Why did the cartridge razor come in to being?

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The DE safety razor has been around for over one hundred years; those of us who use them know the answer can't be to get a closer shave. The DE razor once mastered will give as close a shave as you want.
Perhaps it was a desire to make shaving easier, and with no learning curve. Remove the need acquire a “feel” for your razor. No need for brushes, bowls, and soaps. Just squirt some foam from a can on your face, shave it off in one easy pass with one of the multi blade cartridge, and the job's done. If this is the case the manufacturers aren't there yet. It's true that a multi blade cartridge makes several passes in very rapid succession, albeit in the same direction. In theory at least the floating cartridge head will hold the blades at the correct cutting angle automatically. However we all know that good technique with brush, lather, and razor, will produce an acceptable shave with even the most basic disposable razor. Ignoring those techniques will produce an awful shave no matter how sophisticated the razor.
Is to make shaving sexy? Ads for razors on TV are certainly making a good go at it!
My theory is commerce. A three piece DE safety razor is three pieces of metal with a cheap disposable DE blade sandwiched between them. The problem the manufacturer has is that for it to work at all, the fit of those pieces has to be very precise. Precise fit means precise engineering. Precise engineering tends mean quality manufacturing. This in turn means that the average three piece razor, if looked after will last it's user a lifetime. Prior to cartridge razors most men would only buy two or three razors in their lifetime. My Grandfather had the same razor the whole time I was aware that he shaved.
It's not really possible to build in obsolescence, and you can't charge a great deal for three pieces of metal. How many of us have looked at an Ikon Shave Craft razor and been shocked by the price. You can only charge a few pennies for a slither of metal sharpened on two parallel edges.
There is in my opinion a two pronged attack from high street brands to increase revenue.
1) Ensure that DE blades are increasingly hard to come by in your local chemist. I stopped using my DE razor in the early nineties. I stupidly threw it away! All because the blade I liked was increasingly hard to find. I came back to it last year because of the easy availability of blades on line, and forums like this to show me where to find them. I've since caught a mild form of RAD which ruins the argument a bit, but (that's) another story.
2) Ensure that each new “development” in cartridge blade sets requires a new handle. I refuse to call them razors. This causes a lot of users to give up on buying just the blade sets. Instead they buy a combined handle and cartridge, and then throw it all way when it becomes dull.

Do you think I'm being paranoid or is there more than a grain of truth here?
 
It's not a conspiracy.

They took off because they were safer, quicker and easier to use than DEs - something that billions of men still agree on. Just as DEs were safer, quicker and easier to use than straight razors.

As for modern, cartridge manufacturers trying to make shaving 'sexy' in order to encourage men to part with their hard-earned ... Rocket, Super-speed, Aristocrat, President?
 
The cartridge was developed for "modern" fast paced life where the shave has to be done quickly and efficiently with no cuts & irritation. But the main hidden reason was profit margins per razor cartridge ( they virtually give the razor away ), they found that people quite rightly would only pay pennies for blades; ergo the cartridge!
 
what came first, the canned goop or the cartridge?

As long as Ive been using a razor, not really shaving the first couple of years just
using the razor, it was canned goop and a cartridge.

My step father was an electric shaver, my grandfather used a DE but he also used soap,
just soap.

I'd be interested to know which development spurred which.
 
I'm sure it was a continual line of convenience and competition. Both Gillette and Wilkinson Sword (and Schick/Personna in the States) saw a new market in the disposable shave, came up with disposables, then came up with cartridges once the notion of a "floating head" (that was Personna first, I think) came into being. Competing for the same space, they simply looked to out-do each other, so single blade, double blade, triple, quad ... and on to the Photoshopped 17 blade.

We'd seen the genesis of this in the injector market - the "Twinjector" from Gillette and Personna ... and Schick?

Bang up to date, Gillette have regressed. Their Guard razor is one heck of a razor. I would not have taken up traditional shaving had I found that razor back less than a year when I was getting sorely fed up with the Mach3 - for me it shaved too close and I suffered ingrowers, plucked, blood, pain and misery; the Guard would have been my saviour. But then, the Bic 1 Sensitive would happily have done, too, but I needed to go through that back to basics journey to find the answers.
 
Cartridge razors began in the 1960s with the Gillette Techmatic. It was easy to change compared to a double edge blade. Also, cartridge razors are mainly plastic, so they can be mass produced easily. But there is also the problem of brand locking - only particular cartridges fit particular handles, so you cannot mix and match easily. This means that the manufacturer can charge a high price for cartridges. So while there is the convenience of cartridges, it is also down to advertising and branding.

The problem may have stemmed from when patents for double edge razor blades expired, so anyone could make them. Wilkinson Sword ended up making razor blades which could be used in a Gillette double edge razor.

But what I don't quite get is that any brand of staple can fit any brand of stapler, although there are different sizes. The same with batteries, that different brands are available for the same sizes of battery. The same standardisation has occurred with double edge razors, but not with cartridge razors.
 
NotTheStig said:
There were canned foams in the fifties but I think the cartridge as we know it started with the Wilkinson Bonded in 1970

1970? Good grief, I've got one complete with blades knocking around somewhere.

Wasn't expecting it to be my birth year razor.....
 
Thanks for all the comments

joe mcclaine said:
It's not a conspiracy.

They took off because they were safer, quicker and easier to use than DEs - something that billions of men still agree on. Just as DEs were safer, quicker and easier to use than straight razors.

As for modern, cartridge manufacturers trying to make shaving 'sexy' in order to encourage men to part with their hard-earned ... Rocket, Super-speed, Aristocrat, President?
That's a fair point about the sexing up with names. I think safer, quicker, and easier is a myth we've been sold. I cut myself far less with a DE razor, because at less than 10p a blade I don't mind ditching it after three shaves. I couldn't afford that with a cartridge.


Wazzer3 said:
The cartridge was developed for "modern" fast paced life where the shave has to be done quickly and efficiently with no cuts & irritation. But the main hidden reason was profit margins per razor cartridge ( they virtually give the razor away ), they found that people quite rightly would only pay pennies for blades; ergo the cartridge!
I think we are agreeing with each other here!


pjgh said:
I'm sure it was a continual line of convenience and competition. Both Gillette and Wilkinson Sword (and Schick/Personna in the States) saw a new market in the disposable shave, came up with disposables, then came up with cartridges once the notion of a "floating head" (that was Personna first, I think) came into being. Competing for the same space, they simply looked to out-do each other, so single blade, double blade, triple, quad ... and on to the Photoshopped 17 blade.

We'd seen the genesis of this in the injector market - the "Twinjector" from Gillette and Personna ... and Schick?

Bang up to date, Gillette have regressed. Their Guard razor is one heck of a razor. I would not have taken up traditional shaving had I found that razor back less than a year when I was getting sorely fed up with the Mach3 - for me it shaved too close and I suffered ingrowers, plucked, blood, pain and misery; the Guard would have been my saviour. But then, the Bic 1 Sensitive would happily have done, too, but I needed to go through that back to basics journey to find the answers.
The Gillette Guard looks interesting. I think it's manufactured for the Indian market only. Apparently the razor is sold with a blade fitted and one spare. I found some on ebay
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/100-GENUINE-MENS-GILLETTE-GUARD-REFILLABLE-SHAVING-RAZOR-1-BLADE-CARTRIDGES/221355570365?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222003%26algo%3DSIC.FIT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D22312%26meid%3D7064365825165411522%26pid%3D100005%26prg%3D9701%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D321392714092&rt=nc
Buying in bulk works out at 44p a blade. Cheaper than all cartridges in this country, but compared to bulk buying DE blades still expensive.
 
neilwf said:
Buying in bulk works out at 44p a blade. Cheaper than all cartridges in this country, but compared to bulk buying DE blades still expensive.

Bic Sensitive can be found in Wilkos for 5p a throw. 99p for 10 but they have 2 for 1 offers sometimes.
 
... and a very acceptable shave can be had from them. But, if you like a wobbly head, the Guard is a great shave at a great price. Tactile, too.

"Carts" are not quite the same as fixed head disposables, but while we're on cartridges (replaceable heads), surely the GII, Slalom and subsequent clones are the cheapest. You can buy trays of the things for peanuts. And, you can get nice handles, if that sort of razor floats your boat.
 
According to this book http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=YCldvmXq25EC&printsec=frontcover&dq=cutting+edge&hl=en&sa=X&ei=JDJ9U-HYEKyv7AbvtYDYCQ&ved=0CEUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=cutting%20edge&f=false , which analyses Gillette's involvement in the global marketplace since inception, the motive was purely profit-driven as DE blades are not that profitable in themselves.

As mentioned above, the move to cartridges started in the mid-1960's and took place at a time when Gillette had already started to diversify into other markets such a home-perms (via the Toni brand) and canned shaving foam (with Gillette Foamy being introduced in 1953). This was later followed by diversification into electric toothbrushes and shavers (via the acquisition of Braun and Oral-B) and batteries (via the acquisition of Duracell).

Profitability was the driving factor of all of these innovations and remains the main driving factor for Gillette today.
 
Its all about the money. I worked in drug stores from 1985 through early 2000's. Gillette became king in the states by buying shelf space...go into your local drug store and theres a 12 foot shaving section and Gillette has all the shelf space, schick and Wilkinson sword were lucky if they had a couple of pegs. Then Gillette would discontinue their own products, ie Gillette super platinum blades( I never had a shortage of customers looking for these blades) When the patent goes kill the product.
 
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