How long can you shave with a razor?
People regularly complain about the expensive cartridge razor blades from Gillette and Wilkinson. A few shaves and you can throw the razor worth €3 to €5 in the trash. For this reason, many men often continue shaving for too long with the same blade. At a certain point it no longer shaves but starts pulling the hair. Shaving for too long means a painful start to the day. The manufacturers indicate that you should replace the blade after 5 to 7 shaves. If you shave 2 or 3 times a week you should put it away after 2 or 3 weeks. But how can you keep shaving longer with the same razor blade? We have listed some useful and fun tips.
Tip 1 Rinse the razor blade
During shaving, a lot of dirt, such as limescale and soap residue, accumulates on the edge (edge or cutting surface) of the blade. This makes it blunter and blunter. Rinsing the razor thoroughly under running water after use is a must. Try to remove as much soap residue from between the blades as possible. Then dry thoroughly with a cloth and store or hang in a stand. This means you do not run the risk of damaging the blades.
Tip 2 Use a classic shaving soap or shaving cream
Stop shaving with shaving foam from an aerosol can and switch to the classic wet shave. Beard hairs are as hard as copper wires but also absorb water. The combination of water, shaving soap or shaving cream , shaving brush and a little time ensures that the hair has time to absorb itself with water. This makes them softer and softer. The softer the bristles, the less wear and tear on the blade.
Tip 3 Lather on the face for longer
If you continue to foam the shaving foam on your face with the shaving brush, the beard hairs will become even softer. We recommend foaming the shaving foam for at least 1 minute. The beard hairs then have even more time to soften. Another advantage is that the shaving foam becomes increasingly full and protects your skin better.
Tip 4 Polish the razor blade over a towel or the razor strap
A very simple method is to clean and polish the razor a few times after use on a dry towel or the leather razor strap. You can compare it to polishing the straight razor over the belt. This will rub off the lime and soap residue from the blade and make the edge clean again. The edge of the blade has to endure a lot when splitting the hard beard hairs. If you place the blade under a microscope after use, you will see that the cutting surface is frayed or deformed. By rubbing, the metal particles at micro level return to the same direction. To be clear, polishing does not make the blade sharper. You extend the sharpness of the edge.
Lay the towel or razor strap flat on a flat surface and rub the razor away from you. A few rubs without applying too much pressure should be sufficient.
The Thuisexperimenteren.nl blog contains a photo of a new and used razor at a micro level. You can see the damage to the edge very clearly.
Tip 5 Polishing the razor blade over the razor pit
With the help of the Razorpit you can maintain the sharpness of the multi-blade cartridge knife for longer. After each shave, rub the blade over the rubber of the Razorpit. You rub the cut clean. This keeps the blade sharp for longer. You can compare it to polishing the straight razor over the leather of the ironing belt.
Use the Razorpit immediately after shaving. Apply a little shaving cream to the ironing surface of the Razorpit. This makes the razor blade glide more easily over the ironing surface. Press the razor blade onto the ironing surface and move it forward 4 times. Rinse the Razorpit and razor thoroughly after use.
According to Razorpit's enthusiastic claim, you can save up to 90% on the purchase of razor blades. What we occasionally hear from users of this device is that they can shave 1.5 to 2 times longer with one blade.
