Blade "turning" and such?

Discussion in 'Safety Razors' started by waynejitsu, Nov 2, 2010.

  1. waynejitsu

    waynejitsu New Member

    When you shave, do you-
    1- Keep the blade in the razor, tight, until next shave?
    2- Keep the blade in the razor, but let off pressure and
    retighten before use?
    3- Remove the blade until used again?

    Also, does anyone "turn blades"?
    In other words, use one side today, then turn the blade over tomorrow?

    Is there any benefits or is there any harm in doing either of the above?
     
  2. swarden43

    swarden43 "It's your shave. Enjoy it your way."©

    I put a fresh DE blade in every Monday morning, after it gets hand stropped. I clamp it down tight. After the shave, I take the blade out, hand strop it, flip it (turn it, if you will), put it in a different razor, and clamp it down tight. I do that every day until Friday. After Friday's shave, I toss the blade.

    Saturday's are for my str8 razors.

    For my SEs, I only use them on Sundays. I put in a fresh, hand stropped blade the first Sunday of the month and clamp it down tight. After the shave, I take the blade out, hand strop it, flip it (turn it, if you will), put it in a different razor, and clamp it down tight. I do that every Sunday. After the last Sunday of the month's shave, I toss the blade.

    Does the flipping help? Probably not. It's one of those, "Can't hurt, might help" kinda deals, so I do it.

    I do believe hand stropping smoothes out the shave and prolongs the life of the blade. There are many who don't believe it does anything, and those who swear by it. Hey, works for me.

    Bottom line - it's your shave, enjoy it your way.
     
  3. ChemErik

    ChemErik Mr. Personality

    Doing a few things like flipping and hand stropping, I was able to extend most blades from 4 shaves to 5 shaves. I now just put in the blade and use it for 4 days, I didn't find one extra shave/blade to be worth the effort.
     
  4. stingraysrock

    stingraysrock PIF'd away his custom title

    I don't flip or turn the blades. I do dip every razor in alcohol after shaving, and if it is a TTO razor, I loosen the TTO knob and re-tighten at the next shave.
     
  5. MikekiM

    MikekiM Well-Known Member

    Set it and forget it...

    Once it's loaded I do nothing with it until it needs changing other than giving it an alcohol dip post shave . Not unusual for me to have two or three razors loaded at any given time. Two is common, three not as much.

    If it ain't broken don't try to fix it so if the shave is good, I stay with it. I am still reeling from the low cost of even the most expensive DE blade so if it isn't right I chuck it in the blade bank and move on.
     
  6. jgkeegan

    jgkeegan Member

    I load the blade, use it three times, remove it and clean the razor thoroughly. I rinse the razor in cold water after each shave and dab it on a towel. I am careful not to go near the blade.
     
  7. cbrenner

    cbrenner Member

    I have a three piece so I only loosen when changing blades. I seem to get 4-5 shaves out of a blade. I only rinse thoroughly after shave and dip in alcohol.

    Chip
     
  8. Etoyoc

    Etoyoc Backwards

    After shave, I loosen, rinse, dip in alcohol or barbicide for a few minutes and then put on the rack. Some days I strop after a shave, most days I don't. Some days I strop before a shave, most days I don't. In the process of stropping, the blade gets flipped. Of course, never ever forget to tighten the razor back up before shaving!
     
  9. MadCapsule

    MadCapsule Member

    I hand strop before each shave and I don't keep track of which side of the blade is facing up. My line of thinking is that if stropping does anything, flipping the blade shouldn't matter.

    Also, I just leave the blade secured in the razor until the next time I strop it.
     
  10. PLANofMAN

    PLANofMAN Eccentric Razor Collector Staff Member

    Moderator Article Team
    I shave, rinse, open the razor take the blade out dry the razor and blade seperately then reassemble and tighten.

    One of my buddies takes the blade out, makes sure it's clean and dry, then stores it in the original wrapper until its time for the next shave.
     

Share This Page