I keep running across various ways to save “lots” of money on the ritual of shaving. That sort of post seems to have a very broad appeal, since almost everybody shaves. Most women shave their legs, and most men shave their faces. I wear a beard, but I still shave in order to keep the appearance neat.
A few months ago, I saw a blog post on Thousandaire about reducing the cost of shaving your face to a couple of bucks/month. It was mostly about an outfit called The Dollar Shave club. I wasn’t terribly impressed, since I already spend a lot less than a dollar a month on razors. I’ve also found that razors tend to dull more from corrosion than from cutting whiskers, so I carefully dry my blades after each use, and the el cheapo blades I get in bulk at the discount stores (15 or so for about $10 — but NOT this brand!) usually last me about a month each before I notice any discomfort.
This morning, in Gary North’s newsletter, he talked about a couple of ways to extend the life of a shaving blade to 3 months or longer. (I don’t have a paid membership, but his free newsletter is usually work reading.)
Here is one way from a video on YouTube, in which the video creator says that he gets at least 6 months of use out of his razors:
Dr. North considers that the “time consuming way”. He took that a bit farther by putting up a strip of blue jean material on his towel bar and using that as a strop. He reports getting 3 months use from one blade.
But he also tells about another method he has tried (the “non-time-consuming way”), which extends the life of the blade by several more months. He has a glass of cheap olive oil in which he leaves his razor to soak between shaves. Since the real enemy of the sharp edge is corrosion, this is probably one of the better ways to keep your blade sharp. I suspect almost any oil would work (although most vegetable oils will go rancid in a few weeks). I may try an ounce of synthetic motor oil (since I happen to have a partial bottle of the stuff in the garage) to see if that works.
I think that one of the reasons that my blades last as long as they do is because I don’t use shaving cream. Instead, I use Shave Secret, which is a blend of oils. So, when I rinse the blade in hot water, tap all the oily whisker residue out, and wipe it dry, there is probably a very thin film of oil left. Shave Secret comes in a tiny plastic bottle, which lasts me about 6-8 months, since you only need 2 or 3 drops per shave.
Mrs. BFTROU does me one better. She just uses coconut oil, which also works quite well.
