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Blade longevity experiment.

the_shaving_sailor

the_shaving_sailor

Member
2018 Sabbatical
ok so I've been seeing posts, videos and threads all asking about and people talking about blade longevity.
how many shaves can I expect from a particular brand of blade?
do you throw blades away after a set number of shaves even if they still feel good?
can you really get 25+ shaves out of a Kai?
well starting today I'll be reviewing the longevity of 5 brands of common blades plus one SE and one vintage blade to see how many "good" shaves I personally can get from each blade.
Feather Stainless (yellow label), Astra greens, Gillette blue platinum, Polsilver super iridium and of course the mystical Kai supersharps.
SE will be the std modern GEM
and vintage will be a Gillette aussie spoiler.

to keep results even I'll be using the following setup for each blade so that products have no play in results.
Pre: Proraso preshave cream
Soap: Proraso Green Soap
Razor: for DE'S gillette service tech.
for SE EverReady slimline
brush: Omega Boar
post: TSW after balm

to define a good shave is different for me then it will be for you but pretty much as soon as it starts pulling ,feeling rough or both.....I'll stop. this process is going to take me quite a while but I'm excited to do this :)

so watch this space for ongoing results and updates
 
ok so after drawing the first blade out of a hat. we are starting with......
(drum roll)


x3kDwV8.jpg


the Astra Superior Platinum Green's

now most newbies start with this blade and is a staple in nearly everyone's bathroom. so let's see how many shaves I can comfortably get out of one of these bad boys.
brand new blade going to be opened tomorrow morning.

so let me know what you guys think.
how many shaves do you think I will get before it becomes "unshaveable".
 
the_shaving_sailor said:
ok so after drawing the first blade out of a hat. we are starting with......
(drum roll)


x3kDwV8.jpg


the Astra Superior Platinum Green's

now most newbies start with this blade and is a staple in nearly everyone's bathroom. so let's see how many shaves I can comfortably get out of one of these bad boys.
brand new blade going to be opened tomorrow morning.

so let me know what you guys think.
how many shaves do you think I will get before it becomes "unshaveable".
Click to expand...
Cool idea!
Personally I find they just dull gradually to the point where I change to save time.
After 2 weeks (14 shaves) on a blade generally I need to add another pass and be more cautious with angles, that said however the blades don't actually go useless until close to or into triple digits.
The blade I had the worst time with was the graham field Med prep blade and canned it after 30 and even then it became a principal thing.
One blade a month is doable for most but for the cost per blade it, in my opinion, isn't worth the effort.
 
Ferret619 said:
Cool idea!
Personally I find they just dull gradually to the point where I change to save time.
After 2 weeks (14 shaves) on a blade generally I need to add another pass and be more cautious with angles, that said however the blades don't actually go useless until close to or into triple digits.
The blade I had the worst time with was the graham field Med prep blade and canned it after 30 and even then it became a principal thing.
One blade a month is doable for most but for the cost per blade it, in my opinion, isn't worth the effort.
Click to expand...

wow! well today's shave 1 of ~ so let's see how I go with the Astra
keeping in mind I have a very light beard aswell
 
ok so day1 of the Astra is done!
fresh blade out of the packet this morning with the proraso pre and soap.

so looking at the blade I give Astra greens an over all score of 06/10 they aren't the best on the market but they certainly are far from the bottom. great starter blade for the newbies (it's what I started on).
sharpness: 6.5/10
smoothness: 05/10

was a good, no fuss, get the job done shave.

on a foot note after each shave I dry the blade off and secure it onto a magnet on my mirror I don't leave it in the razor.
 
the_shaving_sailor said:
how many shaves do you think I will get before it becomes "unshaveable".
Click to expand...

I have a fairly coarse beard, so my numbers will be much different to yours, I suspect.

For me, I can get 3 comfortable shaves from the Astra SP, perhaps stretch it to 4 before I bin it.
GSBs get an easy 5, Polsilver SI and Polsilver vintage are both a comfortable 7 shaves without trying.
For the cost of the blade, I see no point in stretching it too far.

However, quality of the shave is far superior with the last 3 mentioned.
 
sorry for the late post fans and followers.

today was shave 2 with the Astra blade and I honestly couldn't notice any difference from shave one which I half expected anyway.

she's still sitting at a 6 over all and did the job nicely.

although I must not confess I dropped my service tech and bent the saftey bars and now needs a repair so all other shaves from this point will be done with a gillette slim adjustable

today I regretted using the proraso green as it was bloody freezing in my appartment this morning! was 5 degrees according to my thermometer in the bathroom so a longer then usual hot shower was needed to heat the bathroom up.

but tomorrow's another day and another shave.

and until then keep calm and shave on
 
This should be interesting to see the end results.

Ferret619 said:
After 2 weeks (14 shaves) on a blade generally I need to add another pass
Click to expand...

I'm often staggered at the amount of shaves some guys get. I don't doubt it but I'm still staggered. :) When I shaved with a DE years ago with what guys now class as vintage blades I was always done by no more than 3 shaves [these were exceptional blades at the pinnacle of DE blade competition] Sure those blades would still give a shave but the pleasure had rapidly started to fall off.

If you have the chance have a look at a DE blade under a 60 - 100x loupe after a couple of shaves .

Steve
 
It's one of those things where you can be really anal about everything and stretch it but for the most part I just change blades after a week because I want a change. Fwiw I'm of Irish, English, Greek and Scottish blood so my beard of full but not crazy thick or anything.
 
I can take the edge off a straight razor on my chin if my lather and angle are not correct. SE blades will last me about 5-6 shaves.
 
bald as said:
I can take the edge off a straight razor on my chin if my lather and angle are not correct. SE blades will last me about 5-6 shaves.
Click to expand...
I was gonna say I've got a few hundred shaves on one blade.... but not everyone's into straights
 
I have never managed to get more than 2 enjoyable shaves out of any DE blade - I admit I do 4 passes per shave, have a thick beard and a horrible technique....but I am still amazed when I hear about 10, 20 or 30 or even 100 shaves out of 1 blade!
 
alfredus said:
I have never managed to get more than 2 enjoyable shaves out of any DE blade - I admit I do 4 passes per shave, have a thick beard and a horrible technique....but I am still amazed when I hear about 10, 20 or 30 or even 100 shaves out of 1 blade!
Click to expand...
What blades do you use?
Sorry to side track..
 
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I think I have tried most available/currently produced blades...now I am big fan of both Ladas and Voskhod. At that price point, I am very happy to change my blade every 2nd shave - sometimes I use them only for only 1 shave even...
 
alfredus said:
I have never managed to get more than 2 enjoyable shaves out of any DE blade - I admit I do 4 passes per shave, have a thick beard and a horrible technique....but I am still amazed when I hear about 10, 20 or 30 or even 100 shaves out of 1 blade!
Click to expand...


I know right I change after 3 no matter the brand but now I'm curious to push it as far as I can
 
alfredus said:
I have never managed to get more than 2 enjoyable shaves out of any DE blade - I admit I do 4 passes per shave, have a thick beard and a horrible technique....but I am still amazed when I hear about 10, 20 or 30 or even 100 shaves out of 1 blade!
Click to expand...

I roll with Feathers almost exclusively, others have their own blade preferences based on experience and what works for them - the specific brand of blade is irrelevant for my point here.... I change blades every two shaves also, firstly as they cost so little, and secondly because the price of a superb shave is worth more than the cost of the minimal cost of a new blade.

I really enjoy my morning shave, it's a time where I collect my thoughts, think forward to the day and challenges ahead and stay absolutely present in the moment. Preserving this ritual, my time that I derive so much enjoyment from through the really very simple act of the morning shave and attendant ritual is something I am determined to do, a less than incredibly sharp blade is a variable that I can remove from the equation by simply replacing it regularly. Pedantic maybe but so what, I am happy with it and I see you are too.

I change my blades also (as I think we discussed when we had coffee during your Sydney business trip) due to the knowledge that the blade is likely literally teaming with skin cells and concurrent bacterial colonies which we both found personally distasteful. I seem to remember we were most disapproving of the idea of the same blade for say 5, 9 or even 15 days which as I think back to our coffee really makes me smile :D

alfredus said:
I think I have tried most available/currently produced blades...now I am big fan of both Ladas and Voskhod. At that price point, I am very happy to change my blade every 2nd shave - sometimes I use them only for only 1 shave even...
Click to expand...

That is some straight up elite, Euro uber 'A' list wet-shaving crew stuff right there. I bet you also know people that go one step further by using 3 different Wolfman razors per shave....one for each pass!!


Back on topic: I think your idea is interesting @the_shaving_sailor, subjective of course but none the less a great topic for conversation and subsequent discussion :)
 
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A very interesting topic. There are just so many variables that influence blade life, particularly technique, number of passes, coarseness of whiskers, razor head geometry, blade exposure, etc, etc.
Feathers are beautifully made and supremely sharp, but I cannot use them, as they always leave me with many weepers and a face that feels "scraped". And trust me, I've tried many razors, techniques, and soaps. But I fully accept that many others love them and they perform superbly.
I like Personna Lab Blues, but 2 shaves max.
I get a great shave with a Polsilver Super Iridium, and get about 5 shaves from a blade. I get a similar quality shave from a Perma-Sharp, but 2 shaves max and sometimes only one.
Vintage blades? Well, as a general statement, the first shave can be just OK, but then they blossom into fantastic performers. I get 5-7 shaves from my Schicks, 7-10 shaves from my Gillette Spoilers, Super Silvers,and Platinum Plus. And I'm talking great shaves!
The Grand Champs are the Wilkinson Sword Super Swords and Light Brigades, Gillette English Platinum's, and the Personna 74's. I can get up to 20 shaves from the Wilkies and English Platinum's, and the 74's a minimum of 20 and a good chance of a full month.
But.....the next shaver will not doubt have different results
 
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