Used ONE razor blade for 7 months

[Cwadda]

I shave 2-3 times per week and used 1 blade for the past 7 months. Finally it got too dull and I put on a new one. Here's how to strop your razor and get maximum longevity out of your blades.

1. Shave like normal
2. When you're finished, rinse the blade thoroughly.
3. Grab a towel or cloth, spread it out a bit, and run your razor across it 10-12 times (opposite direction of the blade of course, to run it over "against the grain" as if you were shaving would cut and rip out the towel fibers).
4. Position one arm as if you were flexing your bicep. Place your razor at the base of your forearm and rub it upwards another 10-12 times (again, opposite direction of the blade, the normal way would cut yourself).
5. For even better results you can do this process before and after shaving. This takes an extra 30 seconds or so.
6. Your razor will remain sharp for about 7x longer.
7. I soak my blade in rubbing alcohol every few weeks.

Enjoy :D

[Bracken_Joy]

I've done the "stropping" before, but never tried the alcohol! Any idea what it does? Remove micro rust or product build up or...?

[Cwadda]

I've done the "stropping" before, but never tried the alcohol! Any idea what it does? Remove micro rust or product build up or...?

I just do it for sanitary reasons. I have sensitive skin so don't want bacteria being collected on there for months at a time.

[Bracken_Joy]

I've done the "stropping" before, but never tried the alcohol! Any idea what it does? Remove micro rust or product build up or...?

I just do it for sanitary reasons. I have sensitive skin so don't want bacteria being collected on there for months at a time.

Makes sense. What type of razor? I would think the alcohol would be problematic with any razor with a "moisture strip"?

[Cwadda]

I've done the "stropping" before, but never tried the alcohol! Any idea what it does? Remove micro rust or product build up or...?

I just do it for sanitary reasons. I have sensitive skin so don't want bacteria being collected on there for months at a time.

Makes sense. What type of razor? I would think the alcohol would be problematic with any razor with a "moisture strip"?

I believe it was a Gillette Mach 3, one they sent me for a free trial in the mail lol. I didn't notice any difference after the soaking. But at the end of the blade's life I definitely noticed it wasn't sharp and wasn't running smoothly across my face.

[StreetCat]

I'm doing this too and it's working well for me.

The water is hard where I live, so rinsing the razor with tap water builds deposits on the blade and after 2-3 weeks (I shave 5x/week) the blade is too dull to use.  So now I rinse in reverse osmosis water which has very few minerals and then strop on the towel.  I have had good results and my blade is at the end of month 2 and still going strong.

I don't know if it will hit 7 months though :-)

[Cwadda]

I'm doing this too and it's working well for me.

The water is hard where I live, so rinsing the razor with tap water builds deposits on the blade and after 2-3 weeks (I shave 5x/week) the blade is too dull to use.  So now I rinse in reverse osmosis water which has very few minerals and then strop on the towel.  I have had good results and my blade is at the end of month 2 and still going strong.

I don't know if it will hit 7 months though :-)

You'd be surprised how long it'll just keep going. I think realistically I should be able to get 5-6 months out of one razor without compromising shave quality.

Cheers!

[Hotstreak]

I've done the "stropping" before, but never tried the alcohol! Any idea what it does? Remove micro rust or product build up or...?

I just do it for sanitary reasons. I have sensitive skin so don't want bacteria being collected on there for months at a time.

Makes sense. What type of razor? I would think the alcohol would be problematic with any razor with a "moisture strip"?

After that long, the moisture strip is gone anyway.  I'm going to try the rubbing alcohol, I bet it would get some of the gunk off (especially where the blade housing connects to the handle).  For stropping, I use the towel wrapped around my waist after getting out of the shower.  After years of my left side getting more razor burn than my right, I started doing a few passes of the blade over the towel mid shave.  Now my blade is "fresh" on both sides, and no more razor burn!

[steviesterno]

I got a double bladed safety razor set with badger brush a few years ago. I buy a bulk pack of blades ever year for maybe $2. Keep it clean, and you will be good to go for quite a while. It's the safety razor, so I'm not about to gouge myself to death. which is cool. The razor box keeps old blades in it to dispose of.


Also, grow a beard. I only have to shave above and below where I want it, so I change my blades like every 6 months.

[Bracken_Joy]

I got a double bladed safety razor set with badger brush a few years ago. I buy a bulk pack of blades ever year for maybe $2. Keep it clean, and you will be good to go for quite a while. It's the safety razor, so I'm not about to gouge myself to death. which is cool. The razor box keeps old blades in it to dispose of.


Also, grow a beard. I only have to shave above and below where I want it, so I change my blades like every 6 months.

Why do men always assume it's just men posting about shaving? Real estate wise, most women do a LOT more shaving than most men.

[Spork]

I am an old fart.  I believe that I have never in my life used a blade for shorter than a year.

* I am a lazy bastard.  This means I probably shave 2x a week tops.
* I am not hirsute by any means.  I have facial hair.  I can grow a beard.  But I'm not one of those guys that shaves, walks away and has a 5 o'clock shadow.

Not me:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gIhaXYAOAQ

[Bracken_Joy]

Per: Bracken_Joy:

Why do men always assume it's just men posting about shaving? Real estate wise, most women do a LOT more shaving than most men.


I don't care what my wife uses to shave--- she specs it, I buy it... hang the cost-- I don't even look.... right now it's some package of something that costs $25 for 4 razors... it'd be like me trying to tell her which tampons to use....

I do the safety razor because I like the idea of using a recycled WWII battleship to shave, and there's no way I'm paying money for something that costs so little to make.... If I had really sensitive skin or got razor bumps, maybe I'd find a modern offering....

There's some things worth paying for: stuff my wife specs- hair care, makeup, soaps, etc (cause she's more mustachian than I),  anything used to remove broken bolts/fasteners: easy outs, left handed drill bits, taps, stud extractors, rounded bolt head grippers, etc...wait I am getting off topic here... just got done working on the car.... ;D -- almost as good as a day spent fishing....

....what? I truly did not understand this post, but it seemed to be in reply to my question about assumptions. (I was commenting that many posters cannot just "grow a beard" if we are women)

[Hotstreak]

You could let your armpit and leg hair grow though (or wherever you normally shave).  I think most men mention beards since that's what they're used to, and it's more universally accepted that a man might grow a beard than that a woman might have unshaven legs etc. (does not apply in all parts of the world!).

In my experience the face ruins a razor faster than legs do, because of how thick it grows & because the follicles are thicker. 


ETA:  I didn't understand sd's post, either!

[triangle]

If one really wants to minimize shaving expense it hard to beat using old style double-edge blades. Some razors have more blade exposure than others so it can be difficult for some to adjust quickly from using the spring loaded double/triple bladed razors, but a Gillette tech or similar razor is easy for most people to use.

For an inexpensive package that is very easy to use and has very little blade exposure making it difficult to nick and cut oneself, can get a razor off ebay for less than $2 such as this Yilg JiLi (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Traditional-Classic-Stainless-Steel-Manual-Shaver-Double-Edge-Blade-Safety-Razor-/381488857529. Add a 100 pack of Personna, Derby, Astra, Rapira, etc, from between $9-$15 depending on what one likes. One could easily make a 100 blade pack last 10 years if they rinse the blade completely after each shave. But even without much care and frequent blade replacement to keep a sharper blade they should last a couple of years.

[piethief]

I switched from Mach3 style razors to DE blade razors and straight razors about 4 years ago.  Haven't used a cartridge razor since 2012.  I prefer the straight razors.  It feels super manly to shave that way, and they last forever.  You can also buy shavette razors that take half a DE blade if you don't want to deal with stropping or honing.  I find the regular straight razors start to get a bit tuggy and need honing about 1 or 2 times per year.

Given that they cost a lot of money, it will take several years to recoup the cost, but at least I can be clean shaven forever if civilization ends.  They last forever, and can be handed down to your kids!