SAFETY RAZOR

A 'safety razor' is a razor where the skin is protected from all but the very edge of the blade.

These razors are referred to as "Safety" razors as opposed to the straight razor which is oftentimes referred to as a "cutthroat" razor. It is often thought that the safety razor was designed to eliminate the possibility of a user from injuring him/herself with the open blade of the straight razor.

Contents

History

Prior to the first Safety Razor

Invention

Gillette Innovation

World War I

Switch to Stainless Steel

Single Edge razors

Modern safety razors

Cartridges introduced

Gillette Trac II

Good News Disposable Razor

3 Blade Cartridge Introduced

Recent Developments

Difference Between Men and Women's Razors

Availability Today

References

External links

History

Prior to the first Safety Razor

Prior to the invention of the first safety razor most men used a straight razor. These razors are still available today by several different manufacturers.

Invention

The first safety razor was invented in the late 18th Century by a Frenchman, Jean-Jacques Perret, who was inspired by the joiner's plane. An expert on the subject, he also wrote a book called ''Pogonotomy or the Art of Learning to Shave Oneself''. In the late 1820s, a similar razor was made in Sheffield, England and from the 1870s, a single-edge blade, mounted on a hoe-shaped handle was available in Britain and Germany. None of these razors are considered to be true safety razors.
Marketed as "the best available shaving method on the market that won’t cut a user, like straight steel razors," the first American safety razor was released in 1875 by the Kampfe Brothers. The new razor featured a wire skin guard along the razor’s edge. Only one side of the actual blade is used to shave and it must be removed often for sharpening.

Gillette Innovation

In 1901, the American inventor King Camp Gillette, with the assistance of William Nickerson, invented a safety razor with disposable blades. Gillette realized that a profit could be made by selling a razor with inexpensive disposable blades. This has been called the Razor and blades business model, or a "loss leader", and has become a very common practice for a wide variety of products; for example, game console manufacturers will often sell hardware for a loss, then make up for it by collecting a cut of the money made on software sold for the system. To realize his idea, Gillette applied for a patent on December 3, 1901, which was awarded as US patent #775,134 on November 15, 1904.^[1]
In 1903, Gillette manufactured its first razor and began its climb with total sales of 51 razors and 168 blades. In 1904 sales skyrocket with total sales for the new safety razor reaching 90,000 razors and 123,000 blades. Gillette's particular innovation for safety razors with disposable blades beat out competitors. Gillette's thin blade was covered by the razor housing, thus protecting the skin against deep cuts. This enabled the majority of people to safely shave themselves for the first time. Before this, shaving was done often only by family members or barbers. Other razor manufacturers, such as Wilkinson, Ever-Ready and Valet, produced similar safety razors but with resharpenable blades. These used a new version of the old leather strop or a stropping machine which the blade was passed through.

World War I

During World War I, Gillette worked out a deal with the U.S. Armed Forces which provided Gillette safety razors and blades to every enlisted man or officer on their way to Europe as a regular part of their standard issue gear. By the end of the war, some 3.5 million razors and 32 million blades were put into military hands, thereby converting an entire nation of men to the Gillette safety razor.

Switch to Stainless Steel

Gillette manufactured carbon steel blades up until the 1960s. These rusted after the shave and necessitated the user to use a fresh blade for each shave. In 1965 the British company Wilkinson Sword began to sell blades made of stainless-steel which did not rust and could be used repeatedly until blunt. Wilkinson quickly captured the British and European markets and Gillette was forced to switch its production lines to stainless steel to compete. Today all blades are made of stainless-steel. Since Gillette held the patent for the stainless blades, but had not acted on it they were accused of exploiting customers by forcing them to buy the rust prone blade.^[2] Carbon steel blades are still available today if one would like to purchase some.

Single Edge razors

Safety razor is a name given to a wide variety of razors. A less common variety of the safety razor is the single edge razor. This razor is so named because the blades have a single edge, rather than double edges. These razors are no longer being made but are still available worldwide. The most common of the razors were made by Gillette under a former name GEM, the product was referred to as the Techmatic. Some individuals today still prefer the single edge designed razor because it yields an excellent shave and the blades are widely available today in drugstores and hardware stores under the company name Treet. Treet blades are typically used for other cutting operations such as box cutters, but are often used for shaving purposes.

Modern safety razors

Cartridges introduced

Other innovations from the 1960s were the replaceable blade cartridge containing the blade which reduced the risk of the user receiving a cut from the unprotected blades used up until then. These took the form of a cartridge with the blade fixed within a plastic enclosure of the type still in use today. Gillette also manufactured a cartridge with a steel strip which could be wound on to expose a fresh section of new blade.
Until the early 1970s, most safety razors were manufactured to accept a single, disposable razor blade. These blades were manufactured with either one or two sharpened edges, depending upon the design of the razor. This style of razor is no longer manufactured in the United States and is instead made by a small number of companies such as Merkur of Germany and Treet of Pakistan. The blades are still being made today in a wide variety of countries including: Israel, Russia, Korea, Japan and England.
It is often debated why Gillette, ASR and Schick transitioned to the cartridge type razor. One explanation for the shift was that it gave companies control over the blades that were used with their razors.^[3] Before the introduction of cartridges, as many as thirty different companies world wide were making blades that could fit Gillette's razors, thereby engendering intense competition, driving prices and, consequently, profits down. Currently there are as many as twenty companies world wide making double edge blades, including: Dinosaur, Goldcow, Bic, Merkur, Wilkerson, Gilette, Panda, Feather, Derby, Crystal, Astra and many more. However few of the companies who were making blades when Gillette introduced the Trac II razor are believed to still be in business today.
The most popular of the single bladed razors are the Merkur Heavy Duty and the Gillette Super Speed. The Heavy Duty is still made today by Merkur and the Super Speed can be purchased on eBay.

Gillette Trac II

Circa 1971, Gillette introduced the Trac II, the first mass-produced multi-blade razor available in the United States. Rather than accepting standard razor blades, this razor was fitted with a proprietary disposable blade cartridge containing two separate blades. By controlling patents on the Trac II razor, Gillette was able to assure repeat sales of its multi-blade cartridges for use in its razor. This was a natural extension of the razor-and-blades sales philosophy. Gillette was able to sell these cartridges at a higher cost than the single blades, leading to higher profits. Competitors Schick and ASRCO were quick to follow this change, introducing their own multi-blade razor systems.

Good News Disposable Razor

The next innovation came with the introduction of the Good News disposable razor. Instead of being a razor with a disposable blade, the entire razor was manufactured to be disposable. This came to market at a time when American society preferred to discard most things rather than re-use them. Shortly thereafter, Gillette modified the Good News construction to add an aloe strip above the razor, resulting in the Good News Plus. The purported benefit of the aloe strip is to ease any discomfort felt on the face while shaving. Plastic disposable razors and razors with replaceable disposable blade attachments, often with two or three cutting edges (but sometimes with four and as of recently, five cutting edges), are in common use today. Still, the double-edged blade continues to have adherents, for reasons of cost (4-7 shaves from a blade costing as low as US$0.12 vs. as high as US$3.50 for one of the latest multi-blade cartridges), comfort (some find the multi-blade cartridge hard on their skin), and pleasure (those now using the double-edged blades find such shaves, usually done with a shaving brush and shaving cream or soap, to be pleasurable).

3 Blade Cartridge Introduced

Gillette introduced the first triple-blade cartridge razor, the Sensor 3. This further escalated the "arms race" with rival Schick. This competition for the most blades on a safety razor has been often parodied, such as in the mock-advertisement to the right or in a 2004 article in ''The Onion'' titled "Fuck Everthing, We're Doing Five Blades", two years before the first five-blade razor was released.^[4] The Sensor 3 was succeeded by the Mach3 razor, also from Gillette. Schick responded with the Quattro, the first four-blade cartridge razor. These innovations are marketed with the message that they help consumers achieve the best shave as easily as possible. Another impetus for the sale multiple blade cartridges is that they have high profit margins. With manufacturers frequently updating their shaving systems, consumers can become locked into buying their proprietary cartridges.

Recent Developments

The latest razor introduced by Gillette is the Fusion brand shaving system, which utilizes a five-blade cartridge razor with an additional single blade for trimming. An entire line of shaving products were introduced as part of the Fusion brand system.
Gillette has also produced powered variants of the Mach3 (M3Power, M3Power Nitro) and Fusion (Fusion Power and Fusion Power Phantom) razors. These razors accept a single AAA battery which is used to produce vibration in the razor. This action, as advertised by Gillette, was intended to raise hair up and away from the skin prior to being cut. These claims were ruled in court as "unsubstantiated and inaccurate."^[5] Schick also offers a powered version of their Quattro product called the Schick Quattro Power.

Difference Between Men and Women's Razors

Razors are generally marketed in men's and women's versions; the exact difference between the two varies from color only for most disposable razors to completely different design principles. By and large, men's and women's razor blades and disposable razors are interchangeable; however, there is sometimes a difference in ergonomics; women's razors either have a longer handle for longer reach or a paddle-shaped handle to allow for a lengthwise grip. Specialized handle designs also exist, for shaving such areas as the head or the bikini line.

Availability Today

There are many variations on these razors produced by several different manufacturers. Traditional single-blade safety razors are still in production and use around the world. One of the best known current manufacturers is DOVO Solingen. Although they are no longer manufactured in the United States, single blade razors new and old are actively traded through auction sites and some shavers prefer them. Others still prefer the older straight razor which some think produces the best shave possible although the items that one will need to purchase tend to be very expensive and typically have the steepest learning curve. These razors are often referred to as "cutthroat" razors, a claim that those who use them debate.
Single-blade safety razors come in a variety of configurations including the classic sandwich type, adjustable and the Twist to Open (TTO) model. The sandwich type has a head that may be unscrewed from the body of the razor and disassembled for inserting a new blade. Adjustables may also be sandwich type, but typically have a ring below the head of the razor that may be moved up or down to customize the razor's sharpness. TTO razors require the user to twist a nob at the bottom to open butterfly doors where the blade is. The most popular TTO razor is the Gillette Super Speed. Safety razor blades are available from a variety of makers through out the globe from American Safety Razor Company (ASRCO), Merkur, Derby, Feather, Dorco, Treet and Gillette.

References

1. Patent for Safety Razor Issued November 15, 1904
2. The Blade Battle
3. ""Why Straight Razors in the 21st Century?"
4. "Gilette unveils 5-bladed razor," CNNMoney.com. September 14, 2005.
5. Judge rules Gillette M3Power ads are false

External links

★ Comprehensive guide to shaving with a safety razor

★ Beginning safety-razor shaving kit

★ Safety Razor Shaving