# Upping my shaving game
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-my-shaving-game/1028521
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [March 17, 2026, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-my-shaving-game/1028521 "2026-03-17T14:41:22Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2026, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-my-shaving-game/1028521/41 "2026-03-18T15:17:37Z")
Costco has a good price on the cartridges if you’re a member.
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### Author:  [@Dark\_Sponge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Sponge)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2026, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-my-shaving-game/1028521/42 "2026-03-18T15:24:20Z")
I tried using what I was told were some nice japanese blades with my great-grandfather’s safety razor for around a year, mostly because I thought it was cool.
They worked well and were stupidly cheap, but I had to be more careful and go slower than with my Mach3 razor. And even with being careful I would nick myself once in a while.
I eventually switched back to the Mach3 because I can drag it mindlessly over my face while half-awake without fear of cutting myself.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2026, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-my-shaving-game/1028521/43 "2026-03-18T15:26:53Z")
That’s what I need, given my klutziness.
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### Author:  [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2026, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-my-shaving-game/1028521/44 "2026-03-18T15:28:14Z")
> [@Dark\_Sponge](#):
>
> I eventually switched back to the Mach3 because I can drag it mindlessly over my face while half-awake without fear of cutting myself.
Yep! I don’t think I’ve ever nicked myself in a quarter century of using them. From time to time I think about trying a safety razor like my dad used, then I think “why?”. I don’t need pieces of TP stuck to my face.
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### Author:  [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2026, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-my-shaving-game/1028521/45 "2026-03-18T16:16:52Z")
I started shaving well before the Gillette Trac 2 came along. For quite awhile now, I’ve been using Walmart’s cheap 3-blade disposables, and I think I get about one nick per decade.
Of course, I’ve had a beard now since 1993, so I only shave my neck and the underside of my jaw, but still: even the cheapo razors are miles better than the ‘safety razors’ that were available when I started shaving, so I’ve never felt much need to upgrade any further.
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### Author:  [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2026, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-my-shaving-game/1028521/46 "2026-03-18T16:38:02Z")
Not sure I appreciate the difference. It restores the blades to the condition when first used, provided you do not enough force when scraping to bend and weaken the joint. I would not do it if I had to “pay with my profile”. It restores a good quality shave for a long time. This is what barbers do - sharpen or hone the blade.
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### Author:  [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2026, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-my-shaving-game/1028521/47 "2026-03-18T16:52:25Z")
Sharpening involves grinding metal to create a sharp edge. Honing realigns the edge without removing metal. I don’t see any way for a pane of glass to remove metal, so presumably this hones the edges of the blades to realign them.
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### Author:  [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2026, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-my-shaving-game/1028521/48 "2026-03-18T17:06:33Z")
> [@wguy123](#):
>
> But in those 25 years of using the Gillette Mach 3 for the rest of my face, I’ve never had an accidental cut. Are others having this issue with razors like the Gillette 3 and 5 blade models?
Ocassionally with the Mach 3 I’ve had nicks, but it’s vanishingly rare (and can say the same for safeties). A lot of it depends on facial geometry and skin resiliency.
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### Author:  [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2026, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-my-shaving-game/1028521/49 "2026-03-18T17:23:00Z")
> [@Telemark](#):
>
> I don’t see any way for a pane of glass to remove metal
I’d call it a polish but I think glass and sand is abrasive to blade steel. The blades first dull mostly by contact with skin and hair.
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### Author:  [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)
#### Post date: [March 20, 2026, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-my-shaving-game/1028521/50 "2026-03-20T00:11:23Z")
On a related note, is anyone here using **pumice stones** for depilating?
Vocabulary note: to me, sharpening is something you do with a whetstone. Honing (re-aligning the blade) is what you do with a steel. What you do with leather is stropping. Sharpening, on a whetstone, also has the effect of honing, and honing also has the effect of sharpening and stropping.
Wiping a blade on glass has the effect of removing water (critically important to staying sharp) and stropping. Drying and stropping are the two traditional things to do to a razor blade, because they are the important things. Sharpening and honing every year or month or day depending on how many people you shave, and if you’ve let the edge corrode.
Honing is more important for kitchen knives than it is for razor blades, because kitchen knives are used to cut, not to shave.
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### Author:  [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2026, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-my-shaving-game/1028521/51 "2026-03-21T10:39:22Z")
> [@Dark\_Sponge](#):
>
> I eventually switched back to the Mach3 because I can drag it mindlessly over my face while half-awake without fear of cutting myself.
I often cut myself a little even with the Mach3, but I have a thin skin, literally. I’d probably get gushers with a more primitive shaving device.
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### Author:  [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2026, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-my-shaving-game/1028521/52 "2026-03-21T10:52:35Z")
While travelling, I had to use a shared washroom, and it was weird seeing guys struggling to get hair out of their razors with just water and…banging the razor against the sink.
I’ve always used a soft toothbrush (I wrap tape around the handle and store it with my razors so it’s clear it’s not for teeth), which works for me and doesn’t seem to affect the lifetime of the blade. Seemed obvious to me.
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### Author:  [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2026, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-my-shaving-game/1028521/53 "2026-03-21T13:47:26Z")
Carrying extra accessories seems “obvious”? At that point you are better off with the King Gillette-type double-edged safety razor.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2026, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-my-shaving-game/1028521/54 "2026-03-21T14:00:15Z")
I just run the razor under running water to remove any stray hairs (which are few).
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### Author:  [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2026, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-my-shaving-game/1028521/55 "2026-03-21T15:05:10Z")
> [@DPRK](#):
>
> Carrying extra accessories seems “obvious”?
It’s not extra, it’s the things I use for shaving. Is the shaving foam an extra accessory?
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### Author:  [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2026, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-my-shaving-game/1028521/56 "2026-03-21T18:20:07Z")
> [@Mijin](#):
>
> Is the shaving foam an extra accessory?
In addition to the single bar of hard soap that you already use on your body and hair? You tell me 🙂
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### Author:  [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2026, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-my-shaving-game/1028521/57 "2026-03-22T00:28:41Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> I just run the razor under running water to remove any stray hairs (which are few).
Same. I can’t understand how hair is getting jammed in the razor. Maybe the razor in question is not my beloved Mach3 and jams up.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2026, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-my-shaving-game/1028521/58 "2026-03-22T00:43:32Z")
I shave daily, so any hairs caught in the razor are going to be tiny, but perhaps those struggling with stuck hairs are shaving less often?
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### Author:  [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2026, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-my-shaving-game/1028521/59 "2026-03-22T00:44:40Z")
I shave twice per week, so not real short. It’s still easy to flush out the hair. I do flush often, but I’ve never had it jam up the blades.
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### Author:  [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)
#### Post date: [March 22, 2026, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upping-my-shaving-game/1028521/60 "2026-03-22T01:18:06Z")
Hmm interesting. Yes I don’t shave that often; I use clippers most days and wet shave only now and then.
But funny that I saw other guys struggling with the hair between blades thing.
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