A far shave, revisited

This is an update of a post I did in June of 2016.   Plastic-free July seems like a great time to bring it back, sharper than ever!

In 2012, eight years ago, I bought myself a safety razor. Now, 2800 days later, what do I think of this little aspect of my life?

Basically, I'm a fan.

There are some very minor downsides to using this little razor, I admit. The main ones are

• armpits. It's hard to get into that cup-shaped area without nicking myself. I admit I adjust mainly by not shaving my armpits close during the winter, and by being extra careful for that area during the summer.
• traveling. I can't take this Very Dangerous Object in my carry-on luggage, so I use a disposable razor when I'm on the road (or, rather, in the air).

But aside from that, this little baby has been smooth sailing (or smooth shaving). Just as with my former plastic-transformer-style razors, I use soap or maybe a bit of coconut oil instead of shaving cream, and I seem to be able to get a good close shave on my legs and chin. It's easy to use, and easy to change blades when I need to (I'm tossing all my old blades in that paper coffee cup instead of into the regular trash can, for safety considerations). I probably change blades slightly more often than I used to change disposable razors (or multi-cartridge heads), mostly because I didn't mind letting my old multi-blade razors get dull to the point of almost getting rusty, and I don't do rusty with the safety razor.

(In fact, because I'm so not-picky about the plastic razors, when I need a "new" travel shave-kit, I mostly just snag a razor that one of my kids or my husband is mostly done with, and give it a bit of extra life before it heads dump-ward).

Cost-wise, I'm so far ahead it's hard to calculate. In 2012, the metal razor together with 25 blades cost me about $13. Since then, I recently bought an additional box of 100 blades for something like $10, and I figure that box will last me many more years. 

 



And trash? Well, someday, I'll have a paper-cup-worth of razor blades to recycle at a scrap metal dealer. And every once in a while, when I switch blades, I have a paper wrapper (smaller than a gum wrapper) that comes wrapped around the new blade. But I have no plastic packaging or even plastic razors that I'm tossing (aside from a very occasional travel razor); that makes me happy.

When I originally bought this razor, I wrote, 

I just switched over to using a metal razor. On this subject, I'm like a reformed smoker who is completely delighted with the lower cost and reduced amount of toxins/plastic. Razor companies, I've got your corporate number! I'm not playing your multi-blade, multi-dollar game any more!! Hah! Perhaps I am too giddy to be trusted on how well this is actually working. (But as far as I'm concerned: score!)

I'm perhaps less giddy, but still just as content, nowadays.