How Long Do Harry’s Razor Blades Last?

A few weeks ago I purchased a Harry’s razor to test it out and see how well it shaved.  Here’s a link to my review of Harry’s Razors if you’re interested in reading it. One of the main questions I have been trying to answer since then is: How long do Harry’s razor blades last?

To answer the question, the first cartridge lasted thirty shaves and the second cartridge lasted sixty-eight shaves which was much longer than I expected.

The first cartridge shaved quite well for the first sixteen shaves, but I started to experience some discomfort going against the grain on the seventeenth and eighteenth shave that I don’t remember experiencing when I first started out. Below you’ll find my notes from each shave of the first cartridge razor.  I’m make a separate post for the second cartridge razor test.

Setup

For testing, I shaved both my face and head every single day. There was some variation on shaving with the grain, re-lathering and then shaving against the grain. Eventually, I settled on shaving my face with the grain, the sides of my head across the grain, and the back of my head against the grain.

The top of my head is a crap shoot and I’m not really sure how to classify it. Also, I have developed some bald spots in recent years which makes less work for the razor than someone with a full head of hair.

Tools / Shave Setup

• Harry’s razor with a bright orange handle
• Simpson Beaufort B4 pure badger hair brush
• Art of Shaving Sandalwood Shaving Cream and aftershave balm

Miscellaneous Notes

• Time is listed in MM:SS format
• Time taken to shave is measured in just the time it takes to finish shaving my head or face. All time spent lathering up or washing my face after shaving is excluded.
• Main sections list the date, followed by 24-hour clock time – followed by the shave number

Lessons Learned

• There is a razor blade on the back of the razor meant for hard to get areas which is called a precision trimmer.  I didn’t notice it until after the end of the test when I put a new blade in to compare the performance of a new blade to an old blade.  I did notice the piece of metal, but I didn’t realize it was intended to be a razor blade because it was badly rusted by the time I noticed it.
• When shaving the back of your head you will have to pay close attention to how you are holding the handle shaving with the grain on the way down and shaving against the grain on the way up.  I found that I tended to pull the handle further away from the back of my head instead of keeping it close.  Going against the grain this resulted in really rough shaving until I started making a concerted effort to pull the razor handle closer to my head instead of pulling it away.

12/16/20 – Time Unknown – First Shave

Hair Length: Beard 1/4”; head 1/2”

Face Shave with the Grain:

• The shave was smooth on cheeks, but there was slight discomfort on the underside of my jaw line on the left side of my face using my non-dominant, left hand.
• I experienced less discomfort with my right, dominant hand on the right side of my face.
• Short strokes gave better results.
• I was able to get hairs underneath nose just fine except for a few that were the closest to my nostril opening and the corner of my mouth. These hairs were a smidgen longer than the rest. Hairs in the crook between my chin and bottom lip were slightly longer when I went with the grain.  Edit 1/17/21:  Turns out there is a razor on the back of the cartridge that I didn’t notice.  This does a good job of getting the random hairs that I couldn’t get before.
• Time taken: 14:34
• Pass: First pass with the grain

Face Shave Against the Grain:

• I did a second pass shaving against the grain except for the mustache area where I did a combination of across the grain and against the grain.
• Against the grain I felt slight razor burn afterwards, but nothing too bad. There seemed to be some redness, but I normally experience this after not shaving for a long time. It might just be some type of acne.
• Time taken: 3:24
• Pass Second pass against the grain

Head Shave With the Grain:

• Top of head was easy to shave, but side of head was harder especially above ear. I had to resort to against the grain to get some hairs. Had to resort to against the grain to get some hairs.
• During the first pass I experience a lot of clogging between the 4th and 5th blade if you count each blade using the blade closest to the handle as number one up to the blade the furthest away the handle as blade number five. Clog seemed to consist of shaved hair and skin cells.
• Shave was extremely slow, but this is something that is to be expected with cartridge razors. They don’t fair well with long lengths of hair, relatively speaking since 1/4″ and 1/2″ isn’t all too long when it comes to hair length.
• Pass: First pass with the grain
• Time: Estimated 28:17. I started shaving without starting clock. After I started the clock it took 11:21 to shave half my head. The second half took me 16:55. Actual time is probably around 33:17.

Head Shave Against the Grain

• Nothing of importance to note. As you can see, can see the second shave went a lot faster with shorter hair.
• Pass: Second pass against the grain
• Time: 8:13

Random Thoughts After First Face and Head Shave

• Storage case has slots presumably let it air out and water evaporate. It’s designed so the case and the razor handle slit flat.
• Extra blade on the back, like you see on the Gillette five-bladed razors, isn’t really need to for hard to reach areas unless you absolutely want every single hair to be the exact length on your face. I’m assuming Gillette has a patent on this and Harry’s probably won’t be able to add one to their razor until after Gillette’s patent expires.  Edit 1/17/21:  There is a razor on the back of the Harry’s razor cartridge that allows you to reach the harder areas such as directly beneath the nose, between your lower lip and chin, and in my case a crease in the back of my head.
• Razor shaves really well when you are shaving a length of hair that is suitable for a cartridge razor.
• Even though it was my first time shaving my head with it, I didn’t experience any problems.

12/17/20 @ 2240 – Second Shave

Hair length: 24 hours growth for hair and beard

Total Shave Time: Face – 5:41; Head – 10:47

Face Shave With the Grain

• I didn’t feel any tugging.
• Slight pain when I shaved over a cowlick on my neck. This is typical for me when I’m shaving that area.
• Time: 2:37

Face Shave Against the Grain

• For the most part it was smooth with no tugging.
• Slight tugging on left jawline. I think it was due to the way I made my shave stroke.
• Time: 3:04

Head Shave With the Grain

• Nothing significant to report. I shave across the grain on the sides of my head, I don’t feel like having a separate section to report it.
• Time: 5:15

Head Shave Against the Grain

• Nothing significant to report
• Time: 5:32

12/18/20 @ 2304 – Third Shave

I decided to switch to just doing one pass on my face and head to save on time. I will probably just shave against the grain and see how it works out.

Face Shave Against the Grain

• There was a little dryness on the right side of my face between the edge of mouth and chin. It’s typical for me to have dry skin after shaving. I’ll probably start using my Art of Shaving aftershave balm.
• Mustache area I went across the grain and then against. The razor is still shaving good.
• I find it helps to pull the skin below the neck when shaving against the grain on the chin area. This is a wet shaving technique that I learned shaving with straight razors that transfers over to shaving with cartridge razors.
• I observed some small razor bumps/burns on my neck where a cowlick grows. I might just start shaving with the grain for both my head and face.

• Pass: One pass against the grain.
• Time: 3:27 first pass against the grain.

Head Shave Against the Grain

• I decided to do one pass against the grain. From here on out I might just do one shave with the grain and call it a day.
• I managed to nick myself twice
• There is some build up in the middle of razor. Might try to clean out with a sewing needle. Some hair is accumulating on the back of the razor.

• Pass: one pass against the grain.
• Time: 6:05

12/19/20 @ 2253 – Fourth Shave

Face Shave With the Grain

• Shave Time: 3:45
• Pass: one pass with the grain
• I decided to go a little slower and only go with the grain to avoid any razor burn or irritation. This seemed to work. The area that got irritated yesterday was not irritated today. Razor is still shaving well with no pulling.

Head Shave With the Grain

• Shave Time: 6:17
• Pass: one pass with the grain on top, across the grain on the sides, with the grain on the back.
• Still shaving fine. Nicked a zit/pimple on the back, right side of my head.

12/20/20 @ 2123 – Fifth Shave

Face Shave With the Grain

• Shave Time: 3:00
• Pass: one pass with the grain
• Still shaving well, no irritation.

Head Shave With the Grain

• Shave Time: 5:19
• Pass: One pass with the grain.
• No complaints.
• I observed towards the lower part of the back of the head it’s a little harder to hold the razor to make it cut versus gliding. Natural instinct is to pull the end of the razor handle up instead of keep on pushing it down till the end of the stroke.

12/21/20 @ 2052 – Sixth Shave

Face Shave With the Grain

• Shave Time: 2:53
• Pass: One pass with the grain
• Still shaving fine.
• Build up returned between 4th and fifth blade. Not sure why its staying in that one spot

Head Shave With the Grain

• Shave Time: 6:17
• Pass: One pass with the grain.
• Still shaves fine.
• I spent some extra time cleaning up some narrow strips of hair I missed in various passes on the back of my head.
• I observed the razor tends to keep a lot of water on the blades after you rinse it out. This can cause water and soap to run down your face. You have to give it a good shake or two to get the excess water out after running it under the water.

12/22/20 @ 2122 – Seventh Shave

On closer inspection I saw the buildup between the 4th and 5th blade both in the center and on the edges was most likely due to longer hair being trapped and not allowing the shaving cream/razor particle mixture to wash away. I cleared out the longer particles. Hopefully it solves the buildup issue

Face Shave With the Grain

• Shave Time: 2:54
• Pass: One pass with the grain
• Still shaving well. No buildup after cleaning the long hairs from the back. If you’re getting buildup stuck between the razor blades, then check the back of the razor for long hairs that got stuck and is preventing water from rinsing everything out between the blades

Head Shave With the Grain

• Shave Time: 5:30
• Pass: One pass with the grain
• Still shaving well no complaints. There is still no buildup between blades, at least when it comes to blocking the area between any two of the blades. There is minor residue not washing off with just water. There is either some showing on the blade or blood. I’m not sure which one it is.

12/23/20 @ 2221 – Eighth Shave

Face Shave With the Grain

• Shave Time: 3:04
• Pass: One pass with the grain
• Still shaving well. I had a small pimple above my left lip right above the lip in the mustache area. Had another small blemish below left corner of my mouth halfway to the jawline might have been an ingrown hair.

Head Shave With/Against the Grain

• Shave Time: 9:19
• Pass: Shaved both with the grain and then against the grain on the back of my head.
• Still shaving well.
• I have a crease in the back, middle of my head that is hard to shave with the grain. The hair felt a little longer inside the crease than outside of it which prompted me to shave with the grain.

12/24/20 @ 2306 – Ninth Shave

Face Shave With the Grain

• Shave Time: 2:52
• Pass: One pass with the grain and follow up against the grain in crook of chin/lower lip
• Still shaving well.
• Noticed the area between my chin and lip isn’t getting as close to the rest of my face. I’ll probably start shaving against the grain for this area like I do the crease in the back of my head. It should give me the desired result of getting the hair shorter and the same length of the rest of my beard in the surrounding areas.

Head Shave Against the Grain

• Shave Time: 6:08
• Pass: One pass against the grain
• Still shaving head well.
• Decided to only shave against the grain on the back of my head. I’ll keep shaving this way unless I see excessive irritation. I don’t want to continually have to do two passes. If I can get by with one pass against the grain pass, then I’ll stick with that.

12/26/20 @ 0025 – Tenth Shave

Face Shave With the Grain

• Shave Time: 3:20
• Pass: one pass with the grain
• No issues shaving

Head Shave Against the Grain

• Shave Time: 5:49
• Pass: One pass with the grain.
• No issues.

12/26/20 @ 2211 – Eleventh Shave

Face Shave With the Grain

• Shave Time: 2:55
• Pass: One pass with the grain.
• Still shaving my face well. If felt a little burning, but I think that was mainly due to using a facial scrub in the shower earlier in the day. I try to use a facial scrub at least once a week.

Head Shave Against the Grain

• Shave Time: 5:16
• Pass: One pass with the grain
• Still shaving good. No issues.

12/27/20 @ 2112 – Twelfth Shave

Face Shave With the Grain

• Shave Time: 2:26
• Still shaves fine. Nothing significant to report.

Head Shave Against the Grain

• Shave Time: 6:26
• I observed little lines of hair I was probably missing in other shaves. Spent a little more time trying to clean them up. Maybe three slight nicks. Two in front, one in back

12/28/20 @ 2130 – Thirteenth Shave

Face Shave With the Grain

• Shave Time: 2:50
• I already mentioned it, but I wanted to mention it again. I observed juncture between my lower lip and chin is hard to get.
• Still shaving well.

Head Shave Against the Grain

• Shave Time: 6:44
• I am not sure If I was being sloppy in previous shaves or if I wasn’t inspecting carefully enough, but I am seeing more strips of hair missed by the razor.
• Razor is still performing well.

12/29/20 @ 2153 – Fourteenth Shave

Face Shave With the Grain

• Shave Time: Not timed; forgot to set timer while shaving my face.
• Razor is still shaving well.

Head Shave Against the Grain

• Shave Time: 6:16
• Razor still seems to be shaving fine.

12/30/20 @ 2159 – Fifteenth Shave

Face Shave With the Grain

• Shave Time: 3:11
• Still shaving well. Spent a little extra time trying to get the hairs right below my nose. I can’t get them to the same length as the rest of the mustache area, but they seem to get shaved once they grow long enough.

Head Shave Against the Grain

• Shave Time: 7:09
• Still shaving good. Spent some extra time getting the thin vertical lines I missed on the back of my head.

12/31/20 @ 2343 – Sixteenth Shave

Note:  I initially noticed rusting on the rear blade of the razor cartridge.  I discuss this further in the nineteenth shave section.  I didn’t realize until after I started shaving with a new cartridge that it was a razor blade and not a random strip of metal.

Face Shave With the Grain

• Shave Time: 2:54
• Still shaving well.

Head Shave Against the Grain

• Shave Time: 6:52
• Still shaving well.

1/1/21 @ 2251 – Seventeenth Shave

Face Shave With the Grain

• Shave Time: 3:00
• Still shaving well.

Head Shave Against the Grain

• Shave Time: 6:57
• I felt my first discomfort shaving against the grain on the left, backside of my head. I typically shave my head in following order: front right half, front left half, back right half, back left half. This means it was the last part of my head to be shaved and the discomfort corresponded to the top part of the back left half which is an area I previously shaved when doing the front left half of my head. As a result there was a little shaving cream and maybe a little of water. This might be the reason I haven’t experienced much discomfort so far is because the skin is well lubricated with shaving soap which reduced the friction on my head. Also, with me only shaving with the grain on the majority of my face and head, I’m less likely to experience any rough shaving.

1/2/21 @ 2243 – Eighteenth Shave

Face Shave With the Grain

• Shave Time: 2:56
• Still shaving well.

Head Shave Against the Grain

• Shave Time: 3:23 (partial) – forgot to set the timer. I started the timer when I shaved most of my head except for the back left side of my head.
• I started shaving the left front side first, right front side, left back side, and then right back side to see if some discomfort caused by the razor yesterday was due to the order in which I shaved my head. I observed when I hold the razor in my left hand I have a little less control since it’s my non-dominant hand. That combined with the curve of my head is causing me to primarily use the left side of the razor instead of leaving it flat. I think I’m inadvertently putting extra pressure which is causing the discomfort I’m experiencing. With that being said, the razor seems to be shaving a little rougher than I remember it shaving on the right-hand side as well. The razor might be starting to dull and the roughness might be due to the razor not cutting through the hair as easily as it used to.

1/3/21 @ 2009 – Nineteenth Shave

Face Shave With the Grain

• Shave Time: 3:13
• I observed significant rusting on the top part rear blade of the razor. The metal piece appears to be a part of the support structure of the cartridge and not part of a razor blade.  Edit 1/17/21:  This is a razor blade meant to shave hard to reach areas such as under the nose, between the lower lip and chin, etc.  I didn’t realize this until I started shaving with the second razor cartridge that came with the razor.
• This confirms that what I was seeing earlier was rust and not blood. Looking closer on the back side of the razor blades you can see the rust and on the front you can see it start creeping in from the sides. The limiting factor to this razor might be how long it takes to rust versus how long it takes the blades to dull. As mentioned earlier, the blades tend to collect a lot of water. If you want to keep it from rusting you’ll probably want to pat it down on a towel and maybe clean it with some rubbing alcohol.
• I live a few away from the ocean in a high humidity area. The apartment isn’t a controlled A/C climate and the bathroom I shave in is the most humid part of the apartment. The spare cartridge blade doesn’t show any signs of rust. I think most of the rusting on my current razor is mostly due to me not doing enough to remove all the excess water on the blade after I rinse it out for the final time. I do give it a few good shakes, but that might not be enough.

Head Shave Against the Grain

• Shave Time: 2:19. I forgot to start the timer until I was partway through the shave.
• Razor still feels kind of rough when I’m shaving the back of my head.

1/4/21 @ 2324 – Twentieth Shave

Face Shave With the Grain

• Shave Time: 3:01
• Still cutting through my beard. I don’t think it’s quite as smooth as it used to be.

Head Shave Against the Grain

• Shave Time: 6:45
• Still cutting through my hair

1/5/21 – 2120 – Twenty-First Shave

Face Shave With the Grain

• Shave Time: 2:31
• Razor is still shaving and cutting through my facial hair

Head Shave Against the Grain

• Shave Time: 6:12
• Definitely a rougher shave. I feel the roughness and some tugging, or what I presume is tugging, in the middle of the back of my head when I shave against the grain.

1/6/21 @ 2225 – Twenty-Second Shave

Face Shave With the Grain

• Shave Time: 2:41
• Still cutting hair, but not as smooth as it used to be. Razor is kind of bouncing across face.

Head Shave Against the Grain

• Shave Time: 6:02
• Still cutting hair, but it is rough shaving with it

1/7/21 @ 2217 – Twenty-Third Shave

Face Shave With the Grain

• Shave Time: 2:41
• It’s not as smooth gliding when I shave from the top of my jawline down to my neck area below the jawline.
• I still feel tugging, but it’s still cutting the hair.

Head Shave Against the Grain

• Shave Time: 5:51
• Still cutting through my hair and it’ still rough shaving.
• Bottom blade might be getting clogged with shaving cream residue between the first and second blade counting from the blade closest to the handle.

1/8/21 @ 2238 – Twenty-Fourth Shave

Face Shave With the Grain

• Shave Time: 2:48
• Razor not gliding nearly as smoothly across my face as it used to. It almost feels gummy or sticky as it goes across my face. Maybe the strip at the top actually does something? I wonder how the razor would shave without it. Even if it does provide actual lubricant while shaving, it seems like it might be built-in obsolescence when it’s at the end of its life. I would be interested in seeing how just a simple piece of plastic would feel instead of the strip.

Head Shave Against the Grain

• Shave Time: 5:23
• I am really starting to notice the tugging on the back of my head as I shave with the razor.

1/9/21 @ 2302 – Twenty-Fifth Shave

My girlfriend made the comment that she thinks my hair is longer now after 24 hours of not shaving, than it was before. However, I’m not sure how close attention she’s been paying to the hair length the past 25 days. I will admit that It’s possible the razor isn’t shaving as close as it was before. I’ll have to shave with a new blade and do a comparison of the hair length after 24 hours.

Face Shave With the Grain

• Shave Time: 2:46
• The shave is a lot less enjoyable when the razor doesn’t freely glide over the skin as it used to. It does seem like certain spots are getting missed. I missed a spot I don’t normally miss on the left side of my chin that I didn’t notice until I washed off my face and felt the stubble with my hands. I re-shaved that area and the razor shaved it off fine. I need to pay closer attention.

Head Shave Against the Grain

• Shave Time: 6:28
• Razor is still cutting the hair. I observed I had been missing a spot behind my ear at the edge of my hairline. I think it was a matter of me just missing that spot and wasn’t anything due to the blade. A simple pass against the grain took care of the missed spot.
• My skin is starting to break out pretty bad on the back of my head. I think I’m going to switch back to shaving with the grain even though it doesn’t shave the crease as well to see if it helps clear up my skin.