What is the Best Disposable Razor to Use For Shaving?
Disposable razors are convenient. You pick up a pack, you use one a few times, you throw it out, and you repeat the process until you’ve used up the whole pack. Then you go back out and buy another pack of disposable razors.
It sounds simple and inexpensive, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Using disposable razors leads to a subpar shave that’s expensive and generates a ton of waste. Rather than choosing a disposable razor, save face (literally), money, and the planet by choosing disposable blades.
No Disposable Razor is Good To Use For Shaving
Multi-bladed razors should theoretically shave your face quickly and efficiently. If every pass has three or more opportunities to cut the hair, logic suggests that it should. Sometimes, it does. But one pass with a single blade outside of a cartridge would have done the trick. You’ve scraped your skin two additional times for no real reason.
If the shape of the cartridge or the angle of the disposable razor is preventing you from getting a clean cut in a single pass, you’re doubling or tripling up. Think about how many blades you’re running against your skin.
Shaving is always somewhat irritating to the skin, and there’s no way around that. Adding unnecessary irritation in the form of unproductive blade swipes isn’t necessary. A single bladed straight razor will often allow you to get the perfect shave in one or two swipes per spot.
If you have sensitive skin, dry skin, redness, irritation, razor bumps, or razor burn, no disposable razor is going to fix that problem. That’s simply not what they’re designed to do. These are signs that your skin wants help, and the best way to provide that help is to change the way you shave.
They Aren’t Good for Your Wallet or the Environment
The highest rated disposable razor on Amazon is presently listed at $11.32 for a pack of six. When you break down the price, it’s about $1.88 per razor. That doesn’t sound so expensive at first. A little more math is in order to get to the core of the issue.
A disposable razor can be used between three and ten times before it’s too dull to use again. Estimate somewhere in the middle. Assume one disposable will give you six shaves. That means that six shaves costs $1.88.
At the time of publication, the best selling premium quality straight razor blades on Amazon are $6.26 for a pack of 100. Average quality blades are half that price. With a pack of premium blades, each blade costs $0.06 cents.
If you shaved with a new blade every single time you shaved, six blades would cost you $0.36, which is over five times less than a disposable razor. In fact, changing your blade daily would only cost you about $20 a year, which is less than two six packs of disposable razors.
It should also be noted that every disposable razor you use goes to a landfill, where it will take over a thousand years to decompose. If you’re trying to be a little more conscious about what you’re tossing out, using a disposable razor doesn’t make much sense. If you’re skipping straws and bringing your own bags, ditching disposable razors is the next logical step.
Use Disposable Blades, Not Disposable Handles
It’s not hard to find a stainless steel straight razor or safety razor handle for around $15, which is likely the same price that you’re paying for a pack of disposable razors.
Starter kits often come with a package of blades. Depending on how generous the company is, that could be anywhere between 5 and 100 blades. In many cases, you’ll be spending the same amount of money for exponentially more shaves.
Choosing a Quality Razor Handle
Safety razors and straight razors come in a million different varieties and some of them are vastly more expensive than others.
Men tend to see the most expensive versions and promptly declare that there’s no way they’re spending that much on a razor blade handle. All that matters is that the handle feels good in your hand and that it’s made of stainless steel, which will never rust or corrode.
You can choose to splurge or save depending on your personal preferences, but every straight razor or safety razor will give you a perfect shave when you’re using the right technique.
That’s Why Barbers Use Straight Razors
Barbers don’t use disposable razors between clients. They use disposable blades. The handle can be sanitized and a new blade can be inserted between each client. Barbers are focused on providing the best possible shave, and if you’ve ever had a professional shave, you know it rarely compares to a home shave.
The straight razor is only one part of the equation. Barbers use high quality shaving cream and hot lather to make the shave comfortable and smooth. It’s the perfect marriage of tools and techniques that helps you leave the barbershop feeling and looking great.
Duplicating the Barbershop Experience at Home
Pick out your straight razor and let LTHR take care of the rest. Our countertop hot lather machine works exactly the same way your barber’s machine does. In fact, it was designed by a team of master barbers to perfectly duplicate the hot lather experience you’d get at a barbershop.
Use our gentle, fragrance free, moisturizing shaving cream with our hot lather machine for a perfect shave every single time. You won’t believe you ever settled for disposable razors and foam from an aerosol can.
Sources:
Folliculitis barbae and pseudofolliculitis barbae | DermNet
Humans have made 8.3 billion tons of plastic. Where does it all go? | PBS