How to Sharpen Razor Blades for the Long Term

These days I have been doing a lot of thinking about my daily hygiene and beauty routine as it relates to a long term survival situation.  I don’t want to appear frivolous but for me, feeling clean and looking nice are an important part of feeling good about myself in general.  I do not think that my thoughts in this regard are limited to women and in fact, the Survival Husband feels much the same way, albeit without the need for a touch of lipstick and blush.

While an article on survival hygiene is long overdue, today I want to share with you a great tip for increasing the longevity of razor blades.  Anyone who shaves – and this includes men and their beards and ladies and their legs – knows two things.  One, razor blades are darn expensive and two, a dull razor blade will cut you up and result in a big bloody mess.

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Sharpen Razor on Jeans

For the past few months I have been doing some research, trying to learn how to increase the longevity of the common razor blade.  One strategy that worked well was drying the blade with a hair dryer after each use.  Good to know, of course, but highly impractical in a survival situation.

I recently learned of a new technique and after testing with three separate razors, I can attest to its efficacy.

Sharpening a Razor Blade Using Blue Jeans

This method of sharpening a dull razor blade is so very simple that I am surprised more people don’t know about it.

1.  Clean your razor in a little cup of soapy water.

Let it sit for awhile so that all of the old goo and gunk float away.

Sharpen Razor on Jeans (4)

What I did was spray some of my Tea Tree Wonderful in a glass and let the razor soak for about an hour.  I could not believe the crud that came loose!

2.  Dry your razor by shaking away then excess moisture the wiping it off with a towel (or in my case, a microfiber cloth).

This is called stropping. Remember, you want to run the shaver backwards!

That’s it – easy peasy.

The Testimonial

When I was done sharpening the razor blades, I handed the Survival Husband his razor and told him to give it a try.  Now let me say this: he was doubtful to say the least.

The first words out of his mouth were “Wow, this is really sharp”.  I asked him how old the blade was and he said about a month.  It was ready for the trash any day now.

Need convincing?

As part of my research, I came across the following YouTube video.  It demonstrates the process for you and although the author refers to sharpening a disposable razor, in my tests a standard razor (not the disposable type) worked equally well.

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