Blade Chatter -- Vol. 1.0: What Dulls Blades Quicker...Long Hairs Or Coarse Hairs?

     I'm hoping to do a little miniseries here of occasional posts regarding my curiosities on razor blades. A lot of it I'm sure is stuff that may likely have been discussed here before, but hopefully we'll all learn a little something about blades and share opinions and experiences.

    My thought is that it would be coarse hair that would wear a blade down more so than the length of the hair. In my thoughts, especially with your first pass if you're going with the grain, you would be shaving down and cutting either through the hair or close to the face or the root. Thinking about it from that aspect, it would seem like length wouldn't really play into it too much. Now, perhaps, if it's considerably more growth than what you would typically have if you haven't shaved in a while, then perhaps the density or concentration of the hair could play into it.

    So, my thoughts are that coarseness or thickness would affect blade sharpness more so than actual hair length. What are yours?

What dulls blades most is failure to properly soften the beard before shaving.

An often overlooked quality of different shave soaps

What dulls blades most is failure to properly soften the beard before shaving.

An often overlooked quality of different shave soaps

Pre-shave prep. That is definitely a very important part of the process. Over time it is something I have definitely improved on and it has given me much better shaves, more consistently. And there is a lot to be said for what the shave soap can bring. More recently, it is something I'm paying a bit more attention to now as I use soaps/creams. It used to just be real simple for me. If I was able to get a really good lather, I figured hey how bad could the soap really be? But now I'm paying a bit more attention to how it softens my beard, how it helps the razor glide, and also residual slickness after I do a pass if I want to just go over a spot or two here and there. I have some soaps that I do really like and a lather well, but once I'm done with the pass, my face is almost like drywall dry and there's literally no slickness. And sometimes I even question if that's not user error in the fact that my pre-shave prep wasn't proper or I haven't properly hydrated the lather or my face.

What dulls blades most is failure to properly soften the beard before shaving.

An often overlooked quality of different shave soaps

Pre-shave prep. That is definitely a very important part of the process. Over time it is something I have definitely improved on and it has given me much better shaves, more consistently. And there is a lot to be said for what the shave soap can bring. More recently, it is something I'm paying a bit more attention to now as I use soaps/creams. It used to just be real simple for me. If I was able to get a really good lather, I figured hey how bad could the soap really be? But now I'm paying a bit more attention to how it softens my beard, how it helps the razor glide, and also residual slickness after I do a pass if I want to just go over a spot or two here and there. I have some soaps that I do really like and a lather well, but once I'm done with the pass, my face is almost like drywall dry and there's literally no slickness. And sometimes I even question if that's not user error in the fact that my pre-shave prep wasn't proper or I haven't properly hydrated the lather or my face.

I think of all the things that have surprised me most over the years is the lack of correlation of shave soap price to beard softening ability. It seems to be independent of price. I have had both inexpensive soaps that are good at it and expensive ones, and the converse is true as well.. It must be some ingredient in the soap that I have yet to identify. Someone here with a chemistry background probably knows about this. There must be a specific chemical compound that makes the keratin wall of the hair open up and allow water in. My guess is that it has something to do with PH, but that would make the soap harsh, right? Anyway, it is one of the key factors I judge a soap on, and you hardly hear anybody talking about it.

I have noticed that in old advertisements of canned shave goo they used to trumpet that feature.

Trying to analyse what makes the dulling of a blade go faster or slower is the reason I’ve decided to splurge when I went back to using DE razors again in 2020 after a long hiatus (2016).

I now simply bin the DE blade after each shave.

Is it environmentally ok to do that ?
Perhaps not - but I’m not perfect.

I am someone who spends considerably good amount of time prepping before my shaves.

I am of the opinion that it's the quality of blade(angle, quality of metal, edging, coating) ultimately that renders a blade useless sooner than other blades.

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Have come to find that nearly all my blade issues were caused by the inherent qualities of thin DE blades.

Was formerly a straight shaver, very satisfied with the quality of shaves but unhappy with the time consumed undertaking the daily and weekly maintenance.

DE razors always resulted in blade chatter leading to some degree of irritation: it really was a matter of mitigation not militation. By far the best for me were the Wolfman WR1 and Tatara Nodachi Ti

Finding a minimalist AC razor has proven nearly impossible, most are magnitudes larger than required, limiting easy access to tighter confines around the nose and ears. Once discovering the Blackland Razors Vector Ti, have never looked back (refuse to purchase Chinese counterfeits). The only other original design razor fitting the bill is the tatararazors Amakuni. The inherent thickness of the AC blade eliminates all chatter and irritation, it is simply a matter of finding the appropriate blade sharpness to match one's preference. Honestly, have not felt a need to use any of my other ultrapremium razors since.

Have come to find that nearly all my blade issues were caused by the inherent qualities of thin DE blades.

Was formerly a straight shaver, very satisfied with the quality of shaves but unhappy with the time consumed undertaking the daily and weekly maintenance.

DE razors always resulted in blade chatter leading to some degree of irritation: it really was a matter of mitigation not militation. By far the best for me were the Wolfman WR1 and Tatara Nodachi Ti

Finding a minimalist AC razor has proven nearly impossible, most are magnitudes larger than required, limiting easy access to tighter confines around the nose and ears. Once discovering the Blackland Razors Vector Ti, have never looked back (refuse to purchase Chinese counterfeits). The only other original design razor fitting the bill is the tatararazors Amakuni. The inherent thickness of the AC blade eliminates all chatter and irritation, it is simply a matter of finding the appropriate blade sharpness to match one's preference. Honestly, have not felt a need to use any of my other ultrapremium razors since.

I've never found SE blades to be as smooth as everyone keeps saying. I owned the vector and the att x1 and to me those blades feel ways less sharp than almost any de blade.

     I'm hoping to do a little miniseries here of occasional posts regarding my curiosities on razor blades. A lot of it I'm sure is stuff that may likely have been discussed here before, but hopefully we'll all learn a little something about blades and share opinions and experiences.

    My thought is that it would be coarse hair that would wear a blade down more so than the length of the hair. In my thoughts, especially with your first pass if you're going with the grain, you would be shaving down and cutting either through the hair or close to the face or the root. Thinking about it from that aspect, it would seem like length wouldn't really play into it too much. Now, perhaps, if it's considerably more growth than what you would typically have if you haven't shaved in a while, then perhaps the density or concentration of the hair could play into it.

    So, my thoughts are that coarseness or thickness would affect blade sharpness more so than actual hair length. What are yours?

Weirdly enough i always feel like my shaves are rougher with super fatted soaps. Its like they soften the hair less than a more alkaline soap. Or perhaps there's some other factor at play but I can "feel" the shave more with barrister and mann versus moon soaps. No idea why but I've always found this to be the case.

Have come to find that nearly all my blade issues were caused by the inherent qualities of thin DE blades.

Was formerly a straight shaver, very satisfied with the quality of shaves but unhappy with the time consumed undertaking the daily and weekly maintenance.

DE razors always resulted in blade chatter leading to some degree of irritation: it really was a matter of mitigation not militation. By far the best for me were the Wolfman WR1 and Tatara Nodachi Ti

Finding a minimalist AC razor has proven nearly impossible, most are magnitudes larger than required, limiting easy access to tighter confines around the nose and ears. Once discovering the Blackland Razors Vector Ti, have never looked back (refuse to purchase Chinese counterfeits). The only other original design razor fitting the bill is the tatararazors Amakuni. The inherent thickness of the AC blade eliminates all chatter and irritation, it is simply a matter of finding the appropriate blade sharpness to match one's preference. Honestly, have not felt a need to use any of my other ultrapremium razors since.

So Danny has led me to the water on several wet shaving topics/actions. Ethos post shave, Wholly Kaw pux, PdP soap, Tatara soap, Grooming Department soap, and AC SE razors. I was fortunate enough with Bluegrass [several SE razors and blades] and Danny Magnolia [telling me annually to give the Vector a go] convincing me to try these tools.

My final ATG money pass has always been hit or miss. Sometimes BBS, sometimes stubbly, sometimes irritation/razor burn results. The SE mows down those resistant whisker tops comfortably and provides an amazing degree of nimble access to areas which were always difficult to shave. The blades are thicker, stiffer, and sharp enough. I bought an Alpha [bronze] and Hawk and make that money pass with the SE. I am an old man and just now know this? wtf and where the eff have I been all these years. Boys, try one, get one on loan. The blades last for 7-10 shaves.... and they last me a month [just using for the third pass] . Thanks to Bluegrass and Danny Magnolia.

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