I only shave 3x a week and my beard isn't too tough so I'm guessing one blade should last me about a week and a half i.e. 4/5 shaves give or take. After my first DE shave the other day, I removed the blade, wiped all the soap scum from it and then put it back into the razor. Might be a bit of a silly question but... What is the best practice to follow with regards for caring for the blade itself? Do you guys leave it in the razor until you change it or do you remove it? I'm guessing just leave it in the razor...
I'll use the same blade Monday thru Friday, three passes each day. I could go, and have gone, seven days. Either way, a fresh blade goes in Monday morning for the first shave of the week. That being said, I use a different razor every day. After I finish shaving, I take the blade out and hand strop it. I believe this does three things 1) it dries the blade, 2) the oils in my skin put on an ever-so-light coating of oil, and 3) (and here is where you'll get differing thoughts) it smooths the blade for the next shave. After hand stropping, it goes into the razor I'll be using for the next day's shave. So, yea, it stays in a razor until it's done, then it goes into a blade bank or the plastic blade case if the case is so designed to hold spent blades.
piece o' cake http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ogq4wfpT7hc 3 Schools of thought... A) It works 2) It doesn't work III) Even if it does work, blades are so cheap, why bother.
I just rinse my razor in hot water, shake off the excess and dip the razor head in alcohol andlet it air dry. Only takes a few seconds.
Injector blades excepted, I remove and rinse my SE & DE blades after each shave. In addition I hand strop the blades per D.Irving79's technique found elswhere in this thread. I get 7 shaves from my SE blades and 14 from my DE blades. I also change razors each day so the blade goes in a different razor after stropping. I do nothing other than the rinse and hand stropping before inserting in the next day's razor.
Some people can get many shaves from one blade, some can only get a few shaves from a blade. Change your blade AS SOON AS YOU FEEL IT TUG (it's easy to confuse 'tugging' with 'agressivness'), this may even happen in the middle of your shave. I rinse off the razor, take out the blade, pat it dry, and re-insert it into the razor for the next day. I need to pat dry the blade after every shave because I use pure coconut oil as my pre-shave oil, and it leaves oily residue on my razor and blade. I change out blades with the advice above.
I usually get a good five shaves out of my DE Feather blades. I leave them in the razor and simply dry it after every use.
For some, removing the blade for cleaning after each shave, or stropping it to get an extra shave or two, are part of the fun of wetshaving. For me doing that or dipping the razor in alcohol would just be a big annoyance. Consequently, I just rinse the razor under hot water after each shave, leaving the blade in the razor until it gives up the ghost. Most blades give me three shaves, although the Gillette 7 O'clock Super Platinum (black label) blades give 13.
