When should I change the blade?

Lose the beard

Lose the beard

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Location
Essex, UK
OK, it is a silly question, and I'm sure everyone knows the answer, except for me.

I have just switched over to a DE, and so far have had 3 shaves, all with the same blade, a Gillette 7 o'clock yellow, in a Merkur Futur.

Loving the shaving so far, this mornings shave was the closest shave I have ever had, I did take a risk and go ATG and it paid off.

How do I know when I need to change the blade though, will it be obvious?
 
I think this varies person to person and blade to blade.

Once you get used to feeling how a DE shave feels, you'll just know when the blade is dull.

An example is 7 o'clock yellows I can get around 3-4 shaves but Russian 7 o'clock greens I can't get past 2 without them ripping me up to shreds and feeling rough.
 
Finding out when a blade 'needs' replacing will come with experience. I change mine every 3-4 shaves because at their cost I don't need to push every blade as far as it will go and would rather have comfortable shaves.
 
If you feel 'tugging' or 'pulling' rather than a clean slice through. (This could also be a sign of bad prep and your beard is not hydrated enough).

If you get more cuts and nicks than usual (as has already been said, you are pressing harder to get a good shave)

If you feel 'scratching and scraping' on your skin. This one also applies if you get a duff blade (which does happen very occasionally, or once a month with Derby's:icon_wink:).

Regards

Jules
 
Agree with 49er, mine go after 2 shaves. Time is too short to bugger about in a morning mid shave when I feel tugging. They're only ten pence each, they get 2 shaves, then it's the sharps jar. 3 weeks shaving for a pound.

Changing the blade and unwrapping a clean, ultra sharp new one is a pleasure in itself anyway, I do it just before bed, and i clean the razor at the same time, all ready to go for morning.
 
Lose the beard said:
I was getting through 2 Gillette Fusion blades a week as they go blunt really quick.
Click to expand...

Jesus. I used to get through 1 Sensor a week and I thought that was dear enough. Vinny of our parish uses Fusions and he claims something like 30 shaves with each Fusion.
 
I have quite a sensitive area just at the sides of my mouth. This is my tell when a blade starts to dull. I can finish the shave no problem, its fine for the rest of my face. But I know it's time for a fresh blade on the next shave.
 
I get three shaves out of most blades. I must admit I haven't tried to take it further in a long time, I bin them after three shaves.

If a certain blade does not go the full three shaves, I mostly find that I really don't care for these blades in other properties as well, so I only have blades that go a full three shaves.

I think you should experience how many shaves you get out of a blade. The difference in two or three shaves per blade is a total of 60 blades a year, or £9 @ 15p per blade. That's a shaving soap refill per year, and that will last you the better part of a year too, used every day, if it's a tripple milled hard soap.

And if you don't care for £9 per year, just send me a puck :D Like my old boss used to say: Anyone who says that they don't need to watch out for "small costs", just propose to deduct it from their salary. Then all costs are suddenly important.

/Max
 
Just to add a different point of view, I get a week's shaving (2-pass every day) out of a blade. The blade gets removed after Saturday's shave and a new one goes in for Sunday's shave. I can feel that the blade is sharper for Sunday's shave but it's not night-and-day different for most blades. However, I only have a medium growth - those with heavy growth may well need to change blade more frequently...

_
 
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