Blades: Remove after every shave?

If someone can tell me a very logical reason I may consider removing the blade.  But, I see no reason to do it plus handling a sharp blade every day make no sense to me.  I get 4-5 shaves per blade.  I use several different blades.

I (for reasons that cannot be explained because I don't know either), use two or three blades in rotation so, after the shave,  I remove them, rinse them, and pat them dry.  I then store them in a small mint tin with silica gel packets.  The next day, I decide which razor I'm going to use ( I have about 50), then pick one of the blades from the tin to match it -- aggressive vs. mild, and experience with which blade goes best with which razor.

I would have never predicted the outcome of this poll

I'm not sure there is a huge need to do so, but I've been removing them anyways. Mostly because I tend to use different razors each shave. If I do remove it, I usually set it on the wrapper in the medicine cabinet.

I thought I would bump this thread so that members who have joined in the past year can have a chance to express their views on the issue of removing, rinsing and drying your blade and razor after each shave. At the time of this poll the idea had never occurred to me but after giving it careful consideration I became a inter-shave blade remover / rinser. I do it every time now.

So, go to the OP of this thread and vote and then browse the thread to get members' views on this important issue.

Marko

A blade that has been loaded under tension will quickly develop a memory much like a scrubbed in tire. You take it out and risk reversing the entire blade or flipping it which will degrade performance. I do loosen my Mergress to facilitate rinsing as it loves to retain crud; but no, once in always until it runs out of gas.

So do you good people remove your blades after every shave? Dip in alcohol? Barbicide? Any other ritual care you find effective?

No, no, no and no.

Until my recent stint with the Polsilver SI blades (got 12 shaves) I usually used a blade for 3 shaves and then binned it.  Just run under hot water, a little 91% rubbing alcohol poured of the edges of the blades.  Figured 3 days would not cause a problem.  Since the Polsilver blade I did start to loosen the handle a turn or two just to make it easier to get the crud washed out and the alcohol down there.  I usually keep the same blade in the same razor for its life unless I am testing the blade.

A blade that has been loaded under tension will quickly develop a memory much like a scrubbed in tire. You take it out and risk reversing the entire blade or flipping it which will degrade performance. I do loosen my Mergress to facilitate rinsing as it loves to retain crud; but no, once in always until it runs out of gas.

That sounds interesting but I have difficulty believing that torquing a blade for 20 minutes a day for 4 or 5 days is going to impress a permanent bend in it or at least a bend significant enough that i'm going to notice it once its torqued back down in my razor. It stays flat for the rest of the 23 hours, 40 minutes in the day so I think it will resist staying bent in favour of flattening out. The steel was coiled in a spool for a period of time also and it doesn't keep curling back up. Furthermore, tires have nothing in common with razor blades. If this is a real concern I suppose I could mark the blade with a permanent sharpie to ensure it goes back in the razor the same way each time which should solve that problem. The way I see it, I can see soap scum on a well rinsed blade sometimes when I open the razor but I can't see a bent/scrubbed in blade nor do I perceive shaves 2, 3 or 4 to be significantly worse than shave 1 on a given blade. Nope, KAV you haven't convinced me and I will continue to remove, rinse and dry my blades after every shave. Now, about that marking of the blade...

I use a different razor every day, so I take the blade out, rinse it, pat it dry and store it in an old Tobs container until the next shave.

Very interesting!! I take the blade out, dry it and the razor and replace the blade. I leave a small gap rather than tightening the head completely. I don't do any of this for the blade, it is all about my razors and getting them dry after a shave. My DE razors are all vintage and in collectible condition so I don't want any water remaining after a shave. OK, I'm an anal retentive