shaving has dropped dramatically and my satisfaction has soared. I stand by my Father's Day gift recommendation from last year.

Previous Shaving Posts

Wet Shaving Update

I got some new shaving supplies in the mail today. I ordered a sample pack of blades from West Coast Shaving. They were out of the Gillette blades that are supposed to come with it so I got a little IOU in the box letting me know that they'll ship them as soon as they are available. Even without the other 5 or 10 blades this feels like an excellent value. It came to about $19, before tax and shipping for 35 blades and a cake of Col. Conk shave soap (almond). That's about the same price as 8 Gillette Fusion cartridges on Amazon (with no soap) which are mostly plastic wrapped in lots more plastic.

The 10 Merkur blades Julia gave me with the razor have lasted me since the beginning of December thanks to the sharpener the Phoenix gave me. If these new blades resharpen as well as the Merkur blades(about 5 extra shaves per blade), I won't be able to repurchase my favorites from the sample pack for a year and a half or more.