Hi, I hope I've put this in an acceptable place - didn't seem to fit anywhere else. I read many moons ago that in most razors loss of sharpness is caused moreso by oxidation rather than actual wear/use. They then proceeded to recommend a whole bunch of 'sharp solutions' you could apply or immerse your blades in which claimed to make the blades last considerably longer. I'm sure this has been done to death here - so sorry in advacne but a key word search didn't reap anything. Anyway - is there any truth to this kind of thing? FWIW I found that by immersing my cartridge's (Schick Quattro Titanium) in a jar with 2cm or so of Methylated Spirits in it - they seemed to be usable for around twice as long if left exposed to the air. There was a thread I somehow stumbled across on an engineering forum and they basically had come to the same sort of rationale from a metallurgical/chemistry perspective. Anyway still acquiring my DE gear but if this makes sense I'll prolly try and find a larger jar that I can immerse the blade end of the razor into and hopefully maintain usability for that bit longer. It should also have the added benefit of cleaning the razor and sterilising etc. Obviously prior to immersion you'd totoally dry out the head by shaking or a hair dryer etc. Anyway is there any sense to this line of thinking? Thanks, Nikko
Given the cost of most DE blades and the hassle of storing them in something, I don't bother. Back in the day of carbon steel blades this would be a major concern. Using Modern Stainless blades, you'll only get a minor improvement which might not be noticeable in some cases. What might be more effective is hand stropping if you're really concerned about extending the life of you blade.
Unless you end up liking an exotic blade like Bolanzos or Timors, you're probably going to eventually be buying your blades in bulk for less than $0.30 each (Feathers, about the worst you can do in mainstream blades, can be gotten for $28/100). If you happen to like a cheaper blade, like Dorcos, that could go down to less than $0.10 each. Even the hard-to-find blades like Bolanzos are still probably going to be less than $0.50 each. At that price, you may as well just throw the blade out when it gets dull--even if you doubled the life of a blade (unlikely), you'd still be saving less than $1.00 a week.
It would be interesting to know if that is true or not. However, I agree with some of the other folks: even if blade life can be extended, doing so would probably require more bother than it's worth.
After the final rinse of my razor, I toss it in a container of alcohol or barbicide until I finish up with after shave, etc... I keep the liquid in a screw top container, so it won't spill or evaoporate between shaves and it only takes a few seconds. I don't do it so much for keeping the blade from rusting. I am not sure if rust that would develop in a few days would be an issue. When my wife takes those long hot showers that steams up the bathroom any blades left out rust much faster anyway. I do the barbicide/alcohol soak to help remove soap and other ions/residue that would build up quickly on the razor and blade with our super hard water.
While I don't store my razors in alcohol, I do dip them in the 90% alcohol red label that I get at Wally. I am not sure why I started doing it, but I do know that I can only get three shaves out of a blade even though I use the alcohol. I can push a Feather to 4, but that is it for any blade. Others around here get 10, 15, or more shaves with hand stropping and stuff, but I don't bother with it.
Yup, hand stropping works for me. Not only does it keep the edge smooth, it effectively dries the blade and puts on an ever-so-light film of oil from your hands. I've never had a blade rust, not even my SE blades that sit in a razor for the whole month (only used on Sundays - fresh one in on first Sunday, tossed after shaving on last Sunday).
Wow thanks for the replies.... Yes, my thoughts were actually kind of similar to Etoyoc on this - atleast when it came to DE blades. With cartridges it was more about extending the blade life as they were so expensive per unit.......obviously even with high quality DE blades this is around a tenth or much more of this, so less about $$$. If blade usablity is extended, great - but you'd also get the sanitinising of the blade.....a very good cleaning of the blade/razor as alcohol tends to remove soap scum pretty easily.....and less time wasted changing blades....and I guess over the lifetime of use the repeated small costs of blades could really add up. Like Etoyoc said, in a jar, screw lid and it literally takes no longer than using a stand. Anyway it seemed to work very well with cartridges, interested to see how it goes with DE blades.
I have been storing my cartridge razor in a cup full of mineral oil for almost half a year now. The lubricating strip disintegrates very quickly, but the blades don't wear as fast, or at least feel better on my skin for longer than if I just let the razor air dry. You have to thoroughly wash the razor after removing it from the cup, but the small amounts of mineral oil left on the blades and lubricating strip area soothes my skin. You can also just fill the cup with water and put in a small amount of oil. The layer of oil will keep the water from evaporating and will help keep excess oxygen from being added to the water. You might be thinking, won't the blades rust if submerged in water all the time? They will eventually, but they would rust much faster if in a very humid and oxygen-rich environment, such as a bathroom cupboard or counter.
I used to do this years ago when I used a Sensor cartridge razor. It made a difference for me. I was able to get a few more comfortable shaves but I have not tried it with my DEs or Injectors.
I don't know much about prolonging a blades life by dipping it in potions but i do recall that years ago i watched a program that explained that if you keep a blade suspended by thread in a pyramid type container that it actually kept the blade sharper for more shaves and that you could leave it for longer between shaves and it still stays sharp. I agree with others that the price of DE blades ars not exactly a strain on the wallet so it is more bother than it's worth to keep them sharp. As for Cartridge blades such as fusion etc, if you can afford to use one you can afford the upkeep of one!!!
I agree with ChemErik, it is not worth the bother to soak DE blades given their minimal cost. My grandfather used to strop DE blades by rubbing them back and forth against the inside of an ordinary drinking glass. He said it made them last a little longer. Sounds rather interesting, perhaps something to investigate just to see if it really works.
you can also strop DE blades on the palm of your hand. in my experience this significantly extends the life of a DE blade. I can get 5+ shaves if I hand strop a platinum coated blade. I can get 3+ if I strop a carbon steel blade. Carbon steel blades are the only type that I have had rust out on me. You don't see these much anymore in the DE world, but they're still pretty common if you shave with a single edge. Hand stropping solved the rust problem for me. Search for 'hand stropping' on this board and you'll find a video to illustrate the method.
Well I'll be darned... you learn something new every day around here. Never heard of hand stropping before, but it sounds quite interesting.
There are a pair of methods. DIrving's method is on youtube... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ogq4wfpT7hc Here is a link to the other common method of hand stropping. In my opinion, it helps more on some blades than others. It may stretch out blade life or make them more comfortable. However, on other blades, I see very little benefit so I don't routinely do this. Now on a carbon steel, uncoated blade, this is much more helpful. Of course, those carbon steel, uncoated blades are also much more likely to rust than the typical stainless steel multi-coated blade that most of us use.
I can remember watching my late father giving razors a final rinse in the glass of whiskey he was drinking during his shave. He would then promptly guzzle the remainder of the glass down directly afterward!!
Yeah... I can picture that. For those that are not aware, the link I posted above was written by the shaver mentioned.
