Corking a DE razor blade before shaving

[@theodorepapadopoulos810]

Been doing this since the first time I heard about it on a shaving channel 2 years ago. It absolutely improves the feel of any blade. Keep up the good work 👍

[@jake9854]

nah u r just dulling the blade

[@theodorepapadopoulos810]

@@jake9854 Try it Jake. There's a difference you'll feel.

[@f00bar28]

Never done this before, but I am going to test it. My gut feeling says that it will dull the blade?

[@theodorepapadopoulos810]

It doesn't. It seems to take the micro-jagged edge off. maybe it's placebo 🤣 .....but I can swear there's a big feel difference.

[@10floz30minutes]

Probably does, but my impression is that the dulling is not significant. I have obtained 13 to 14 shaves on a few Feather Hi-Stainless blades; only corking as pre-treatment for number 4 shave through number ~14 shave. (So many people claim to not be able to do more than four shaves on a Feather blade.)

[@10floz30minutes]

I do not see my reply here. I tried to say, any dulling is not significant, and that I get up to 14 shaves on a Feather blade, and use corking after shave number 3.

[@talega1]

That will just dull the blade, especially in a non coated blade.... I tried this method on a coated Russian blade that I thought lacked QC.....but that one was bad before and bad after the cork..... never used those again. Now to Feather....I like them new and up to 3 uses, after that they cause weepers probably the edge is chipped?

[@10floz30minutes]

Some of us, maybe few of us, have been very lucky with Feather Hi-Stainless d.e. blades. Even WITH corking before most shaves, I have done about 13 or 14 shaves on a blade. Very little if any skin cuts or irritation (often very light irritation).

[@gsp0113]

Update? How did the corking affect your shaves? I like your choice of a cork with a wooden top to it -- looks like it makes it easier to not cut yourself and the cork won't roll off the shelf or counter.

[@brownbaggentleman7509]

I found 3 swipes is better than five. It is enough to debut the blade a bit without making it too dull. May try only 2 swipes next time.

[@gsp0113]

@@brownbaggentleman7509 Very interesting; thanks. I'll definitely be giving this a try in the coming week. I've already managed to get a cork with a top like yours from an empty bottle of Macallan. Based on your comment, I'll try 2 swipes, one in each direction.

[@gsp0113]

@@brownbaggentleman7509 Update: By the way, I thought I'd let you know that Mantic59, a wet shaving enthusiast, has a KZbin video on corking razor blades. In it, he states that the blade should be run through the cork only once. So your observation that more passes are not better is accurate. Apparently, any more than one pass through the cork doesn't do any additional deburring, but does dull the blade. I'd love to see you do a second video trying one pass. (Haven't yet tried it myself, but will soon.)

[@10floz30minutes]

@@brownbaggentleman7509 Just "swipe" one time for each edge. That's all I do. You can then do this again before the next shave or the shave after that.

[@10floz30minutes]

@@gsp0113 I DO BELIEVE THIS!

[@Saed-Fahad.]

Nice work, man 👏

[@10floz30minutes]

Only reason that I cork a blade is to wipe off water hardness and soap film after a shave later when the blade is dry, AFTER whatever small number of shaves which have left those deposits. I cork wipe the blade ONE time only for each corking task; never more than one wipe at a time. CAREFUL: Be very careful when corking blade to avoid cutting your fingers.

[@hirayaman246]

Might consider running on a strop, just plain leather.....it would remove better the burr and align the edge- that cork might dull it a little and certainly will missalign the edge, the razor edge is much finer than any other cutting tool ( knife)

[@drane10]

This is counterintuitive. Doing this to a feather blade for "Smoothness" is like taking a Katana sword and making it dull on purpose so you can use it as a kitchen knife, instead of finding a good kitchen knife. In my opinion it's better to find a blade that exactly fits your skin, your shaving style, and your safety razor.

[@brownbaggentleman7509]

@drane10 i disagree, it is more like honing in my experience.

[@jak_1894]

Maybe you could try a milder blade instead of doing that? Just a thought, but the video is interesting regardless 👍

[@surdzo]

To me it looks like that people who do this in essence they just need milder blades 😄

[@brownbaggentleman7509]

@@surdzo it's more about smoothness than sharpness.

[@surdzo]

@ smoothness is all about coating more or less. And most of the milder blades have better coatings to do the “smoothness” job 🙂

[@petr8068]

Shaving Voodoo 😉

[@trentcoldstair8015]

He cut his finger on the next video.