How to Care for Your Razor: Blade Cleaning and Storage Tips

Typical Razor Use

Even under perfect use, your razor undergoes a fair amount of wear and tear. Keeping your razor clean and knowing how often you should change your blades is critical to avoiding a bad shave –are you doing it correctly?

The performance of a Gillette razor is thanks to its precise geometry: the size and shape of the blades and where they sit in relation to each other, the way that the blades are housed in the cartridge, the way that the razor handle attaches to the blade cartridge and its pivoting mechanism.

It’s a precise tool with a lot of design behind its parts. While your blades are replaceable, you shouldn’t have to change it for a new one until you’ve had the full use out of your current one. So make sure you know how to care for your grooming device and how to take blades off your razor with our guide.

The DON’Ts of Razor Maintenance and Care

Even when you set out to give your razor a clean with the best of intentions, you could be damaging your razor unintentionally and reducing the life of the blades. Two common cleaning mistakes include:

• Tapping the razor cartridge against the sink. Tapping the razor against the sink basin can seriously damage the precisely engineered parts of your razor.

• Wiping your razor on a towel. Some men do this in an attempt to remove dirt and debris or dry the blades and help lengthen the life of the blades, but instead they’re likely damaging them and are setting themselves up for a less effective shave. Instead, use water to fully rinse any debris from the blades and allow them to air-dry.

Each component of Gillette razor blades is precisely positioned at an angle and distance calculated to create a close and comfortable shave. Bad cleaning habits and not knowing how to take blades off your razor correctly can affect that geometry.

Correct Razor Maintenance and Care

Tips for cleaning your razor:

• Rinse your razor blades after every few strokes, letting the water run through from the back to the front in order to swill lodged hairs and other bits through.
• Shake off excess water to dry off the blades.

• Store your razor safely. With our range of shaving accessories, you can easily find travel cases, covers and hangers to store your device anywhere with ease

If you’d prefer not to leave the water running, you can also swish your razor blades through standing water in the basin of your sink or a cup. This is a much more environmentally friendly way of cleaning your razor.

If you are using a razor with a front pivot, such as the Gillette Fusion5™ family of razors, the blades will rinse easily. They have never been more accessible to water, thanks to what Gillette calls ‘open architecture’.