OT? Electric shavers

[The Natural Philosopher]

+1

[R D S]

That takes me back. I had a Philips electric shaver over 20 years ago, bought replacement blades from boots, Philips branded, 'fits all Philishave.....'

Well they didn't fit mine. And I had to get shirty when they wouldn't accept a return because i'd opened the packet.

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

Yes indeed you can and unfortunately the modern ones seem not to be able to run when on the mains, only after the charge has ended. Although not really Philips any more they do seem to work well and are easy to clean and don't need a mortgage to buy one. I also think if you have a very tough beard, some of the Remington's are good. The only Baun one I had fell to bits in a year, and so did the cheap Remington seemingly being held together by glue.

I think the rotary ones work best for me at least, and some include other cutters to help in difficult places but I'd not go for those which need consumables, as that seems to be just a racket like printer ink is.

Rechargeable batteries don't last as long as one might expect, so often its a bin job when they only start to last a few mins on a charge as the serial cells that go down first get reverse charged by the rest and knacker very fast after that.

I think the Philips trimmers are more efficient than most which tend to stall. Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

But a swine when you want to go to sleep. Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

But if you have a beard you cannot go out as a face mask is pointless. Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

I got mine in the Amazon sale. If you clean them regularly, they do not often need new blades, its normally crap in the heads that is the issue. On some you end up having to buy the complete head assembly, Philips are less annoying as you can change the cutters. Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

Yes its like wireless headphones. Have you seen the price of the new over the ear Apple ones? over 500 quid. I think as with most things, if somebody wants to spend that money its up to them. Shavers seem to be just one of many items with wildly varying prices. Brian

[Pancho]

Clippers can get short enough to look like a days growth or less, more clean shaven than a beard.

Anyway Covid masks work fine with a beard, it is DIY P3 masks that are not so good.

[R D S]

Good call, i'm in no rush, i'll keep an eye out.

[Dave Plowman (News]

I bought a Remington rotary from Lidl. A very long time ago - and it still works. Heads have been re sharpened many times, and the (Li-Ion) battery is on its last legs.

Looking for a replacement.

[Scott]

I read somewhere that Philips 'reshored' production of shavers from China to the Netherlands because the quality from China was not as good. Apparently the workers at the Dutch factory were surprised by the news.

[Dave Plowman (News]

With the rotary Philips type, sharpen the cutters using a bit of plate glass (flat) and a decent metal polish like Solvol Autosol. Works a treat, and you can do this many times before they need replacement. Indeed my ancient one has never had replacements. Just as well given they cost near the same as a complete new shaver.

[fred]

Its called Veblen

[tim...]

I wondered same

One of the options that I found was simply a mirror and some cream

couldn't be bothered with that faff

But the "tools" don't describe how the should be used, so may be even more faff

Yup

BTDTGTTS

I've tried buying from online site as more reasonable prices, but they are knock-offs that are no better that the worn out heads I'm trying to replace,

The ads say "Genuine Philips replacement heads", I've come to conclude that should be interpreted as replacement heads for genuine Philips shavers

not that the heads are genuine Philips ones

[tim...]

given that the official blurb is that heads should be replaced every *month* sharpening once per year doesn't seem frequent enough

[Mike Clarke]

[snip]

Every month ??????

Don't know what brand you're using but the instructions for my Philips shaver say to replace every two years.

In practice I ignore that and continue using the same heads until I notice a deterioration and usually get at least 3 years out of them.

Before switching to Philips rotary I used Braun shavers with reciprocating cutters and flexible foils. These used to fail dramatically when the cutters wore through the foil and tore holes in it. The Philips heads are *much* more robust and shave as close as the Braun did with it's micro thin foil.

[Dave Plowman (News]

Have you checked on genuine replacement heads? Often cost not far short of a new razor complete. Even worse than genuine printer carts. ;-)

[tim...]

my other post said that already

[tim...]

I can't remember where I saw it

but my own experience is that the closeness of the cut *does* deteriorate noticeably after that short a period

My most recent Philips purchase was of a new lightweight type where the transformer is in the plug, not in the body. It died completely after less than two years

So I decided not to repeat that model and bought the Remington 3 head - which is dreadful at collecting long hairs and gives an overall poor shave, new heads or not. I have to take these hairs off with the trimmer and then shave again

Good job I don't have to impress anybody with my close shave :-)

as above

I really do notice a deterioration after that short period

I then don't notice any further deterioration over a number of years

This is their failure mode

[fred]

I've used a Braun for years, Originally just the foil could be replaced. Then you had to buy it with its frame work Now you have to buy the whole bloody head. Braun are a greedy shower. (see the price they charge for their cleaning fluid)