How often should I be changing my blade? I imagine it depends on roughness of my beard and how many passes I make, but I'm interested to hear how often you change your blade. I've been changing it every two shaves because I have a sample pack and I can't wait to try the different brands. is this a little excessive?
When it starts to pull or get uncomfortable, change it. Some people use the 3 shaves and its out rule too. At ~$.20/blade, it is still way more economical than carts....
i think i like the 3 and out rule. However, i'm beginning to question this "more economical" that I keep hearing. Though the price per blade is certaintly cheaper than a cartridge, I can't stop buying new creams, soaps, toners, etc. If i had more cash, i'd probably be buying new razors and brushes all the time.
I got 16 good and perfectly comfy shaves out of an Astra Super Platinum once.....it may be worth it to wait until they start to tug. It is a few bucks over the year so its a wash either way. If it weren't for the occasional long life blade like that it probably wouldn't be as interesting.....
Yep. I put a fresh DE blade in every Monday and toss it after Friday's shave. That's five 3-pass shaves. I also hand strop that I believe helps. Changing every Monday keeps me from haveing to rely on my memory, "How long has that blade been in there?" A new SE blade goes in on the first Sunday of the month and gets tossed after the shave on the last Sunday of the month. That's four to five 3-pass shaves. Again, I hand strop. Saturdays I use a str8.
I enjoy change. The only set rotation I have is for my brushes so they can dry completely before I use them again other than that I pick and choose a razor, blade and soap each day. Doing this it became too confusing to save blades from day to day. I just ended up not knowing which I used and how many times. So I use blades only once. It's just easier and I try to avoid expensive blade types.
Typically 2 - 3 shaves for me, regardless. Tugging bugs me to no end, so I don't tend to push it with my tough beard. I did start hand stropping recently and feel like I've had positive results from it.
Different makes of blades and different razor all are factors for me,but usually 3 shaves.Now with 7 o'clock blues I can get 7 plus great shaves.Wilkinson sword I can get one great shave and that's it.
I know what you mean. I've amassed about 24 different types of blades and am eager to get through them, but it will take some time. I've decided that as I go through these samples, I will only go 3 shaves on a blade unless the shave is poor, then I'll replace it sooner. Last night I rejected a blade after just one pass (7am Durablade). I'm sure with some of these I'm using can go longer, but for now I just want to find the blades that perform the best in the first 3 shaves. After I get through my samples and have a handful of top performers, I will go back and retest those blades for durability, using 3 blades of each type until the performance drops off to what I consider unacceptable. After that I'll calculate the cost per shave for each of my favorite blades to determine my winners. I just hope it ends up being Voskhods, Ladas and Personna Super Blue Labs, since I have at least 300 of each I suggest that when you find a blade that works well for you, go back to that blade between other samples so you have a fresh reference point. Right now I'm going 2 blades Labs, then 2 blades of the next sample, then 2 blades labs. If, by chance, one of the samples outperforms my reference blade, it will become my new reference blade. Any blades that don't measure up can saved to try again later when you're technique has improved or when you get another razor, traded for something you like, or PIF'd to another newbie. I'll keep most of my rejects for later testing but a few will be PIF'd.
i'm a hoarder of blades. i have hundreds and still sunday new blade wether i shave every day or not. usually i get 4 or 5 shaves per blade unless it's a faulty blade then i quit shaving till sunday..............
Yup, what he said. In my experience, most blades last for three shaves. Some blades last longer though, with the Gillette 7 O'clock Super Platinum lasting 12-15 shaves. If you chuck a blade before it starts to pull and get uncomfortable, then you will never know if it is a 3-shave blade or a 10-shave blade. The blade life test only needs to be run once with each type of blade and you will have your answers. It is often helpful to write this figure down, especially if a large number of blades are tried.
With my current reference blade, the Personna Labs, I pay about $13 for a years worth of shaves, shaving about 6 days a week and getting 3 shaves per blade. If I were to increase that to 4 shaves per blade, I'd save all of $3.00 per year. If I were to go 5 shaves per blade, then I'd save $5 per year. Saving $3 to $5 per year just is not a big deal for me. If it was, I wouldn't buy so much soap and cream.
I usually go with 3 and out but I found that Gillette 7 O'Clock Blacks can last longer for me.I forgot to change one razor and still got a great shave on shave 4.
Before I added straights to the rotation, I would shave with a blade for 7 days. I arrived at t his number after testing several blades to see how long they would last, and settling on a few that I could get 7 shaves out of without any problems. Now that I use straights, I just change blades when I feel like they aren't shaving as close as I think they should (and I never get to that pulling point any more).
Astra's last at least 4 shaves comfortably for me, I went up to 6 just to test their staying power and was pleased, but at their price why bother milking the last little bit of sharpness out of them. Thus far every other blade is 3 shaves as many other forum members use as well.
I used to push blade life, but anymore I am a 3 and out man, sooner if one starts tugging excessively.
My blades tend to last 3 shave 3 passes each any more and its not worth a few peennies saved to have a bad shave
