Good razor blades have become expensive. A Gillette Mach 3 Turbo, about the best there is, can cost as much as $3 per refill. If each refill is good for only 3-4 shaves, you might spend several hundred dollars a year on blades. Then I read an interview with two Gillette execs who were asked what affected the life of a blade. Their answer was water. Keep a blade dry and it will last much longer. Now I carefully dry my blade with a towel after each shave. Instead of lasting for 3-4 shaves as they used, my blades now last at least twice that long. Just thought I'd share.

Thanks for the tip, Bob/3. This may be of more interest to us gals than to guys. You just shave your faces. We shave legs, underarms, and, in my case, around the genitalia. I don't shave all that every day, but that's a lot more area. I'll give it a try. I appreciate the tip.

bobover3 (imported) wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2012 7:07 pm Good razor blades have become expensive. A Gillette Mach 3 Turbo, about the best there is, can cost as much as $3 per refill. If each refill is good for only 3-4 shaves, you might spend several hundred dollars a year on blades. Then I read an interview with two Gillette execs who were asked what affected the life of a blade. Their answer was water. Keep a blade dry and it will last much longer. Now I carefully dry my blade with a towel after each shave. Instead of lasting for 3-4 shaves as they used, my blades now last at least twice that long. Just thought I'd share.

For what it is worth, I went back to a double edge razor several years ago. I have two, an expensive Merkur (Germany) that is my regular and an ancient Gillette twist to open that I got off e-Bay which is my travel razor. Both work effectively with a decent blade. I buy Personna "Israeli Reds" online from West Coast Shavers. They are very good and very cheap. The ones I currently have were made in Mexico, but I cannot tell any difference from the ones made in Isreal.

bobover3 (imported) wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2012 7:07 pm Good razor blades have become expensive. A Gillette Mach 3 Turbo, about the best there is, can cost as much as $3 per refill. If each refill is good for only 3-4 shaves, you might spend several hundred dollars a year on blades. Then I read an interview with two Gillette execs who were asked what affected the life of a blade. Their answer was water. Keep a blade dry and it will last much longer. Now I carefully dry my blade with a towel after each shave. Instead of lasting for 3-4 shaves as they used, my blades now last at least twice that long. Just thought I'd share.

For what its worth Gillette has advertised this:

This year Gillette debuted a 30-second television spot that will go down in the annals of razor blade marketing. Actor Brandon Quinn begins by telling the audience that Gillette sent him around the world to see how long he could shave with a single ProGlide cartridge. After gallivanting through what looks like the African Savanna, Paris, and some Asian rainforests, he tells viewers what Gillette never had: That the company's blades last up to five weeks.

Gillette has always been famously tight-lipped when it came to blade life. Ask them anything else about shaving, and you got a thorough response. Did you know the average male takes 150 strokes per shave? Or that men's faces include 10,000-15,000 hair follicles? Or that 10% of male shavers replace their blades according to the calendar, while the rest of us go by feel? .... http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/ ... -lifespan/ Works for me, though I got rid of about 95% of my beard via laser, so its not a real test.

Transward

Drying the blade works, I have been doing that for some time, I have also found a great way to extend the life of the blade, I only shave once a week.

River

I shave about twice a week, and I've had a 4-blade ProGlide that's lasted a couple of months. I keep it in a small cup of alcohol when not in use. Of course it ate off the little comfort strip pretty fast, but the razor is still good. Thanks for the info.

Each refill only being good for about 3-4 shaves? Great gravy, I've really been stretching my blade life then. I've been keeping the cartridges on my Gillette Fusion Power for up to 3 months at a time. It might just be because I've never been especially hairy on my face, and thus don't really have to worry about five-o'clock shadow if it doesn't shave completely cleanly (or day-two shadow for that matter... usually my stubble is too short to shave until about day 3.) But still, I can't imagine replacing the blades that often. Especially since my cartridges are closer to $4.25 a piece.

C&TL2745 (imported) wrote: Wed Aug 29, 2012 7:29 pm This may be of more interest to us gals than to guys. You just shave your faces. We shave legs, underarms, and, in my case, around the genitalia. I don't shave all that every day, but that's a lot more area.

Yeah, I can definitely confirm this. I'm not a gal, but I occasionally do go through extended periods where I shave all of those things on a regular basis for my own personal enjoyment. (I love it when my whole body is smooth and hairless.) And whenever I do, I wear out my razors, which usually last me for months, in only about a week and a half.

I just buy half a dozen or so single blades once a year or so. Sometimes I shave everything. Have always washed it out and then used a clean rag to wipe it out after I finish and then later reuse it. For sensitive areas I generally break out a new one.

I grew a beard. --FLO--

Several years ago my therapist told me to grow my hair long and grow a beard, I asked her why, she said discovery.

So I did and I discovered I did not like long hair or a beard.

River