How do your blades die?

TobyC

Patriot
The second and third shave on a blade for me tend be superior to the first. The fourth is usually the drop off, depending on brand. I try to keep count but if I ever exceed 4 shaves on a blade I know about it. I usually pay with an ingrown.
My experiences with a Permasharp are different, I find it gets sharper after a few shaves as the teflon starts to wear out. Like with it and the Gillette 7OC Black I find they take a few shaves to settle in and smooths out.

IMO blades aren't something worth trying to do something which doesn't suit the user. If one shave and out is good for your face or 120 shaves to a blade like some very extreme situations then it's down to the individual. Personally, with aside from a few exceptions I generally prefer a blade with a few shaves on it.
The first shave with a blade is seldom the best that blade has to offer, the one-and-done guys aren't doing themselves any favors.
 

Crossroads

Forum GOD!
Blades used to last a week or so in The Seventies. Why? Because shavers used to do a one pass shave, maybe a second shave in the evening before going out.

Now I do a 3 or 4 pass shave for 2 or 3 days, the equivalent of 12 days shaving, back in the day. Simple.
 

SweeneyTodd

Forum GOD!
Blades used to last a week or so in The Seventies. Why? Because shavers used to do a one pass shave, maybe a second shave in the evening before going out.

Now I do a 3 or 4 pass shave for 2 or 3 days, the equivalent of 12 days shaving, back in the day. Simple.
Very true. Also, almost all blades in the UK were British-made, and, judging from the few I have left from the late 60's and 70's, were generally a superior product to most of today's blades, most of which are foreign-made.
Nowadays I throw out a DE blade after three uses, and they are cheap enough to do so. Back in the earlier times, and bearing in mind that my starting salary, in my early 20's, in a London advertising agency, and living in London, was £507 p.a., razor blades represented a significant expenditure, so I eked them out for at least a week or 10 days. Then I grew a beard, but that's another story.
 

SeanC

Forum GOD!
Blades used to last a week or so in The Seventies. Why? Because shavers used to do a one pass shave, maybe a second shave in the evening before going out.

Now I do a 3 or 4 pass shave for 2 or 3 days, the equivalent of 12 days shaving, back in the day. Simple.
I can get 10+ very good 2 pass shaves out of most vintage stainless blades. Personna T74 or Super Platinum Chrome giving twice that

I do believe that whilst factors like smoothness and sharpness have remained constant, longevity has fallen away over time in terms of DE blade output

Modern blades, with the exception of Chinese made Gillette which I use for 6 shaves, get binned after 4. Treet carbons go after 1 or 2 shaves
 
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Koiguchi

Well-Known Member
Most of the time I get 3 shaves per blade, sometimes more.
I unwrap the new one, drop it onto the 3 piece, and wrap the old blade in the wrapper and into the bin it goes.
 

Vacumatic

Testy
Usually get 7 shaves out of a blade but find the drop off very sudden, one day good next day terrible with the blade bouncing across my face. Just started going for a weekly change over of blades each saturday with a new make of blade each week to see if I can find the best blade for me, my razor and my technique.
 

brandaves

Über Member
I easily get 15+ shaves out of a Gem PTFE blade. 15+ out of an Astra SP. 10+ out of a GSB for exclusively head shaving. I'm not trying to stretch blade life, I just don't see the point in tossing a blade that is still providing excellent shaves. I actually find that most blades don't hit their stride until the fourth or fifth shave.

I get better shaves using blades longer. In my experience the first few shaves on a blade aren't as comfortable as later shaves...it seems I'm in the minority based on this thread.
 

Koiguchi

Well-Known Member
every Monday I pull out a new feather. The old one gets put in the wrapper from the new one and tossed into the rubbish.
 
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