Save on blades

I've been wanting to do this blog post for-ever!

If you buy expensive razor blades regularly and hate it, you want to continue reading...but for the rest of you this is going to seem like a really weird post...you may not even care to read on. But if you do continue, I'm going to tell you how you may be able to save some money on these little puppies, at least it works for me!



In the history of marketing there was this great idea to market products in a very different way. Credit was given to Gillette, for reversing the typical cost model by giving away free razor handles with the purchase of a small number of blades, with the expectation that once you started using this super fantastic razor you would love it so much that you would come back again and again to buy the blades for a long time, long enough to pay off the expense of the handle, and then even forever to let Gillette make lots of profit on the blades.

This is the same approach that HP applied to the printer, selling these really cheap printers at little to no cost, but selling the ink cartridges for a high cost! In the end razor blades cost more than they should, and razor manufacturers make lots of money selling disposable supplies.

And let me tell you, these multi blades are expensive! I often wondered if 4 blades shaved well, and 5 even better, how would 10 blades all stacked together in a single cartridge work out?

Now I know that some of you bargain shoppers buy all in one discount blades with plastic handles for like a dollar for 100 of them. That's not me, I really appreciate the better blades on my face, and the nicks I used to get with those cheap ones kept me from coming back.



So I needed a solution. I used to try to stretch out the length of time for a single blade as long as I could but invariably it would start to get dull and I'd get desperate. I needed some resolution to this costly endeavor. So after years I started to try different things to help, and finally stumbled on something maybe everyone knows, but no one ever told me.



*/Here is the tip/* - DRY IT - after you shave, rinse the blade really well in hot water, then - and this is the key - shake it dry. I mean really shake it multiple times, side to side, tapping the long end of the blade against your palm...use a dark towel and you will see droplets coming of for quite a few taps. For me it takes at least a dozen shakes until the blade stops dripping when I shake it. Once it stops shedding droplets, you should put it in a dry place where it can continue to air dry, like in a toothbrush holder or something. Don't keep it in a shower or closed up someplace in a drawer. It really helps that we are in Arizona, where the air is always arid.

So that's it. I haven't done tons of research, but I did do some to validate my findings and I would say I'm onto something.

-- this post said to hit it with a hair dryer. http://hairremoval.about.com/od/shaving/tp/Keep-Razor-Blades-Sharp.htm

- There are all sorts of ideas here but I did see my drying solution numerous times and no one seemed to disagree http://www.wisebread.com/save-money-on-shaving-with-these-razor-tricks

What have you tried? I'd be curious to know what the opinions are out there. Also, if you don't mind, I'd love to see someone give this solution a try and post on results. Mine? I get 3 months out of a blade. What about you?


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad