Making a Razor Last

I have a mustache and goatee which I think makes me look rakishly handsome (versus the dorkishly boring without facial hair). Around this style, I shave 2-4 times a week. Sometimes 1 time a week. I just don’t like shaving.

Unless my beard has many days of growth, I can dry shave. I rarely use shaving cream any more. I just fill the sink with water, wet the razor, and zip zip zip, I’m done. Some people find this astonishing, that I can dry shave. It’s no big deal to me, I guess my skin isn’t all that sensitive, or I’m really good and the act of shaving, or I’m just really tough. *flex muscles and grunt*

Now that I’ve awed you with my manliness, let me tell you a little trick I’ve learned about keeping your razor smooth and sharp. I heard on a radio talk show, about a year ago, a metallugist say that leaving a razor wet after shaving is what wears down the edge. Drying a razor after use will keep it sharp longer.

So I started trying this. After shaving, I blow it dry with the wife’s hair dryer. The first razor I did this with lasted seven or eight months without dulling. I only threw it away because we were moving and it was a disposable razor — easier to just toss it than bother packing it. My current razor, I’ve been using since August, and it’s still sharp and works smooth.

I told a friend about this trick, and he said, “I don’t have time in the mornings to dry my razor.” Well, it only takes 10 seconds. The blow dryer is right beside me, the razor already in my hand — pick up the dryer, turn it on, blow the razor for a few seconds, and done. It’s not like I use a towel on the blades.

Disposable razors are cheap, so I’m not using this technique to save money. But it ends up saving me time and aggravation, and possibly a face nick. Normally, I don’t know a razor is dulled until I start to use it. Only after taking a stroke on my cheek, and feeling the tug and scratch, do I know it’s time to toss it and get a new razor. Then I have to look around in the bathroom cabinets for where I stashed my pack of razors.

With a razor that lasts months and months, I don’t come up on this aggravation. Since I haven’t gotten to the end of a razor’s useful life span, yet, I’ve gone about a year without having to go through that tug, cut, search routine.

Now you know. The more you know, the more you grow. And knowing is half the battle. Yo, Joe!

Bullgrit