Safety razors are great! They’re way cheaper than “conventional” (3, 4, 5 blade) razor blades. They shave a lot closer, and you can get a variety of different grades of blades to fit your comfort level.
The only reason the expensive multi-blade disposable razor cartridge became popular was because Gillette enshitified their razors to maximize profit.
As someone whose grandfather was a carpenter for Gillette in Massachusetts from after WWII until a few years before his death, I’ve got to say that while i use safety razors because of the price, I do get a far superior shave in less time with the “fuck everything it, we’re doing five blades” (basically the 3+ blades modern razors). I just don’t like having to take out a second mortgage for refills.
Could it be that the blade + razor aggressiveness combo you were using is not equivalent to a cartridge razor? Personally with a nice blade and 1960s Gillette Slim Adjustable on the higher settings it gets insanely close even going with the grain, much closer than I’ve gotten with plastic cartridge options.
I have this (I am sure irrational) fear that if I use a safety razor, I will cut the shit out of myself. Which, I realize, goes against the word ‘safety’ in the name.
You do have to be a little more delicate because it is easier to cut yourself but it doesn’t take long to get a feel for it. I doubt I cut myself any more than I did with a 4 blade cartridge.
That’s one area where safety razors are the clear winner. Multi-blade cartridges tend to get “clogged” by long hair. Safety razors don’t.
I probably shave once a week unless I have someplace to be. I can make a full pass, flip it over and make another with no problem. The hair just rinses right out.
It takes a few weeks for your face to get used to being shaved by a safety razor but once it is, my god.
It’s like the MSPaint Erase Tool in real life. I used to do electric razor only going over and over and over
Now it’s like almost pornographic how easy it is to shave – one swipe down, two, three, four… half the face is hairless.
Four swipes left, left side is hairless.
Four swipes under the moustache and bam.
Highly recommended getting over the beginner’s curve, watch some YouTube videos but here’s a Linux primer on how to do it:
Fill shaving cream bowl or basin with warm (not hot water).
Allow horsehair brush to soak in basin for 1-5 minutes.
Shake excess water off the brush
Add about half a toothpaste brush amount of shaving cream to the basin, stir into a rich lather, consistency of yogurt. If it’s foaming up/running there’s too much water. I recommend PRORASO, Menthol (Refresh). One $10 tube lasts 3-6 months. Extremely cost effective.
Run some warm/hot water on a very low pour from sink. This is used to wash hair off your razor between passes.
Sterilize your safety razor with a 55-75% isopropyl alcohol spray. This is optional but prevents any kind of infections, because these razors basically slice open everything including pimples.
Lather up your face. Sides, bottom, moustache, whatever.
Don’t apply excess/heavy pressure, these razors are extremely sharp. Go down in a stripe, flip razor over, do another stripe. Down cuts hair, holding at a mild angle, across (left right) cuts your skin, so never try to slide the razor across your face.
Go slow, practice, once your face is used to it, it becomes second nature and shaving is 10× more pleasurable and convenient than those disposable razors or whatever.
It’s good enough that I recommend it to other people. I’m a man, few things make me actually feel like a man more than a good/proper shave.
If you use an electric beard trimmer to cut the long stubble down first it works better. Any razor does, but especially safety razors, since there’s only one cutting blade per side and when it’s clogged with longer hairs must be fully cleaned out for a perfect shave.
You have to shave lighter. Once you get used to it, they work incredibly well.
With a 3-5 mini razor Mach something, you can push pretty hard before you cut yourself.
Safety razors it’s much lighter touch but it still shaves very close. I bought one of these 10 years ago and it’s still going strong. Safety razors are cheap to buy and once you get used to it, works just as well if not better.
I have really enjoyed the experience and cannot imagine going back to disposables that get guarded more securely than fort Knox and require a credit application to purchase.
I do not, however, generally go about the general population proselytizing about it. Those people annoy me.
It’s simply a solid shave for an affordable price.
The little plastic magazine my DE blades come in have a little slot in the back for used blades, just slide them in and then when the magazine is empty chuck the whole thing. Wrankles me a little bit that the steel is ending up in a landfill, but most things you put in the recycle bin does too because society doesn’t work, so.
Been ‘wet shaving’ since I started shaving a very long time ago and never stopped. When the blade slots went away in the back of the medicine cabinets in every bathroom, I made a blade bank from a steel can with a lid that I cut a slot in. I takes me years to fill it.
***For those too young to have seen it.
The medicine cabinet in every bathroom used to have a slot in the back of it to drop used razor blades into when they got dull. The would simply fall in between the studs in the wall and pretty much just rust away since the blade back then were made of plain high carbon steel. I remember helping to do several bathroom remodels and when pulling the cabinet and the plaster and lath wall, we would find a small pile of rusted to nearly dust razor blades.
I replied to another comment with the same question that I have never encountered this packaging. I get a cardboard box. Sometimes the blades inside are subdivided into little plastic capsules of five, sometimes they’re just stacked in the box. But that slot is entirely new to me.
I thought thats what’s you’re supposed to do. Wrap the blade in the wax wrap it came in, then break it up by bending it in the wax before throwing it away in the trash (still in the wax).
I’m not suggesting burning all trash, I’m suggesting burning a miniscule amount of steel to avoid the risk it poses to human and animal life. It turns into iron oxide (RUST). The fire pit ring itself will have about 100x as much of it.
I literally don’t have sharps disposal available to me. The rust will mix with the ash and become dispersed harmlessly into the soil. Look at an iron ore mine and you will see millions of tons of iron oxide, because that’s how iron is usually found in nature.
I use those blades in present day.
When I put in a new blade, I keep the wax paper wrapper, then rewrap the discarded blade in said wax paper before discarding it.
Give or take twelve years into this endeavor, I’ve had zero issues with this system.
Safety razors are great! They’re way cheaper than “conventional” (3, 4, 5 blade) razor blades. They shave a lot closer, and you can get a variety of different grades of blades to fit your comfort level.
The only reason the expensive multi-blade disposable razor cartridge became popular was because Gillette enshitified their razors to maximize profit.
As someone whose grandfather was a carpenter for Gillette in Massachusetts from after WWII until a few years before his death, I’ve got to say that while i use safety razors because of the price, I do get a far superior shave in less time with the “fuck everything it, we’re doing five blades” (basically the 3+ blades modern razors). I just don’t like having to take out a second mortgage for refills.
Could it be that the blade + razor aggressiveness combo you were using is not equivalent to a cartridge razor? Personally with a nice blade and 1960s Gillette Slim Adjustable on the higher settings it gets insanely close even going with the grain, much closer than I’ve gotten with plastic cartridge options.
I have this (I am sure irrational) fear that if I use a safety razor, I will cut the shit out of myself. Which, I realize, goes against the word ‘safety’ in the name.
You do have to be a little more delicate because it is easier to cut yourself but it doesn’t take long to get a feel for it. I doubt I cut myself any more than I did with a 4 blade cartridge.
I’ll have to try to get over my fear and try it. How does it do when you haven’t shaved in a few days? Because I’m very lazy about that.
That’s one area where safety razors are the clear winner. Multi-blade cartridges tend to get “clogged” by long hair. Safety razors don’t.
I probably shave once a week unless I have someplace to be. I can make a full pass, flip it over and make another with no problem. The hair just rinses right out.
Nice. Thanks!
It takes a few weeks for your face to get used to being shaved by a safety razor but once it is, my god.
It’s like the MSPaint Erase Tool in real life. I used to do electric razor only going over and over and over
Now it’s like almost pornographic how easy it is to shave – one swipe down, two, three, four… half the face is hairless.
Four swipes left, left side is hairless.
Four swipes under the moustache and bam.
Highly recommended getting over the beginner’s curve, watch some YouTube videos but here’s a Linux primer on how to do it:
If you use an electric beard trimmer to cut the long stubble down first it works better. Any razor does, but especially safety razors, since there’s only one cutting blade per side and when it’s clogged with longer hairs must be fully cleaned out for a perfect shave.
That generally is what I do, but there are still a lot of long hairs that the trimmer doesn’t catch.
Much better than a multi-blade cartridge in that regard. It doesn’t get clogged with hair.
You’ll cut yourself in the beginning, but once you get the angle and pressure right it’s quick and easy.
You have to shave lighter. Once you get used to it, they work incredibly well.
With a 3-5 mini razor Mach something, you can push pretty hard before you cut yourself.
Safety razors it’s much lighter touch but it still shaves very close. I bought one of these 10 years ago and it’s still going strong. Safety razors are cheap to buy and once you get used to it, works just as well if not better.
I have really enjoyed the experience and cannot imagine going back to disposables that get guarded more securely than fort Knox and require a credit application to purchase.
I do not, however, generally go about the general population proselytizing about it. Those people annoy me.
It’s simply a solid shave for an affordable price.
The little plastic magazine my DE blades come in have a little slot in the back for used blades, just slide them in and then when the magazine is empty chuck the whole thing. Wrankles me a little bit that the steel is ending up in a landfill, but most things you put in the recycle bin does too because society doesn’t work, so.
On the other hand, it’s not 6 blades at a time, the handle, and the little slimy strip thing.
Get yourself a blade bank and put your used blades in it. They are a cheap and safe way to dispose of your razor blades.
Does the bank give me interest? Otherwise I am not interested.
Yeah, but they do sometimes take a cut off the top.
Been ‘wet shaving’ since I started shaving a very long time ago and never stopped. When the blade slots went away in the back of the medicine cabinets in every bathroom, I made a blade bank from a steel can with a lid that I cut a slot in. I takes me years to fill it.
***For those too young to have seen it. The medicine cabinet in every bathroom used to have a slot in the back of it to drop used razor blades into when they got dull. The would simply fall in between the studs in the wall and pretty much just rust away since the blade back then were made of plain high carbon steel. I remember helping to do several bathroom remodels and when pulling the cabinet and the plaster and lath wall, we would find a small pile of rusted to nearly dust razor blades.
I also use a can.
I try to remember to use the old paper, but usually I despose of them in a cardboard toilet paper roll with one end pinched shut.
That’s a good idea also!
why not return it to a slot on pakaging? isn’t it there for that purpose?
front:
and back
I replied to another comment with the same question that I have never encountered this packaging. I get a cardboard box. Sometimes the blades inside are subdivided into little plastic capsules of five, sometimes they’re just stacked in the box. But that slot is entirely new to me.
Sorry missed that one,.
My contry is just on the beggining of environmental awakening so most stuff is plastic packaging.
i just got these exact razors in the UK, but some blades such as Astras come in cardboard packaging
Ooh,
yea we’re few decades behind on environmental stuff here south.
That sort of packaging is only on the blades that are more expensive than the blades the price conscious commenters have been quoting the cost of
I have Dorco Prime blades that come in that kind of packaging. It was $11 for a pack of 100.
Those are my favorite blades
Because the blades I get aren’t packaged this way. Is that a reusable outer package? I’ve never seen anything like that.
Hi,
Actually these are standard, run of the mill, cheapest ones.
Wilkinson is like budget alternative to glide in safety razor category, You can usually get this packaging with this cheap plastic handle:
Wilkinson Sword Blades Classic
Classic Double Edge Razor Blades
Why not just use the new wrapper for the old blade? That way you don’t need to keep the wrapper until you throw the blade away
What are you going to wrap the last blade in if you forget to buy new ones?
Painter’s tape.
This is where that saying “one is none” comes in. Have enough blades. Buy more well before you run out
Just keep it in the razor, you can’t change it anyway.
Why wrap it until you’ve bought new blades? Unless you’re planning to stop shaving for years, in which case the blade might rust.
That’s what I do. I suppose I didn’t articulate that well.
I do it a little bit differently in keeping the very first wrapper so that when I get to the very last blade, there’s a wrapper to put it in.
Minute variations, same end results.
If you don’t replace a blade until you have a replacement blade, why not just presume you’ll shave forever and use the wrapper from the next?
I did stop shaving for years and when I went back to shaving and replaced the old blade, and wrapped it in the replacement blade’s wrapper
I thought thats what’s you’re supposed to do. Wrap the blade in the wax wrap it came in, then break it up by bending it in the wax before throwing it away in the trash (still in the wax).
The little boxes they come in usually come with a little slot to dispose of the old razors. I just put the used and unwrapped razors into that.
I have not encountered such packaging. What brand do you use?
I usually buy Feather but I’ve seen it on plenty of other brands!
Winkinson pack has one too.
I just put mine in an empty tin. It’ll take forever to fill it up, and once you do, just tape it up and put it in metal recycling.
I put all my used ones in a clear pill bottle. Plan is to burn them in the next campfire I have so that they never enter the waste stream.
deleted by creator
You’re joking, right?
Why would I be joking? Razor blades will oxidize into nothing in a fire
That’s brilliant! We should burn all of our garbage so nothing enters the environment!
I’m not suggesting burning all trash, I’m suggesting burning a miniscule amount of steel to avoid the risk it poses to human and animal life. It turns into iron oxide (RUST). The fire pit ring itself will have about 100x as much of it.
Sharps disposal literally exists for this reason
Steel would also office without fire
Where do you think the rust goes in either case?
I literally don’t have sharps disposal available to me. The rust will mix with the ash and become dispersed harmlessly into the soil. Look at an iron ore mine and you will see millions of tons of iron oxide, because that’s how iron is usually found in nature.
Again, what do you think would happen if you didn’t burn it? It turns into super-steel?