I’ve had a love/hate relationship with my Mach 3 Razor for many years now. I’ve tried different options over the years, from alternative disposable razors to an electric razor for my face and even the HeadBlade for shaving my head, I’ve always come back to the trusty Mach 3 blade.
While easy to use and relatively safe on my skin the blades are super expensive! Even buying them in larger packages of 15 still costs me over $2 online and nearly $3 in stores per blade. That sucks. Sadly, they only seem to last me for a handful of good shaves at most.
A helpful solution to extend Mach 3 blades
Fortunately, I did find a helpful solution a year or two ago with the RazorPit which claimed to extend blade life many times over:
And, though it did help some I can’t say I got dozens of shaves out of my blades. Let’s say it doubled blade usefulness at best; in reality it’s something less than that. I say this because the wear indicator eventually gives out no matter what you do and starts to shred.
Anyway, let’s say I now spend $1 per mach 3 blade, that’s still too much for me considering that I have to shave both my face and head. (Note: I’ve seen people state you can just as easily use an old pair of blue jeans in place of the RazorPit… never tried it.)
The Safety Razor solution
I finally decided to take the plunge and purchase a double-edge safety razor, the Parker 99R – Long Handle SUPER HEAVYWEIGHT Butterfly Open Double Edge Safety Razor:
Yeah, it’s a bit more expensive to purchase than a Mach 3 razor initially but I can see that it’s going to pay off very soon. I say this because the razor blades for these are very cheap; I can (and did) purchase 100 Shark Double Edge Safety Razor Blades for $12 online:
Seeing as thought the blades are where the bulk of the cost is, this is working out great so far. I was concerned that I would only be able to get one or two good shaves out of them but it seems I can easily get several shaves out of a single blade. I’m not sure if I can sharpen them yet–likely not since they’re super thin.
Is it safe or will I cut myself to death?
I was concerned that I would somehow wind up cutting myself to pieces with one of these but after the first few learning curve shaves I’m doing fairly well with it. Before using, I did watch a few videos that made it sound like I was in for a serious learning curve but I’d say it’s easier than I had feared. Just take your time and go slow. 🙂 Here’s a video on proper shaving technique, though, there are plenty of others…
Cost comparison
I go through roughly one Mach 3 disposable blade every week or two as I don’t share everyday. This means I use between 25-50 blades in a year. At a cost of $2 per blade I’m spending between $50-100 dollars per year on blades alone! And that’s factoring in my use of the RazorPit mentioned above.
Comparatively, I can get double edged safety blades for a fraction of the cost of disposable razor blades and still get about as many decent shaves out of them… maybe a little less. Let’s say I use one disposable blade per week, I would use roughly 50 per year. At a cost of $12 for 100 blades I’m using about $6 in total for blades per year as opposed to $50-100 with Mach 3 disposables. IMO, it’s a no-brainer to switch.
Final words
I should note that I did also briefly consider a straight razor. Perhaps one day I’ll choose to make the jump but it seems to me that the double-edged safety razor is a good option for bridging the gap between shaving as I’m accustomed to and really significant cost savings.
I also want to point out that I’m still using the canned shaving cream that I’ve used for years so I’m not sure how that cost balances out if/when I switch to other options.
Last, it appears that there are several different safety razor blade options and that they’re not all created equally. Thus far I have no complaints about the blades I purchased but I can’t guarantee you’ll have the same success. I hear it’s best to purchase a small pack of several different varieties and test them out before committing to purchasing in bulk.
Hope that helps!
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