Removing wax from blades

When KAI and Personna can produce blades without wax at all to hold the blade in place, so can others.

Wax should be condemmed and not allowed, because it's unnecessary and tends to cloq up beard stubbles and lather under the top plate of the razor.

Why use wax, when you don't need it ?

Voskhod blades are similarly packaged as the KAI and Personna blades, i.e., sans wax stains, and perform equally as well.

Rockwell blades don't have it either.

Use the old blade you just removed.

At first I interpret the post as sarcastic, as in put the old blade back in the razor! But now that I get it, great idea.

Hot water seems to melt most of it away.

Yes, but still does not solve the mystery: WHY USE WAX, when several blades have been without wax spots for years ?

KAI is arguably among the best, smoothest and sharpest (and also unfortunately the most expensive DE blade you can buy) blade you can get.
Personna is very fairly priced.

Both blades come without wax spots at all.

Look at a Feather blade - 2 HUGE wax spots in the center of the blade.
Look at Gillette Silver Blue - 4 big wax spots, very often one of the wax spots is placed directly on the edge of the blade, which is an ingenious placement of the wax spot.

I protest with my wallet against wax spots.

Only use two DE blades now - KAI and Personna Med Prep.

So true about the wax blobs on GSB, but I just love the blade too much to stop using them because of that. I usually inspect a new blade, and if the wax reaches over the cutting edge, I try to wipe that part of by first softening it with warm water first.

Use the old blade you just removed.

At first I interpret the post as sarcastic, as in put the old blade back in the razor! But now that I get it, great idea.

Hot water seems to melt most of it away.

Yes, but still does not solve the mystery: WHY USE WAX, when several blades have been without wax spots for years ?

KAI is arguably among the best, smoothest and sharpest (and also unfortunately the most expensive DE blade you can buy) blade you can get.
Personna is very fairly priced.

Both blades come without wax spots at all.

Look at a Feather blade - 2 HUGE wax spots in the center of the blade.
Look at Gillette Silver Blue - 4 big wax spots, very often one of the wax spots is placed directly on the edge of the blade, which is an ingenious placement of the wax spot.

I protest with my wallet against wax spots.

Only use two DE blades now - KAI and Personna Med Prep.

So true about the wax blobs on GSB, but I just love the blade too much to stop using them because of that. I usually inspect a new blade, and if the wax reaches over the cutting edge, I try to wipe that part of by first softening it with warm water first.

I also love GSB, but in my 100 pack I found no less than 15 with waxc spots directly on top of the edges of the blade.
This meant I fell out of love with the GSB pretty rapidly after that.

KAI is a more expensive, but also a better blade for me thsan GSB anyway.
And KAI is the cleanest - and IMHO also best - blade you can find.

GSB out
KAI in

When I suggested using the old blade from your razor to scrape off the wax on the new blade, please keep in mind that I was addressing the Feather single edge blades from a OneBlade. They have a much bigger chunk of wax on them than any DE blade I have seen. DE blades present a much bigger danger of slicing yourself without using something like tissue to help hold the blade.

I also must mention that the old blade trick was not original to me. I probably picked it up from SharpSpine 's OneBlade Journal. If I ever come up with an original idea, I probably will post it in huge bold letters with lots of exclamation points to celebrate my cleverness.

I suspect that the wax spots are integral in wrapping the blades with certain types/vintages of machinery in use in a given factory. The machinery has a lengthy functional/economic lifespan so they won't be replaced until they need to be. I am also leery of too much rubbing/wiping or general friction applied to the blade as I believe this may compromise/remove coatings that have been applied to make the blades shave smoother. Coatings are generally in liquid bath form so the physical bond to the blade isn't substantial - they're not meant to last all that long. Since becoming a regular disassemble and rinse / wipe /dry adherent (only wipe the razor - blade is just rinsed and allowed to air dry) I'm finding that the wax rinses off by the second or third use. I won't use any of the waxed blades in my re-plated vintage razors as it makes a mess and requires too much friction to remove. Chris at RazorPlate strongly advised against the use of the waxed blades in those vintage razors and I think thats excellent advice.
Marko

Voskhod blades are similarly packaged as the KAI and Personna blades, i.e., sans wax stains, and perform equally as well.

I am also leery of too much rubbing/wiping or general friction applied to the blade as I believe this may compromise/remove coatings that have been applied to make the blades shave smoother.  Coatings are generally in liquid bath form so the physical bond to the blade isn't substantial - they're not meant to last all that long.

All the Russian-made blades I’ve ever used have had the wax spots, so it’s nice to know that there is an exception, and I’ve read good things about the Voskhods.

I keep some isopropyl rubbing alcohol around for dipping my razor and blade in after each shave, and have sometimes used the alcohol on a cotton ball to get rid of the wax spots on a new blade. However, I never stopped to think that doing so could potentially affect a coating on the blade…

A few months ago I read a couple of similar threads on other forums, and some shavers belittled those who think these wax dots are a problem. Well, it may be one of those first world problems, but the fact is the blade wax will gunk up your razor, and cleaning it before using a blade will increase your risk of getting cut. So I, for one (and I’m glad to see I’m not the only one), think manufacturers should do away with the practice.

(Thankfully some of my favorite blades, such as the single-edge Feather Artist Club and Personna Gem PTFE blades, don’t have the wax applied.)

Matsilainen don't get me wrong, I hate those wax spots. If they can't eliminate them then maybe they could use a more water soluble "wax" that can be easily rinsed off before loading. That would entail just loading a different "wax" into the machine rather than replacing the machine.

Matsilainen don't get me wrong, I hate those wax spots. If they can't eliminate them then maybe they could use a more water soluble "wax" that can be easily rinsed off before loading.  That would entail just loading a different "wax" into the machine rather than replacing the machine.

Sorry, Marko, I should have perhaps worded my response differently. I actually really appreciated your insight about the coatings, as I had never thought of that before. And I think you are also right about the machinery that you mentioned earlier — as long as they can keep using the machines and production methods they already have, and people keep buying the blades, it is unlikely that anything will change.

However, I think that’s a great point (as well) that if they could just change the consistency of the wax while keeping the rest of their production intact, that alone would be a huge service to many a wetshaver.

Meh, first world problems lol.

I just don't see the wax spots as that big a deal. I scrape the old wax off of the waxiest of the bunch with an old blade. With a little care sharp stuff really won't hurt anyone?? Use a piece of cardboard that's stiff enough if that makes you feel happy? A piece of any of the grocery store boxed food stuff. That works fine too? WHat's the big deal? Anything worth doing requires some practice and some minimal care in procedure!!! I'm more worried about cutting meat with a sharp kitchen knife than I am in handling a razor blade?