The Razor Fairy

amberwolf

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Like many of the magical things of old, they're less and less frequent visitors to our increasingly modern cities, but they do still hang around, as there's plenty of thin metal for them to nibble on...but these fairies don't eat the edge away--they like to scrape along the face of the edge with their raspy whet tongues....

Not many people reuse disposable razors, at least, not past them getting a bit dull and not making a clean shave, which is pretty reasonable.

But I found by accident that if you keep them around after that, but don't use them further for a few months, they are mysteriously resharpened. Not quite to brand-new micro-thin edges ready to remove your entire epidermis with a single twitch, but definitely enough for a few more good shaves.

Back when I had the housefire, I'd had a box of razors I'd been saving to use the interesting-looking plastic handles for a project (some scratchbuilt scifi model or other; I used to do that sort of thing a fair bit; haven't done it at all since then), which were somewhere unaffected by the heat and smoke. Somehow they ended up saved in other stuff out in the yard afterwards, in a box that along with others got wet from summer rains. I ran across them there on a sorting/cleaning trip to the house, while still living at the apartment during the house rebuild. I couldn't remember at the time if they were junk or not, and testing one on my arm hair did a nice clean swipe, so I saved them to use for shaving rather than buying some new ones (I'd lost the plugin-electric in the fire; melted just enough to make it useless).

I later remembered that all of those were old and worn out and what I'd saved them for (when I ran across drawings of the model I'd meant to build from them). So I wondered how they could possibly have gotten sharp again, or if maybe I was just daft (no, don't answer that)....

So as a test, after each one didn't give a decent shave, I put it aside in an open-topped bin in the bathroom (my definition of decent and other people's is probably different :lol: ).

I let each re-used one sit together with it's fellows in the bin till I'd gone thru them, which took a few months. Then I retested them, and found that the ones sitting longest were sharp again, though not nearly as sharp as new, and not as sharp as they had apparently gotten just sitting around.

Since I'm pretty sure that:
A) nobody was secretly swapping them out for new ones
B) I didn't have hair/whiskers that were getting easier to cut over time
C) I'm not completely delusional in my comparison of how badly they were shaving before, vs after they sat for months not being used after wearing out

Then that meant somehow the edges of the razors were getting sharper just by sitting around not being used.

As that's pretty unlikely, I figured that it must be the Razor Fairy, stropping the dull edges back to life over time. They're very very small (so small I can't see them with my aging eyes), so it takes them quite a while to sharpen even a tiny blade. Some of these razors have so many blades it takes weeks to go thru them all; the fairies get so tuckered out trying.


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Now, really, what I suspect is happening is that some sort of mechanical reaction is taking place due to humidity changes along the surface of the metal, or rather, the coatings they probably use on the metal (or the surface hardening, or whatever processes they use to make them or sharpen them in the first place). That may be spalling off microscopic flakes, essentially resharpening them in a way similar to creating an obsidian or flint blade.

Unfortunately I don't have anything that can magnify sufficiently to see any of this or it's results--I can only see how well it makes them cut again when applied to hair/whiskers.


Retrying this experiment another few times over the next 3 years, those original razors eventually reached a point they didn't self-resharpen sufficiently for reuse. (though I still saved them to see if perhaps it just takes longer now, I think they're really done). I've also since bought more, both the cheap dollar-store two-blade kind, and a couple of the fairly expensive 3 and 4 and even 5 blade kind at the regular grocery store, whenever the right coupons and sales have combined to make it worth doing.

The original ones were all of the 3-blade variety (which had replaceable heads but it was always cheaper to buy new ones with the coupons and sales I've run across); they were all one kind (schick?) because those were the only ones I'd saved for their interesting-shaped handles for that project.

The ones that self-resharpen best are the more expensive ones, probably because of whatever they do to make them in the first place--the dollar store ones don't resharpen enough to reuse more than one shave, and that poorly. The others it doesn't matter how many blades they have, they all seem to last up to a couple of dozen shaves each after their first self-resharpening, then progressively fewer times after each of those.

If the blades are of a type that exhibits any visible surface rust after prolonged moisture exposure, they dont' self-resharpen.

If they retain their original sheen, then they tend to self-resharpen to one degree or another...mostly. The ones that look more like "chrome" levels of shiny don't do it well, but the ones that have a duller "titanium" look do it better. If those descriptions makes any sense


I hadn't kept track of these by brand or anything, just a general tally in my head...so this is not a well-controlled scientific experiment, certainly not rigorous in any way. I don't have any intentions of doing a rigorous experiment on this, but it'd be interesting for someone with a well-equipped lab to try it and see what is actually happening to the blades.


Still, it is a curious thing....




As a further experiment, I'd gotten a used battery-electric shaver from Bill that he got tired of it's little issues, and it's blades were rather worn, to the point it would pull on some hairs (painfully) rather than cut them. :( So i set it's blades aside the same way, for a few months....and nothing changed.

They are not made the same, physically, as the disposable razor blades, nor are they thin like that. So whatever causes the disposables to do what they do may be a result of their physical construction/design, as well as metallurgy.



I also tried the same experiment with various boxcutter blades and Xacto (brand and generic) blades....and none of these appear to self-resharpen to a degree I can notice...but they are also used in a different way, as well as being mechanically (and metallurgically) different. What dulls their edges may do so in a way that leaves them unable to spall off bits (or whatever process it is that causes the self-resharpening of some disposables).
 
The 99 cent store packs of 10-12 disposable razors; each razor last me for months. They tend to cut a little when new, then giving many comfortable shaves. Towards the end of a few months they start to cut again, that's usually the signal for a new one. (and a haircut :lol: )
I foolishly packed them away and had to use a brand new Shick Quattro to shave. Worst shaving razor I ever used bar none. Glides over the whiskers without cutting them, have to go over and over several times and in many directions. Biggest little waste of money there is IMO. :x
 
Think I shaved once or twice when I was about 12? Giant waste of time. Had a beard ever since. Use a rechargeable shaver like this.
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Use guide.
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Trim beard once a week.

Why don't girls have beards? ............ It's in their jeans.
 
Been doing the retirement shave for quite some time. I shave to a two day stubble with the dog clipper. I don't of course, work outside the house.

But in season, I grow a beard, that keeps neatly trimmed with the dog clipper and number 2 attachment.
 
I dont' suppose anyone else has ever made observations in the vein of the OP, regarding blade sharpness behaviors?

I figure I'm probably the only person wierd enough to pay attention to anything like that. ;)
 
Just that they are too sharp when new tending to cut, then settle in for a while; possibly getting jagged a couple of months later causing more cuts. I'll have to examine them at various stages of wear with a jewelers loop, if it ever turns up from storage. I'd rather have the Razor Fairy leave a dollar every year for a pack of new disposables. :lol:
A lady once told me to store the razor in a little cup of mineral oil to keep it from getting dull but I never tried it. :?
 
That would prevent rust from eating away at the blade, assuming it was dry to start with, and had no coatings or other metallurgical treatments to prevent rust.


What I think is happening (but have no way to test or prove) is that the ones without such coatings/treatments just stay dull when they get that way, and the ones with the coatings change or flake or spall off leaving a "new" edge.
 
dogman dan said:
Been doing the retirement shave for quite some time. I shave to a two day stubble with the dog clipper. I don't of course, work outside the house.

But in season, I grow a beard, that keeps neatly trimmed with the dog clipper and number 2 attachment.

Dog clipper and #2 attachment are a powerful grooming combo. Can give yourself a decent (at least serviceable) shave and a haircut even with the lights out. Price is right for sure.

A bit off topic but on the subject of personal grooming expenses.

My wife works with sheep fleeces. Fresh off the animal the fleeces are dirtier and greasier than pretty much any of us will ever manage to get ourselves. She washes them with a product called "Orvus Paste", a veterinary supply, and they come out clean and fluffy. Amazing transformation. So I asked "what is this stuff?". Turns out it is essentially pure sodium laureth sulfate (sometimes called SLES). What is SLES? It is the active ingredient in most human shampoo. So I volunteered to try some on a test subject (me). Great results. Have been using it for the last 10 years or so. My hair has not fallen out or turned green. Nor has my scalp erupted in boils or cancerous lesions. A tiny bit is all I need to use.

So what are the economics?

This stuff sells for $35 for a 7.5 pound (120 ounce) jug. That is enough to last me about 5 years.


Let's look at a well known name brand shampoo for purpose of comparison.

What is in the name brand competition?
"Ingredients: Water, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Glycol Distearate, Sodium Chloride, Hydrolyzed Elastin, Hydrolyzed Keratin, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Hydrolyzed Caviar Extract, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Polyquaternium-10, Fragrance, PEG-6 Caprylic/Capric Glycerides, Glycerin, Gluconolactone, PPG-9, Trehalose, Citric Acid, Adipic Acid, Sodium Sulfate, DMDM Hydantoin, Disodium EDTA, Hydrolyzed Actin, Hydrolyzed Roe, Fucus Vesiculosus Extract, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, PEG-150 Pentaerythrityl Tetrastearate, PPG-2 Hydroxyethyl Cocamide."
What does the name brand cost? About 4 times as much by weight... but that weight contains mainly water plus a bunch of silly stuff: Wheat Protein? Hydrolyzed Caviar Extract? Coconut oil? Glycerin? Hydrolyzed Roe? (Personally the reason I wash my hair is basically to get out that kind of stuff as well Yard Dirt, Old Motor Oil, Twigs and Leaves etc). So looks like you are actually paying for a little bit of the active ingredient plus a lot of water and glop.

So I reckon the true cost of Orvus for me might be about $7 a year. The cost of using the name brand, with same active ingredient, would probably be about $50 a year. Over the ten years I've been using it seems like I've saved around $400 cash money.

How does this relate to ebikes? $400 cash saved is enough to buy a good battery. :D

Not recommending this for others, but it has worked for me. Plus I've used it to shampoo the dogs and they seem happy. YMMV.
 
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