I’m the wrong person to ask as 90% of the time I use Feather blades. Hand strop for the first use then one more use and in the blade bank it goes.
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How many shaves per blade?
- Thread starter Shavin’ Yeti
- Start date
Oh man, you’re not even letting that thing get broke in...... I can easily get a month or two out of a feather. That’s why it’s one of my favorite blades.
I don't know how I just now found this thread. I've always been curious about how long I can keep using a blade. I usually toss a blade after about a week, once I start noticing a decline is comfort.
Maybe I'll try the KJ method at my next blade swap.
Maybe I'll try the KJ method at my next blade swap.
Dave in KY
Shave Newbie
Exactly
There are so many factors, we will all have different experiences with blade longevity. Things like angle of the stroke, prep, and tote of soap are all things that can be improved to extend life. But we will still have different types of beards that will affect it as well. Personally, I can get around 10-15 out of a DE and enough out of a GEM that I have lost track of it. I usually change it out every 3 months or so.
Told you I was the wrong guy to ask. For me they start losing their sharpness after 2 shaves. I used to get 3 shaves out of them but when I started Doing a lot of Shave Offs I wanted to get the very best out of each razor and that's when I dropped down to 2 shaves per blade and have been doing it ever since. Funny thing is a buddy of mine confessed the other day he does the same thing. So at least I'm not the only crazy one out there!
When I first started wet shaving, I'd only get 3 shaves out of a DE blade before it started irritating me. Now I get 5-7 days out of the same DE blades. I think I was applying too much pressure in the beginning so that was wearing out my blades faster. As I've gotten better and began understanding what no pressure meant, I think I'm using the blade to just cut beard growth & not "exfoliate" my face 
With all that said, I agree with those that have put forth the idea that people's hair is different. I have tough wiskers that are like wires. Just recently I realized that cold water shaving made those dang things dawn flak jackets and now that I'm doing shower shaves they are so much softer.
I have to also agree that blade types make a difference. When I use a Feather blade I get almost 10 days of super shaves out of them before performance starts tapering off. Then my wife gets 2 more weeks of use out of it in her DE. She doesn't get that out of any other razor I pass on to her so that tells me that it's not just me being biased. For me, Gillette's start out strong and start failing fast at the 5 day mark.
When you combine all those variables, you get a lot of different results. KJ can hyper-mile his blades and that's truly amazing to me. Maybe the longer I shave and the better my skills get and the mileage will increase. I'm open to that possibility.
With all that said, I agree with those that have put forth the idea that people's hair is different. I have tough wiskers that are like wires. Just recently I realized that cold water shaving made those dang things dawn flak jackets and now that I'm doing shower shaves they are so much softer.
I have to also agree that blade types make a difference. When I use a Feather blade I get almost 10 days of super shaves out of them before performance starts tapering off. Then my wife gets 2 more weeks of use out of it in her DE. She doesn't get that out of any other razor I pass on to her so that tells me that it's not just me being biased. For me, Gillette's start out strong and start failing fast at the 5 day mark.
When you combine all those variables, you get a lot of different results. KJ can hyper-mile his blades and that's truly amazing to me. Maybe the longer I shave and the better my skills get and the mileage will increase. I'm open to that possibility.
Shavin’ Yeti
Sr. Shave Member
I took your advice and started extending the number of shaves before tossing the blade. I am now a firm believer that it takes 2-3 shaves just to break in the blade and get it to a point where it will perform at its peak. I have more than doubled the # of shaves I get from a blade before tossing it. My current Wizamet blade has 10 shaves on it.
Exactly! This is just the beginning. The more you experiment, the more longevity you will get out of your blades. Enjoy the journey!
I use Gillette Silver Blues. I used to throw out my blades after only 3-4 shaves but I'm now up to 24 shaves per blade. I use a 12 sided dice x2. I've learned that the blade gets to know my face as the shaves pile up and that the one or two weepers at the beginning go away after 2-3 shaves. Smoothness is the benefit. I might try increasing it to 36 shaves. I'm almost certain it will improve the shave quality as I increase the number of shaves per blade.
You forgot pain tolerance!
I'm like a lot of people on here. I pretty much pitch a blade after a week's worth of shaves. Sometimes that's three shaves...other times that's five shaves. I think I did two weeks once on a blade...but honestly...it wasn't fun for me. Not interested in seeing how long something lasts. Blades are cheap and I have enough so that I don't have to buy any for a few years if I don't want to.
Use the blade till it starts to tugg and pull. This could be as little as 1/2 a shave (Tiger Blades, Falcon) or up to double digits. My first Rapira blade lasted somewhere around 16 shaves before ending up in the blade bank, but was more for sanitary reasons and peace of mind.
Blades last a lot longer than most people think. It's sad to hear people tossing a blade after a single use since some of the best shaves tend to be after 3-4 shaves IMO giving the blade time to smooth out a bit. It's all personal preference but fun to see what you can get away with concerning blade longevity.
Blades last a lot longer than most people think. It's sad to hear people tossing a blade after a single use since some of the best shaves tend to be after 3-4 shaves IMO giving the blade time to smooth out a bit. It's all personal preference but fun to see what you can get away with concerning blade longevity.