Author Topic: Prolonging the life of a razor blade  (Read 13433 times)

Offline Tyler

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Prolonging the life of a razor blade
« on: November 05, 2006, 02:56:59 PM »
Do any of you have any tricks or tips on making a blade last longer?  I've seen different solutions that are supposed to keep a blade lasting longer as well as other tools that get the gunk out of in between the blades.  Has anyone used these products before?


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Offline happyharry

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Re: Prolonging the life of a razor blade
« Reply #1 on: November 06, 2006, 03:48:26 AM »
Hm, not sure how one would prolong a blade's life. It's not just the obvious and visible gunk you'd have to remove. There's also a fine layer/coat from the shaving cream (and the dead skin cells and other stuff, perhaps) that sticks to the blades. You can see it after you thoroughly wash/clean a blade after shaving - the blade just doesn't look as shiny as before, and you notice that it looks rather matte than shiny now.

Perhaps a fine brush (an old tooth brush, maybe) would help to better clean the blades after the shave. But it's always a good idea to perhaps treat the blades with alcohol or some other antiseptic after the shave. You don't want to have any bacteria or other stuff sticking on your blades and then re-use them, cutting yourself and getting any local infections.

Anyway, not sure if this is considered a serious method of prolonging a blade's life, but here's what I do after a shave: I hold the blade under warm water and then, with my thumb, I create a fast jet of water and treat the blade with it. It's quite clean after that (and I'm quite wet), and then I just blow inside and in between the blades to remove any excess moisture/water. And once I'm satisfied that it's dry I put it away.
« Last Edit: November 06, 2006, 03:52:25 AM by happyharry »
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Offline CarlosMIS

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Re: Prolonging the life of a razor blade
« Reply #2 on: November 06, 2006, 06:26:28 PM »
I'm not sure if it helps but I always use a toothbrush to clean the blades, sometimes with antibacterial hand soap.
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Offline Noner

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Re: Prolonging the life of a razor blade
« Reply #3 on: December 08, 2006, 02:45:11 PM »
I just read a marketing study about gillette.

Without giving away the sales numbers, basically they want the razors to last for a short time becuase they want you to keep buying more. Its basically customer retention.

Offline Noner

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Re: Prolonging the life of a razor blade
« Reply #4 on: December 08, 2006, 02:51:36 PM »
I have to invent a new razor with a blade that lasts 3 months!

I'll call it "The Razor that last for 3 months!"

We'll have a whole product line!

"The Razor that last for 3 months! Shaving Cream"
"The Razor that last for 3 months! Mosturizer"
"The Razor that last for 3 months! Aftershave"

Offline Tyler

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Re: Prolonging the life of a razor blade
« Reply #5 on: December 08, 2006, 02:56:09 PM »
I just read a marketing study about gillette.

Without giving away the sales numbers, basically they want the razors to last for a short time becuase they want you to keep buying more. Its basically customer retention.

The term for this is "functional obsolescence."  This can also mean when a company creates a new product line that has upgrades that supercede the previous product line for close to the price.

Tyler's marketing lesson of the day  ;) 

I just realized that I do remember something from college  :o
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Offline PigPen

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Re: Prolonging the life of a razor blade
« Reply #6 on: December 08, 2006, 03:07:39 PM »
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Offline Noner

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Re: Prolonging the life of a razor blade
« Reply #7 on: December 08, 2006, 03:54:57 PM »
I'm not sure if it helps but I always use a toothbrush to clean the blades, sometimes with antibacterial hand soap.
 ::)

I'll have to try that. But I have girly soap so my razon might smell like flowers or berries.

Offline Medic aka Rocko

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Re: Prolonging the life of a razor blade
« Reply #8 on: December 08, 2006, 09:10:43 PM »
There is a system out there called RazorMax.  Here's their website:

http://www.razormax.com/

I bought the system quite a while back.  I'm not totally convinced, I really didn't notice much improvement in blade life.  The oil does seem to help clean out the blade, as there is quite a bit of debris in it after a couple weeks.

I substituted plain mineral oil, when I ran out of their oil.

The concept makes sense, I still keep my Fusion in it but not my HeadBlade.

Offline Tyler

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Re: Prolonging the life of a razor blade
« Reply #9 on: December 08, 2006, 11:52:00 PM »
Thanks for the info Medic!  I think your new pic is sweet!
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Offline PBurke

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Re: Prolonging the life of a razor blade
« Reply #10 on: December 09, 2006, 07:36:22 AM »
the best way i have found to prolong a razor is to keep the wife's hands off of it. haha. can i get a second on that one?!


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Offline Robmeister

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Re: Prolonging the life of a razor blade
« Reply #11 on: December 09, 2006, 07:36:56 AM »
The term for this is "functional obsolescence."

I think I came down with that IN college....I seem to recall a SEVERE burning while urinating.
« Last Edit: December 09, 2006, 07:41:06 AM by Robmeister »

Offline Robmeister

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Re: Prolonging the life of a razor blade
« Reply #12 on: December 09, 2006, 07:40:21 AM »
can i get a second on that one?!

Oh, yeah....but I think you'll agree....more technically, it's keeping her LEGS off of it  ;)

Offline PBurke

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Re: Prolonging the life of a razor blade
« Reply #13 on: December 09, 2006, 07:43:27 AM »
yep! but i do prefer smooth legs on the little lady. so if i have to offer a sacrificial blade until she gets more it is worth it.


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Offline Medic aka Rocko

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Re: Prolonging the life of a razor blade
« Reply #14 on: December 09, 2006, 09:55:58 AM »
Thanks for the info Medic!  I think your new pic is sweet!

Thanks!  One more thing.  Any blade you soak in the oil, it will cause the lube strip to swell up.  The strip on the atra blades will come off, the Fusion strip will lose its green color after a day or two.  Not really a problem with the fusion but I didn't like the atra without the strip, I think it changed the angle of the cartridge.