Disposable Razors = Rip Off

darrenk1q

I have been using a safety razor I bought at Boots for the last month and have never had a better shave. It cost 3.69 and the blades (I think) cost 2.50 for 10.

Here is an article I came across earlier:

Want to know the modern history of the razor blade? Originally, it was just a straight razor. This was moderately difficult to make, particular on a mass produced level. This was the reason most just went to barbers.

The Gillette revolutionized the world with the safety razor. This was a razor that was quick and easy to use, and it was easy to produce too. It was just a piece of molded metal, but Gillette was the only one who made the blades. The blade itself was considered a way to continually get income for the company, since a straight razor is really just a one time purchase.

So Gillette had this amazing innovation: a razor that was easier, safer, and faster to use and, more importantly to Gillette, something that would keep producing income. The safety razor itself was still expensive, and each blade was cheap, so the consumer was fine with initial purchase.

Then came problems! Others started to produce the blades. You see, the very thing that made a safety blade so very good was that it was easy to make. But this meant that it had a very basic way to hold blades. This meant that anyone could make blades, because it was hard to patent something so basic.

In response, Gillette came up with a new solution: make the razor holder the cheap thing, and with a complicated holder to which the razor is attached. This meant the razor and holder could be patented, and they could hold onto the profit margin. Nobody could make third party razors to cut into Gillette's profits. Additionally, since the holder was now easy to make, and the razors were much more complicated, the razors became the more expensive item. This was good to Gillette, cause the consumer buys many more razor blades than he does holders, so more profit!

But, as is the way of capitalism, other companies appeared on the market. Schick, for example, came along to compete. Sure, they didn't just make razor blades that fit in the Gillette product, because that was now patent protected, but the holder was cheap, so they made their own contraption. Gillette now had competition offering a comparable product. What were they to do??

Make a "better" blade, of course. In order to preserve their market share, they'd create a new, more expensive razor blade in order to lure consumers. So two blades were on the razor, to get the closest shave possible.

Of course Schick followed suit, and we go to 5 blades we see today.

So you see...5 blades isn't about a "better shave." It's about profit for companies. The consumer has been duped to believe that it's so much better, but the history of profit pursuit by Gillette is really what drove these new products...not any improvement to the shave.

This is why the safety razor is the best option. It truly is as good a shave as the new products. It is MUCH cheaper. And it has a lot less irritation and possibility for ingrown hairs. A close shave is to the skin, and the single blade accomplishes this very well. But while a Fusion does "lift" to a degree, the hair settles back under the skin, which adds to irritation.

darrenk1q

Also the disposable razors are made out of cheap steel. They are meant to be replaced often because they are made out of inferior metal.

Sorry if this has been posted before....I did a search but couldn't find anything.

McKneff

Gillette disposable razors (with two blades in each razor) are in packets of 10 or 12 are in the pound shop.

darrenk1q

That's fine if you can get them cheap (even though their crap) but I would never pay for the other normal overpriced rubbish again.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

And so, I can get something really, really cheap that will cut me to ribbons and leave me looking like a scalded chicken? Sorry, I agree that most of this is marketing, but razors have improved over the years, whatever you may feel.