Anyone ever stropped a cartridge (disposable) razor blade?

Today a double edge Feather blade gave me shave #40 from merely stropping it on newspaper. A nice close shave, comparable to shave #3 from a new blade, not bitey-- very smooth. DM
 
Chris Pierce said:
Another thing, I read an article about cold shaving a couple of weeks ago and I tried it. It works great! My face doesn't burn after my shave and I have no irritation all day long. Even with a 4 day beard! It's truly amazing. It is a little harder to get a good lather up, but it doesn't seem to matter much. For instance, yesterday I didn't get to take a hot shower before my shave, but I went ahead with the cold shave anyway, I had a 4 day beard. And even with the cold shave, sort of dry lather, long beard and a two blade disposable I still got a nice clean shave with no irritation. We will see how I feel about it this winter though. Cold showers and cold shaving are great in the summer, but when it's 5 degrees outside I don't know how much I'll like it.
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Was it, per chance, on AoM? I think that must a technique that work for some folks but not others because I tried it out of curiosity and it sure doesn't work for me! Even with a fresh blade I was getting awful tugging and scraping. My whiskers are too tough and my skin too sensitive to deal well with anything but a good long soap-and-soak in a hot shower followed immediately by a hot shave.
 
Yes, I've shaved using cold water from time to time. When I'm pressed for time and couldn't work in my normal hot shave with soap and brush, no worries. I keep a fresh cartridge razor in the console of my pickup and with some cold water, shave while driving. The shave is ok and it gives a little razor burn but nothing a little lotion can't soothe. Plus, when I arrive I'm presentable. DM
 
Fanglekai said:
I'd suggest switching to DE shaving and never looking back. I've been DE shaving for 4 and a half years and there's no way I'd ever consider switching back to cartridges. It's cheaper, you get a better shave, and there are way more choices for razors, blades, brushes, soaps, creams, etc.
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You do realize you can cartridge shave and still use a brush and soap etc, right? I did that for many years before I started DE again. I think the soap and prep and such is more important than the razor. YMMV.
 
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David Martin said:
I've been stropping Double Edge blades for 6 mos. and have gotten 40 shaves from one blade. I'm working on the 2nd blade and I'm at 32 nice close shaves on it. On cartridge blades you can only strop one side whereas on DE blades you can strop both sides of the bevel. I don't use leather or slurry, I merely strop on newspaper. In my experience this takes it a step sharper than leather. DM
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Why would you even bother? They cost like $0.10 each and last a week or so. Seems like the time it takes to do it is worth more than the dime the DE blade costs. I can almost understand the cart, except that strip has got to be awful after a month or two.
 
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You'll have to translate your last sentence.? Feather blades bought 200 at a time, cost me .40 each with shipping.. DM
 
If I was going to use a cartridge razor, it would be a twin blade. The prices for
the latest multi-blade wonders are just nuts. If you're interested in learning
about a cheaper and better way to shave, check out badgerandblade dot com

After a year of trying different DE blades, I found my favorite, Personna "lab blue".
Delivered, they cost me .13 a piece, and give me a week of GREAT shaves.
I could use them even longer, but it's easy to remember to switch on Sunday.
I've tried lots of different razors, NOTHING gives me as good a shave as a DE.
I wouldn't bother to strop a razor blade.
 
Chris Pierce said:
Yeah, maybe I should just save the disposables for travel. Not that I travel much. I think I'll check around the forum for DE advice. Thanks.

Anyway. To stay on topic. I don't see any reason why you can't sharpen a razor blade, no matter how cheap it is.
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You could always give the disposables to your wife/girlfriend.
I'm sure that DE blades could be sharpened, however, since they're not made for it, it would be challenging.
Ie, how to hold them safely. The problem with sharpening the cartridge blade is, you only have access to one side of the blade,
and only the middle at that.
 
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My current setup (highly recommended over cartridges). I buy a box of 100 razors for $7.00

I have not tried stropping the blades yet, but at the price... probably won't.
 
I've previously layed out how I strop a double edge blade and it is very easily done, requiring less that 5 min.. The thought of stropping a DE blade is confusing, if you've not done straight razor shaving. DM
 
I converted from mach 3 to DE a few years back. Back then the mach 3's were running about 3.50 per refill and it would only last me one shave, head and face with 2 passes. If I let my beard and hair grow out for a 5 or more days, I'd have to use a new refill on a third pass to come clean.

It was getting to expensive so I switched and with in about 3 weeks was getting nick free perfect shaves in the same amount of time, but at 50 cents per shave, after the initial cost of you DE razor. Beyond the cost savings, the process of shaving with a DE razor is more like a holistic experience for me, when it was a task with a cartridge razor. I can't explain why, but shaving is not a choir for me, it hasn't been for years now. In fact, some times it's more of a hobby.

As for the topic, a coworker brought in a little device he bought "as seen on tv" which was a battery operated cartridge stroper. He said he was getting 10 or more shaves from his mach 3 with this thing. I tried it, and it did work but not as good as he said, still it definitely worked.
 
neffarious said:
Why would you even bother? They cost like $0.10 each and last a week or so. Seems like the time it takes to do it is worth more than the dime the DE blade costs. I can almost understand the cart, except that strip has got to be awful after a month or two.
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I'm speaking of stropping a double edge blade not a cartridge... DM
 
I am new to Double Edged (DE) razors as well. I am sooo glad i switched over. Better shave, cheaper blades, better experience = more satisfying shaving experience. It's a win-win for me. I bought an adjustable brushed nickel Merkur Futur. LOVE IT !!! Set at 1.5 right now. Gotta get the brush/soap/bowl/stand now.
 
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