Shave slim and save money: safety razor vs cartridge razor

How can you save a lot of money on razor blades?

Customers often ask us: "Those 3- or 5-blade cartridge razor blades from Gillette cost an insane amount of money. Can't it be cheaper?" It also often happens that customers call us and say: "Dear sir, I'm completely fed up! I'm paying through the nose for those way too expensive razor blades at the supermarket. You're being "screwed" (excuse the word) right in front of you!" It must indeed be said: "Those razor blades cost a lot of money." For a pack with 4 blades of Gillette Mach3 or Fusion, you pay on average more than €4.00 each. The Boldking blades also cost €3.00 each. If you choose a Boldking subscription, they are a bit cheaper, namely €2.50/1. The double edge razor blades for the safety razor cost on average €0.35 each.

But how much will you save annually or during your beard and shaving life? We let our gray brain cells work for a moment and calculated it for you.

How often can you shave with one blade?

In the calculation below, we of course assume some average values and assumptions. The number of shaves per blade is an important assumption. From our own experience, we know that you can use a double edge blade on average 5 times. Again, it is an average. The cheap DE blades from the Turkish Derby are much less sharp after 1 or 2 uses. With the more expensive blades from Personna or Feather, you can easily shave well 7 times. How often you can use a blade also depends on the type of beard. A razor blade has little trouble with a thin and fluffy stubble beard. On the other hand, the same blade may be dull after a few shaves if it has to cut through very tough beard stubble.

How often can you shave with a Mach3 or Fusion razor blade from Gillette? We did some research. On Gillette's website, it says you can easily use a blade for up to a month. Of course, this is a worthless and meaningless statement to the question: "How often can you shave with their blades?" What we often hear from our customers is that you can use a Gillette or Wilkinson blade about 7 times. On various forums and blogs, you read that you can shave 7 to 10 times with the cartridge blade. For our calculation, we assume 9 shaves.

The number of shaves per week also varies per person. Most men shave during the week and not always on the weekend. If you have light beard growth, you don't need to shave every day either. For our calculation, we assume 3 shaves per week.

Cost savings safety razor vs cartridge razor

Regarding the purchase price of a double edge blade, we assume the average prices on our webshop: € 0.35 per blade. The retail prices of a cartridge with 8 Gillette Mach3 and 8 Fusion ProGlide blades are respectively € 24.99 and € 39.99. The average purchase price per blade is € 4.06. At the drugstore, you often see nice offers for Gillette or Wilkinson blades. For our calculation, we use the regular retail prices. Well, you have to assume something.

Below are the assumptions for our calculation of costs and savings:

1. Age: 18 through 75 years
2. Number of years a man shaves: 57 years
3. Average number of shaves per week: 3
4. Average number of shaves per cartridge razor blade: 9
5. Average number of shaves per double edge razor blade: 5
6. Retail price cartridge razor blade Gillette Mach3 and Fusion Proglide: € 3.12 and € 5.00 each
7. Average retail price double edge razor blade: € 0.35 each