I remember writing a post here some years ago, about shaving; about how I had been looking for the best shave for a reasonable price.
I had tried everything over the years and eventually settled on plain disposable razors, which did a reasonable job and were available just about everywhere for a reasonable price.
Well, I was having a shave a couple of months back and was aware that the disposable razor I held in my hand was due for replacement. *This disposable razor needs to be disposed of”, I thought to myself.
And that led to another train of thought: how long do these things last once they had been thrown away and were sitting in landfill? I looked at the hard, blue plastic handle and guessed that it was probably about ten million years or something stupid… just like toothbrushes.
As I seem to be becoming more environmentally conscious – I get very annoyed at home if the wrong stuff goes into our green recycling bin – I got to wondering if there was a better way… with greener credentials.
And so, as I only had one disposable left in the packet, I decided to look for an alternative. Again.
Electric shaving was out – I don’t care what Victor Kiam says, an electric razor will never shave as close as a blade.
Fancy, ‘craft’ razors with bamboo handles were quite expensive to buy and the refills aren’t cheap, either.
And so, after a bit of research, I decide to give DE (Double Edged) razors a try. That’s the one, in the picture above.
Yes, I’ve gone full Grandad.
Actually, I can remember my dad having one of these when I was a kid.
It took a little while to get used to, as it is so much heavier than a plastic disposable and I managed to nick myself several times with my first attempts.
But, now that I have the hang of it, it’s a doddle and I don’t think I’ll be going back.
And it’s cheap. OK, there is the initial cost of the razor (I think mine cost about fifteen quid, but the blades themselves are really cheap – I recently picked up a hundred for six quid, from Amazon – so it works out pretty cheap. I reckon I get about ten shaves a blade (bear in mind that they are double edged, so that’s five shaves on each side of the blade), so that works out about 2p a shave.
Not bad.
The blades also have a second use. Attach to top of garden wall to act as burglar deterrent.
Wouldn’t deter the burglars round here… they’re all too young to shave.
I have a razor. It’s a Gillette Mach3 Turbo or some such ridiculous name. I’m still using the same blade that I bought in 2000. My good lady wife her indoors after a lifetime* of using those fancy ladies razors for her sensitive bits has switched to men’s disposables. For some inexplicable reason men’s disposables are a tiniest fraction of the cost of the fancy ladies razors. I blame rampant consumerism and bloated marketing budgets.
*not an actual lifetime
Yes, for that reason, the females in my family also use men’s disposables, which was another reason for changing, as we were getting confused as to whose was whose – I don’t want to be shaving my face with a razor that has been dulled by the wife’s armpits and… er, things.
Maybe pink pigment is a lot more expensive than blue?
You can now become one of the Peaky Blinders.
I’ve oft said that I’d look good in a flat cap, but when I tried one on once, Mrs. M reckoned I looked a twat.
That’s brave Mark to go back to the blades.. They are like working with live wires.. I would keep away from them.. The risk of cuts and bruises are too high😊