Safety razor

A selection of low cost safety razors

A safety razor is a shaving implement with a protective device positioned between the edge of the blade and the skin. The term was first used in a patent issued in 1880, for a razor in the basic contemporary configuration with a handle attached at right angles to a head in which a removable blade is placed (although this form predated the patent). Its edge was protected by a comb patterned on various types of protective guards that had been affixed to open-blade straight razors during the preceding decades. Some safety razors in present-day production retain a comb but the more common protective device is now a solid safety bar. 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 for providing that service and raising grooming standards. Prior to the introduction of the disposable razor blade by King C. Gillette in 1901, however, safety razor users 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.^[1]

Single-blade safety razors

Gillette safety razor patent drawing

One-piece double-edge safety razor

Double-edge safety razor blade

Invention

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.

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 Fredrik 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] 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 that King Camp Gillette submitted a patent application for in 1901 and was granted in 1904.^[3] The success of Gillette's invention was largely a result of his having been 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 easily 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.^[4]

Single-edge safety razors

One style of single edge razor

The first safety razors used a single-edge blade that was essentially a 4 cm 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 single-edge razors are no longer in production they are readily available. 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.^[5] Here again, although injector razors are no longer being manufactured, they are easily found and blades for them are still being produced.

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.^[6] 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.

Double-edge safety razors

A 3-piece British 'Knockout' Safety Razor made from Bakelite and Metal probably from between 1930s-1950s

Double-edge safety razors are still being designed and produced in a number of countries in one, two and three piece designs. Better known manufacturers include Edwin Jagger, Feather, Merkur, Mühle, Parker, Pils, Weishi and Wilkinson Sword, with several of them producing razors that are marketed under other brands. Blades for them continue to be manufactured worldwide, including in Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, Germany, India, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, Turkey and the USA. The slant bar was a common design in Germany in which the blade is slightly curved along its length to make for a slicing action and a smoother shave. These razors take some special care to avoid nicks.

Until the 1960s, razor blades were made of carbon steel. These were prone to rusting unless carefully dried and often left users to change blades frequently. In 1965, the British company Wilkinson Sword began to sell blades made of stainless steel, which did not rust and could be used until blunt. Wilkinsons 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.^[7]

Disposable cartridge razors

Basic design

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 sometime considered to be a generic category of their own and not a variety of safety razor.^[8][9] The similarities between single-edge cartridge blade razors and the classic injector razor do, however, provide equal justification for treating both categories contiguously.

Twin-blade cartridges

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 also pulls 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.^[10]

By controlling patents on the Trac II razor, Gillette was able to assure repeat sales of its multi-blade cartridges. This was a natural extension of the razor-and-blades sales philosophy. Gillette was able to sell these cartridges at a higher price than the single blades, leading to higher profits. Competitors Schick and American Safety Razor Co. were quick to follow this change, introducing their own multi-blade razors.

Gillette subsequently introduced the Atra twin-blade razors (known as Contour in many parts of the world), which featured a pivoting razor head that the company claimed would more closely follow the shape of the face. The Trac II Plus and Atra Plus blades introduced later incorporated a "lubricating strip" made of polyethylene glycol.

Gillette followed the Atra system with the Sensor system, which featured twin blades that were individually spring-loaded to adjust to the contours of the face. The Sensor system was later modified as the SensorExcel system.

Disposable razors

The next innovation came with the introduction of the Bic disposable razor in 1974. 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.^[11] 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. Plastic disposable razors and razors with replaceable disposable blade attachments, often with one to three cutting edges (but sometimes with four and as of recently, five cutting edges), are in common use today.

Three- and four-blade cartridges

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. This escalated the competitive race with rival Schick/Wilkinson Sword. 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. In the early 1990s, the (Australian) Late Show skitted a (insert name of popular razor brand) "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...". In 2004, a satirical article in The Onion entitled "Fuck Everything, We're Doing Five Blades" predicted the release of five-blade cartridges,^[12] two years before their commercial introduction.^[13]

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.^[14] 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.^[14]

Recent developments

Gillette five-blade cartridge with an additional single blade on the back of the cartridge for precision trimming.

The latest razor introduced by Gillette is the Fusion, which uses a five-blade cartridge razor with an additional single blade for trimming. An entire line of shaving products was introduced as part of the Fusion brand system.

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; all of these provide an additional brand alliance venue for Gillette to place a battery from sister brand Duracell in Power packages (the reverse is also true for Schick with their powered razors featuring Energizer batteries packed in). This action, as advertised by Gillette, was intended 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."^[15] Schick also offers a powered version of their Quattro product called the Schick Quattro Power.

Pace Shave is the first producer of six-blade razor cartridges.

Women's razors

Razors are generally marketed in men's and women's versions; the exact difference between the two may vary from color only for most disposable razors to completely different design principles. By and large, men's and women's razor blades and disposable razors are interchangeable, but there is sometimes a difference in ergonomics: women's razors either have a longer handle for longer reach or a paddle-shaped handle to allow for a lengthwise grip. Specialized handle designs also exist, for shaving such areas as the underarms or the bikini line.

References