If you’re not new to the zero waste world you will have definitely heard of a safety razor. If you are new here, welcome! You might recognise a safety razor as something your granddad used or you’ve seen someone with a fancy beard use it! Safety razors have been around for over a hundred years and prove to the world, once again, that sustainable living doesn’t always need to be invented, it can be right under our noses! I bought my Merkur safety razor a few years ago and haven’t looked back since!
A safety razor is basically a stainless steel razor that contains no plastic. The head is usually removable and the blade can be easily replaced. This makes safety razors almost zero waste and since they are made to last for years, sometimes even generations, there are by far the most sustainable choice for shaving!
Here’s a quick look at my shaving setup. I’ve decided to go old school and purchase a wooden lathering brush. This makes it super easy to creates a nice layer of thick foam with a block of soap. This is especially handy if you have coarse hair or you want to shave larger surfaces such as your legs or chest for example. I have a little biodegradable soap case too! I’ve talked about the soap and the case its in, in a blogpost if you’re curious! You can also use regular soap, so don’t be afraid to try out a safety razor without anything fancy first!
The blades I use to refill my safety razors are by a brand called Derby, these are packaged in a little plastic but if you compare it to regular disposable razors this is nothing! These blades last quite a while as well and each little package contains 5 blades. They are so much more affordable as well, each blade costs about 10-15 cents and can last for multiple shaving sessions!
This is what the packaging looks like, it’s extremely safe and there’s little to no chance of cutting yourself by opening the package. I keep an old package as well to store used blades safely! You can either recycle blades by collecting them in a can and recycling them with other metal waste or you can even bury them apparently!
Replacing the blade isn’t as hard as you’d image either. For this particular razor you screw off the top and just pop a new blad in! You can safely hold a blad on its short edges or you can use its paper packaging to hold it if you’re still a little scared. This safety razor is super sturdy and hasn’t shown any signs of breakage or rust. It takes a little getting used to shaving with these but once you get the hang of it you will love how closely it shaves!
These used to be over 45 euro’s but since then have gained popularity online and you can find them for about 35 to 40 euro’s now! Considering you might never have to buy another one again, I’d say that’s a great price! If you want to support my blog and you’re looking into buying a safety razor, you can use my affiliate link to do so!
Disclaimer: This post contains an affiliate link, please bear in mind that if you make a purchase through my links, I will earn a commission. I will only do this to products I recommend and use myself, it's important to me to be honest to my readers.