Safety razor

Last updated

Safety razor
Parker-76R Safety Razor.jpg
Double-edge safety razor and blade
Quattro Titanium Energy.jpg
Cartridge safety razor
Classification Personal grooming device
Types
  • single-edge safety razor
  • double-edge safety razor
  • cartridge razor
  • disposable razor
Used with Shaving cream, shaving brush, shaving soap
Inventor
Related Electric shaver, Straight razor

A safety razor is a shaving implement with a protective device positioned between the edge of the blade and the skin. The initial purpose of these protective devices was to reduce the level of skill needed for injury-free shaving, thereby reducing the reliance on professional barbers.

Contents

Protective devices for razors have existed since at least the 1700s: a circa 1762 invention by French cutler Jean-Jacques Perret added a protective guard to a regular straight razor. [1] The first known occurrence of the term "safety razor" is found in a patent from 1880 for a razor in the basic contemporary configuration with a handle in which a removable blade is placed (although this form predated the patent). [2] [3]

Safety razors were popularized in the 1900s by King Camp Gillette's invention, the double-edge safety razor. While other safety razors of the time used blades that required stropping before use and after a time had to be honed by a cutler, Gillette's razor used a disposable blade with two sharpened edges. Gillette's invention became the predominant style of razor during and after the First World War, when the U.S. Army began issuing Gillette shaving kits to its servicemen. [4] [5]

Since their introduction in the 1970s, cartridge razors and disposable razors – where the blades are embedded in plastic – have become the predominant types of safety razors. [6] In 2010, Procter & Gamble stated that almost a billion men were shaving with double-edge razors. [7]

History

Early designs

The first step towards a safer-to-use razor was the guard razor – also called a straight safety razor – which added a protective guard to a regular straight razor. The first such razor was most likely invented by French cutler Jean-Jacques Perret circa 1762. [1] The invention was inspired by the joiner's plane and was essentially a straight razor with its blade surrounded by a wooden sleeve. [8] The earliest razor guards had comb-like teeth and could only be attached to one side of a razor; a reversible guard was one of the first improvements made to guard razors. [1]

The basic form of a razor, "the cutting blade of which is at right angles with the handle, and resembles somewhat the form of a common hoe", was first described in a patent application in 1847 by William S. Henson. This also covered a "comb tooth guard or protector" which could be attached both to the hoe form and to a conventional straight razor. [8]

The first attested use of the term "safety razor" is in a patent application for "new and useful improvements in Safety-Razors", filed in May 1880 by Frederic and Otto Kampfe of Brooklyn, New York, and issued the following month. This differed from the Henson design in distancing the blade from the handle by interposing "a hollow metallic blade-holder having a preferably removable handle and a flat plate in front, to which the blade is attached by clips and a pivoted catch, said plate having bars or teeth at its lower edge, and the lower plate having an opening, for the purpose set forth", which is to "insure a smooth bearing for the plate upon the skin, while the teeth or bars will yield sufficiently to allow the razor to sever the hair without danger of cutting the skin." [2] [3] The Kampfe Brothers produced razors under their own name following the 1880 patent and improved the design in a series of subsequent patents. These models were manufactured under the "Star Safety Razor" brand.

A third pivotal innovation was a safety razor using a disposable double-edge blade for which King Camp Gillette submitted a patent application in 1901 and was granted in 1904. [9] The Gillette Safety Razor Company was awarded a contract to supply the American troops in World War I with double-edge safety razors as part of their standard field kits (delivering a total of 3.5 million razors and 32 million blades for them). The returning soldiers were permitted to keep that part of their equipment and therefore retained their new shaving habits. The subsequent consumer demand for replacement blades put the shaving industry on course toward its present form with Gillette as a dominant force. [5] Prior to the introduction of the disposable blade, users of safety razors still needed to strop and hone the edges of their blades. These are not trivial skills (honing frequently being left to a professional) and remained a barrier to the ubiquitous adopting of the "be your own barber" ideal. [10]

Single-edge razors

A Gem Micromatic single-edge razor and a packet of blades Vintage Gem Micromatic Safety Razor By The American Safety Razor Corporation, Single-Edge Blade, Twist-To-Open (TTO), Made In USA (28725926833).jpg
A Gem Micromatic single-edge razor and a packet of blades

The first safety razors used a single-edge blade that was essentially a 4 cm (1.6 in) long segment of a straight razor. A flat blade that could be used alternately with this "wedge" was first illustrated in a patent issued in 1878, serving as a close prototype for the single-edge blade in its present form. New single-edge razors were developed and used side by side with double-edge razors for decades. The largest manufacturers were the American Safety Razor Company with its "Ever-Ready" series, and the Gem Cutlery Company with its "Gem" models. Although these brands of single-edge razors are no longer in production, they are readily available in antique trade, and compatible modern designs are being made. Blades for them are still being manufactured both for shaving and technical purposes.

A second popular single-edge design is the "Injector" razor developed and placed on the market by Schick Razors in the 1920s. This uses narrow blades stored in an injector device with which they are inserted directly into the razor, so that the user never needs to handle the blade. [11] The injector blade was the first to depart from the rectangular dimensions shared by the wedge, standard single-edge, and double-edge blades. The injector, itself, was also the first device intended to reduce the risk of injury from handling blades. The Gillette blade dispenser released in 1947 had the same purpose. [12] The narrow injector blade, as well as the form of the injector razor, also strongly influenced the corresponding details of the subsequently developed cartridge razors. Both injector blades and injector safety razors are still available on the market, from antique stock as well as modern manufacture. The injector blades have also inspired a variety of specialised blades for professional barber use, some of which have been re-adopted for shaving by modern designs.

Until the 1960s, razor blades were made of carbon steel. These were extremely prone to rusting and forced users to change blades frequently. In 1962, [13] [14] the British company Wilkinson Sword began to sell blades made of stainless steel, whose edge did not corrode nearly so quickly and could be used far longer. Wilkinson quickly captured U.S., British and European markets. As a result, American Safety Razor, Gillette and Schick were driven to produce stainless steel blades to compete. Today, almost all razor blades are stainless steel, although carbon steel blades remain in limited production for lower income markets. Because Gillette held a patent on stainless blades but had not acted on it, the company was accused of exploiting customers by forcing them to buy the rust-prone blade. [15]

The risk of injury from handling razor blades was further reduced in 1970 when Wilkinson released its "Bonded Shaving System", which embedded a single blade in a disposable polymer plastic cartridge. A flurry of competing models soon followed with everything from one to six blades, with many cartridge blade razors also having disposable handles. Cartridge blade razors are sometimes considered to be a generic category of their own and not a variety of safety razor. [16] [17] The similarities between single-edge cartridge blade razors and the classic injector razor do, however, provide equal justification for treating both categories contiguously.

In 1974, Bic introduced the disposable razor. Instead of being a razor with a disposable blade, the entire razor was manufactured to be disposable. Gillette's response was the Good News disposable razor which was launched on the US market in 1976 before the Bic disposable was made available on that market. [18] 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.

In direct response to Wilkinson's Bonded cartridge, during the following year Gillette introduced the twin-blade Trac II. They claimed that research showed the tandem action of the two blades to give a closer shave than a single blade, because of a "hysteresis" effect. In addition to the cutting action of the first blade, it is also supposed to pull the hair out of the follicle into which it does not fully retract before the second blade cuts it further. The extent to which this is of practical consequence has, however, been questioned. [19]

Recent changes

Gillette introduced the first triple-blade cartridge razor, the Mach3, in 1998, and later upgraded the Sensor cartridge to the Sensor3 by adding a third blade. Schick/Wilkinson responded to the Mach3 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 of multiple-blade cartridges is that they have high profit margins. [20] With manufacturers frequently updating their shaving systems, consumers can become locked into buying their proprietary cartridges, for as long as the manufacturer continues to make them. Subsequent to introducing the higher-priced Mach3 in 1998, Gillette's blade sales realized a 50% increase, and profits increased in an otherwise mature market. [20]

Gillette Fusion five-blade cartridge Gillette Fusion razor cartridge.jpg
Gillette Fusion five-blade cartridge

The marketing of increasing numbers of blades in a cartridge has been parodied since the 1970s. The debut episode of Saturday Night Live in 1975 included a parody advertisement for the Triple Trac Razor, shortly after the first two-blade cartridge for men's razors was advertised. Mad magazine announced the "Trac 76", arranged as a chain of cartridges with a handle on each end. [21] In the early 1990s, the (Australian) Late Show skitted a "Gillette 3000" with 16 blades and 75 lubricating strips as arrived at by working in conjunction with the help of NASA scientists - "The first blade distracts the hair...". The 16 January 1999 episode of Mad TV ran a parody commercial advertising the "Spishak Mach 20" with blades that variously "cut(s) away that pesky second layer of skin" and "gently smooth(s) out the jawbone" culminating in a blade that "destroys the part of the brain responsible for hair growth." [22] In 2004, a satirical article in The Onion entitled "Fuck Everything, We're Doing Five Blades" predicted the release of five-blade cartridges, [23] two years before their commercial introduction. [24] South Korean manufacturer Dorco released their own six-blade cartridge in 2012, [25] and later released a seven-blade cartridge.

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 was purported to raise hair up and away from the skin prior to being cut. These claims were ruled in an American court as "unsubstantiated and inaccurate". [26]

Design

A Merkur 38C double-edge safety razor with a package of platinum stainless blades Merkur 38c.jpg
A Merkur 38C double-edge safety razor with a package of platinum stainless blades

Safety razors originally had an edge protected by a comb patterned on various types of protective guards that had been affixed to open-blade straight razors during the preceding decades. [27]

Lifespan

To maintain their cutting action, razor blades can be stropped using an old strip of denim. Twinplex also sold a blade stropper which was used to extend the life of vintage carbon steel blades. [28]

Safety razor blades are usually made of razor steel which is a low chromium stainless steel which can be made extremely sharp, but corrodes relatively easily. Safety razor blade life may be extended by drying the blades after use. [29] Salts from human skin also tend to corrode the blades, but washing and carefully drying them can greatly extend their life. [30]

Disposable safety razor blades can be sharpened using various methods. There are commercial devices intended for this duty (Razormate, RazorPit, Blade Buddy, etc.). [31]

Variants

Double-edged razors

A three-piece British 'knockout' safety razor made from Bakelite and steel, probably from between 1930s-1950s Knockout-Bakelite-Rz.png
A three-piece British 'knockout' safety razor made from Bakelite and steel, probably from between 1930s–1950s

Double-edge (DE) safety razors remain a popular alternative to proprietary cartridge razors, and usually offer significantly lower total cost of ownership since they are not marketed under the "razor and blades business model". Double-edge razors are still designed and produced in many countries, and in 2010, Procter & Gamble estimated that almost a billion men were shaving with double-edge razors. [7] Better known manufacturers include Edwin Jagger, Feather, iKon, Lord, Mühle, Merkur, and Weishi, with several of them producing razors that are marketed under other brands. Often different models of razors within a brand share the same razor-head designs, differing primarily in the color, length, texture, material(s), and weight of the handles. [32] Three-piece razors generally have interchangeable handles, and some companies specialize in manufacturing custom or high-end replacement handles. The butterfly safety razor utilizes a twist-to-open mechanism head to make changing the blade easy and convenient. Variations in razor head designs include straight safety bar (SB), open comb (OC)(toothed) bar, [33] adjustable razors, and slant bar razors. The slant bar was a common design in Germany in which the blade is slightly angled and curved along its length to make for a slicing action and a more rigid cutting edge.

A primary functional difference between double-edge razors and modern cartridge razors is that DE razor heads come in a wide array of aggression levels (where aggression is commonly defined as being less protection from the blade).[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shaving</span> Removal of hair with a razor or others bladed implement

Shaving is the removal of hair, by using a razor or any other kind of bladed implement, to slice it down—to the level of the skin or otherwise. Shaving is most commonly practiced by men to remove their facial hair and by women to remove their leg and underarm hair. A man is called clean-shaven if he has had his beard entirely removed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King C. Gillette</span> American entrepreneur (1855–1932)

King Camp Gillette was an American businessman who invented a bestselling safety razor. Gillette's innovation was the thin, inexpensive, disposable blade of stamped steel. Gillette is often erroneously credited with inventing the so-called razor and blades business model in which razors are sold cheaply to increase the market for blades. However, Gillette Safety Razor Company adopted the business model from its competitors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scalpel</span> Sharp bladed instrument used for surgery

A scalpel, lancet, or bistoury is a small and extremely sharp bladed instrument used for surgery, anatomical dissection, podiatry and various handicrafts. A lancet is a double-edged scalpel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Razor</span> Device to remove body hair

A razor is a bladed tool primarily used in the removal of body hair through the act of shaving. Kinds of razors include straight razors, safety razors, disposable razors, and electric razors.

Gillette is an American brand of safety razors and other personal care products including shaving supplies, owned by the multi-national corporation Procter & Gamble (P&G). Based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, it was owned by The Gillette Company, a supplier of products under various brands until that company merged into P&G in 2005. The Gillette Company was founded by King C. Gillette in 1901 as a safety razor manufacturer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Razor strop</span> Device for straightening and polishing blades

A razor strop or simply a strop is a flexible strip of leather, canvas, denim fabric, balsa wood, or other soft material, used to straighten and polish the blade of a straight razor, a knife, or a woodworking tool such as a chisel. In many cases stropping re-aligns parts of the blade edge that have been bent out of alignment. In other cases, especially when abrasive polishing compound is used, stropping may remove a small amount of metal. Stropping can also burnish the blade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electric shaver</span> Razor with an electrically powered rotating or oscillating blade

An electric shaver is a razor with an electrically powered rotating or oscillating blade. The electric shaver usually does not require the use of shaving cream, soap, or water. The razor may be powered by a small DC motor, which is either powered by batteries or mains electricity. Many modern ones are powered using rechargeable batteries. Alternatively, an electro-mechanical oscillator driven by an AC-energized solenoid may be used. Some very early mechanical shavers had no electric motor and had to be powered by hand, for example by pulling a cord to drive a flywheel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilkinson Sword</span> British safety razor brand

Wilkinson Sword is a British brand selling razors and other personal care products, currently owned by Edgewell Personal Care. The company was founded as a manufacturer of guns made in Shotley Bridge in County Durham, by Henry Nock in London in 1772.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Straight razor</span> Knife used to remove body hair

A straight razor is a razor with a blade that can fold into its handle. They are also called open razors and cut-throat razors. The predecessors of the modern straight razors include bronze razors, with cutting edges and fixed handles, produced by craftsmen from Ancient Egypt during the New Kingdom. Solid gold and copper razors were also found in Ancient Egyptian tombs dating back to the 4th millennium BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Samuel Henson</span> British-born aviation pioneer, engineer and inventor

William Samuel Henson was a British-born pre-Wright brothers aviation pioneer, engineer and inventor. He is best known for his work on the aerial steam carriage alongside John Stringfellow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schick (razors)</span> American personal care brand

Schick is an American brand of personal care products and safety razors which was founded in 1926 by Jacob Schick. It is currently owned by Edgewell Personal Care.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gillette Mach3</span> Line of razors produced by Gillette

The Gillette Mach3 is a line of razors produced by Gillette.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knife sharpening</span> Process of grinding a knife against a hard surface

Knife sharpening is the process of making a knife or similar tool sharp by grinding against a hard, rough surface, typically a stone, or a flexible surface with hard particles, such as sandpaper. Additionally, a leather razor strop, or strop, is often used to straighten and polish an edge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rolls Razor</span> British manufacturer

Rolls Razor Limited was a British company known first for its manufacture of a sophisticated safety-razor and later, under new ownership, an "affordable" twin-tub washing machine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Jacques Gaisman</span> American philanthropist and inventor

Henry Jacques ("Jack") Gaisman was an American inventor and philanthropist, who patented a lucrative form of safety razor, the autographic camera, and over one thousand other ideas which benefited common items such as swivel chairs, men's belts and carburetors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thiers Issard</span> French cutlery manufacturer

Thiers Issard or Thiers Issard Sabatier is a French cutlery manufacturer; they are one of a number of companies using the Sabatier name. It exports a wide range of knives and straight razors to approximately thirty countries. They are viewed as one of the top cutlery firms in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Razor and blades model</span> Business model

The razor and blades business model is a business model in which one item is sold at a low price in order to increase sales of a complementary good, such as consumable supplies. It is different from loss leader marketing and product sample marketing, which do not depend on complementary products or services. Common examples of the razor and blades model include inkjet printers whose ink cartridges are significantly marked up in price, coffee machines that use single-use coffee pods, electric toothbrushes, and video game consoles which require additional purchases to obtain accessories and software not included in the original package.

The Segal Lock and Hardware Company of Manhattan, New York, was a leading manufacturer of hardware merchandise and razor blades in the 1920s and 1930s. Established in Connecticut and Manhattan, the firm relocated to Brooklyn, New York, in the mid-1920s. The Segal Safety Razor Corporation was a subsidiary of the Segal Lock and Hardware Company. The business was at first known as the Burglar-Proof Lock Company.

American Safety Razor Company is a personal care brand founded in 1906 by a merger of the Gem Cutlery Company and Ever-Ready. It is a principal competitor to Gillette, with which it shared a name from 1901 to 1904, when the latter renamed for its founder, King C. Gillette. It produces a range of personal care, medical and industrial blades with manufacturing operations in the Czech Republic, Germany, Israel, Mexico and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Emery Nickerson</span> American inventor

William Emery Nickerson was an American engineer and inventor. He worked with King C. Gillette at the start of the Gillette Company and was later elected to Gillette's board of directors. Nickerson has been called "the mechanical genius behind the safety razor," and received patents for hardening and sharpening the blades.

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 Waits 2014, page 5 of the introduction.
  2. 1 2 USpatent 228904,Kampfe, Frederic&Kampfe, Otto F.,"Safety-Razor",issued 15 June 1880
  3. 1 2 Waits 2014, page 6 of the introduction.
  4. ↑ McKibben 1998, p. 5-6.
  5. 1 2 McKibben 1998, p. 18-22.
  6. ↑ Brown, Lew G.; Hart, Jennifer M. (1992). "Gillette and the Men's Wet-Shaving Market" (PDF). The Case Research Journal. North American Case Research Association. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 August 2020. Retrieved 17 November 2019– via The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka.
  7. 1 2 "Gillette Guard factsheet" (PDF). Procter & Gamble. 1 October 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 November 2010.
  8. 1 2 Waits 2013, chapter one: The Cutler and the Lacemaker.
  9. ↑ USpatent 775134,King C. Gillette,"Razor",issued 1904-November-15
  10. ↑ Waits 2013, p. 264.
  11. ↑ "Inject Into Razor From Metal Clip" Popular Mechanics, October 1934". Hearst Magazines. October 1934. Archived from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  12. ↑ Krumholtz, Phillip L. (1992). The Complete Gillette Collector's Handbook. p. 457. ISBN   0-9620987-2-8.
  13. ↑ "About Us". Wilkinson Sword UK. Archived from the original on 13 May 2017. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  14. ↑ McKibben 1998, p. 58.
  15. ↑ "The Blade Battle". Time . 29 January 1965. Archived from the original on 21 December 2007. Retrieved 17 February 2007.
  16. ↑ "How to Use Your Double-Edge Razor". Classic Shaving. Archived from the original on 26 September 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  17. ↑ Greenberg, Corey (30 January 2005). "How to get that perfect shave". Today. MSNBC. Archived from the original on 10 January 2010.
  18. ↑ McKibben 1998, p. 98.
  19. ↑ Adams, Cecil (25 November 1983). "Are twin-blade razors better than single-blade ones?". The Straight Dope. Archived from the original on 31 July 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  20. 1 2 "Gillette's Five-Blade Wonder". BusinessWeek. 15 September 2005. Archived from the original on 11 May 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
  21. ↑ "Stark Shaving Mad Dept". Wired. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  22. ↑ "MadTV Razor Spishak". Comedy Central (via YouTube). Archived from the original on 30 November 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  23. ↑ Kilts, James M. (18 February 2004). "Fuck Everything, We're Doing Five Blades". The Onion . Archived from the original on 25 April 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  24. ↑ "Gillette unveils 5-bladed razor. New system, available in early 2006, to have lubricating strips on both the front and back sides". CNN Money . 14 September 2005. Archived from the original on 27 February 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2009.
  25. ↑ "Asia's Shaving Giant, Dorco, Partners With Pace Shave to Introduce its Premier Shaving Products Direct to U.S. Consumers". PRWeb. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  26. ↑ "Judge rules Gillette M3Power ads are false". NBC News . Associated Press. Archived from the original on 21 March 2018. Retrieved 17 February 2007.
  27. ↑ Waits 2014, pp. 96, 260, 323, 67, 81.
  28. ↑ "How to Sharpen Old Razor Blades". WikiHow . Archived from the original on 12 April 2017. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  29. ↑ Karp, Gregory (4 November 2007). "Extending life of razor blades leaves users dry". The Morning Call. Archived from the original on 20 August 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2020– via Chicago Tribune.
  30. ↑ "Science Reveals the Secret to Making Your Razor Last". Bloomberg.com. 22 April 2014. Archived from the original on 26 July 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  31. ↑ "How to Make Your Razor Last Longer". Esquire . 14 February 2014. Archived from the original on 24 July 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  32. ↑ "Interview with Deepak Grover & Howie Woda of Parker Safety Razor". PrimandPrep. 12 November 2018. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  33. ↑ "What does open comb razor mean? The difference between open and closed comb razor". Blake'n Blade Shave Shop. 12 October 2016. Archived from the original on 31 December 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2019.

General and cited references

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