Sorry, I know this has to be a common question and I searched with no results. How often are you guys throwing blades away?
I was just commenting on this in the Razor section. I'm a newbie and went 5 days with a Dorco and 4 with a Derby blade, but my Wilkinson hurt today on only day 3 with it. It may have been a bad blade, but if it wasn't an outlier then maybe Wilkinson just isn't the blade for me. They are so cheap I'd be happy with 3 days in any case. I think by the third day any blade would be notably lesser than days 1 and 2. Perhaps a super sharp blade would mean improved comfort by that time, but I haven't tried those super sharps yet to know.
The answer is totally YMMV, and depends upon the blade and your face. For me, A blade gets used 3 times and tossed. If it cuts or nicks me before then, it gets tossed. I do 3 passes, with a touch up. Blades are cheap, so I buy what I know works (but still experiment with unknowns) and toss them while they still give me a nice shave. Some guys hang onto them like they're the last blades in the fallout shelter, and the commies are banging on the door. Which is cool, because it works for them.
That sounds about right when using 'milder' DE razors, but with the hyper-aggressive ones, I try not to push my luck beyond 2…maybe 3. No blade shortage here (I have too many!) and since I only use a DE razor maybe 2x a week, I don't hesitate to use a 'fresh' blade often.
What! I just did the math and I have enough blades to last me anywhere from 3.5 years to 5 years. Kevin I will find out how long a blade lasts real quick when I get my FaTip.
Ha! I dun figured that if I use 1 blade a week (used twice); equals 57 blades a year…I'm good through 2024. And yes, Mark, you'll be the first to know when it's time to change out the blade on the FaTip.
I'm on my 10 shave with a Personna injector blade and its still going strong. a DE blade will last 3-4 shaves for most people (including me).
For me prep makes a big difference. I have some pretty wiry whiskers and can trash a blade in one shave if I don't get my whiskers soft. With good prep, I can get 2 weeks of great shaves with that same brand of blade.
I get 4 great 3-pass shaves with all the blades that I use. Several can go 5-7 easily. As stated above, it is very much a YMMV thing.
I just let my lather sit on my face long enough to soften my whiskers. Takes 10-15 minutes but the results are worth it for me. I think the time depends on your whiskers so some guys may find 5 minutes is enough. Some may take entirely too long to be worth it I guess. I can tell my whiskers are ready when the blade just wipes them off my face. If I hear the sound of whiskers "popping" my blades don't last long at all.
Any where from one to nth. Honestly, some folks toss 'em after one shave, others have been known to get shave numbers in the double digits. Me, I put in a fresh hand stropped blade on Monday, shave every day (always 3 passes) and toss after Friday's shave, always hand stropping before putting the blade into the next day's razor. By following that routine, I never have to wonder how many shaves I've already done, and for me, I never get to a point that the blade is pulling or tugging. And for those who are wondering about hand stropping... I've been doing this with my DE and SE blades every day for the last 4, 4-1/2 years and I've never cut myself. Just pay attention to what you're doing and respect the blade.
I can get around four decent shaves out of most blades. I usually toss the blade after two or maybe three, because after about two, the quality of shave degrades pretty quickly for me.
