In the modern world of fashion that keeps demanding men to look neat at all times, I can’t stress enough on how important smooth shaving outcomes are!
But to consistently generate clean shaves every day, your electric razor must live up to that potential and maintenance is the key to achieving that.
Because not only quality shaves are ensured by optimally replacing the razor parts, but also it’s a matter of skin health, performance and longevity as well.
So, this article will inform you about how often you should replace the blades and foils of an electric shaver, with addition to an estimated timeline for the entire razor replacement!
Contents
- 1 Why Do Electric Shavers Need Replacement?
Why Do Electric Shavers Need Replacement?
Before heading on to the discussion on the frequency of your shaver replacement, let’s first learn the reasons why you’d need to do that in the first place.
Blade and Foil Wear
Over the course of time and usage, the foil elements in a foil razor and the blades in almost every type of shaver tend to wear out.
At that stage, you may experience tugs, pulls, irritation or accidental cuts with your shaving device and that demands replacement at the very least.
Battery and Motor Life
Battery units aren’t invincible and no matter how great your electric shaver is, the battery is bound to degrade after months of use.
With a damaged battery, your razor will slow down and lose runtime as a whole. As a result, your shaving efficiency and comfort are going to take a gradual hit.
Hygiene Concerns
No matter how well you maintain your electric razor, after years of using the same device, the foils, blades or the housing should develop some bacterial growth.
Such growth is a threat to your hygiene and skin’s health. If not replaced at the correct time, your electric shaver might cause painful skin infections.
How Often Should You Replace Different Parts of Electric Shavers?
This data isn’t going to be precise for your particular scenario, rather it’s more like a general timeline to understand the frequency of replacing different razor parts.
Foil and Cutter Blades
Foils and cutter blades usually require replacement between 12-18 months of regular use. It can vary depending on the brand of razor, how often you shave and the quality of care your shaver gets.
On the other hand, affordable electric razors tend to have shorter foil and blade life, between 6-12 months. Be sure to check out the product durability before buying it to have a proper estimation!
Signs: Your razor will tug or pull, the shaves will be uneven and your skin will feel irritation during and after each shave.
Battery
Battery longevity is much better than foil or blades as most batteries will last you between 3-5 years with proper care.
NiMH batteries generally last less than lithium-ion because of the technology. The good thing is, batteries are replaceable, therefore you won’t have to change the entire razor for a dead or dying battery.
Sign: A degraded battery will give you less shaving time, lower than optimum motor power and die out in the middle of a shaving session.
Entire Shaver Unit
The frequency of entire shaver replacement is also circumstantial because not all of the electric razors offer the same amount of durability.
If you own something like a Braun or Philips razor, it’s highly likely that your device will survive for up to 5-7 years.
Sign: Maintenance will be getting very hefty and expensive, replacements won’t deliver the same shaving closeness as they used to.
Factors Affecting Frequency of Shaver Replacement
I have briefly mentioned that there are certain factors that influence how often you should replace your electric razor. Let me elaborate these further in this section.
Frequency of Use
Your frequency of shaving is definitely one of the major variables that determine when you should replace your electric shaver.
For men who prefer shaving everyday or every other day, you’ll find your shaving tool losing its quality sooner than those who shave once or twice a week.
But it doesn’t mean you must reduce your shaving, rather all I’m doing here is giving you an estimation that frequent shaving can and does shorten your shaver’s lifespan.
Hair Type
Coarse and curly textured facial hair mostly takes a toll out of the cutters, foils and motor unit since these are challenging to chop through.
You’d be requiring consistent glides and the durability cost will equate to approximately twice as much as men with feeble, fine hair.
Therefore, one walkaround here is to pick specialized electric razors for black men as such devices are generally more robust and built to serve this specific purpose without sacrificing durability.
Skin Sensitivity
You may also want to replace your electric razor if you have sensitive skin because such a skin type is very delicate and a long-term use of a worn-out shaver can trigger irritation within a few years.
It’s due to the wearing off of the hypoallergenic coating and the motor losing its optimum torque over time.
While the foil and cutter replacement may help out initially, newer models with more advanced sensitivity will eventually lead to a must-have upgrade.
Cleaning and Maintenance Habits
The way you clean out your electric shaver, the extent of maintenance are definitely important because these determine when to replace your shaving tool.
Self-cleaning systems are therefore lifesavers since these instruments properly perform the upkeep of your device.
Otherwise, manual cleaning and maintenance or the lack of it will lead to the gradual quality loss of the entire razor, demanding a full replacement in turns.
Brand and Model
Of course, which brand and model of electric shaver you’re using has an impact on durability. Older shavers like Braun Series 3 are still among people’s favorites because they last a very long time.
Even similarly or lower priced electric razors from different brands tend to lose the quality of materials and the shaving experiences become so unnerving that consumers are forced to buy a new model.
Maintenance Tips to Extend the Life of Your Electric Shaver
You can already make out which factors determine the replacement of your electric razor. Therefore, the following maintenance tips are industry standards you should follow to extend your razor’s life and durability!
Regular Cleaning
You MUST clean your electric razor after each shaving session. I cannot stress enough about it because leaving the shaver as it is after a shave is the most vital damaging factor for a device.
If your shaver is waterproof, completely wash everything by removing the head. Mop up the parts you can and let it dry out completely.
Remember, storing a damp razor can damage the properties of blade, foil or ergonomic elements. Therefore, it’s essential that your razor is fully dried before storage.
Lubricating the Blades
Another underrated maintenance for your electric shavers is lubrication. After every shave and its consequent cleaning session, you should lubricate the blades right before storage.
Lubricating procedure includes dropping two or three droplets of lubricant gel on the blades or foils and then turning on the razor for around 10 seconds to evenly spread it out.
Additionally, you should be lubricating the motor heads underneath your foils or rotary heads the same way. Such practices reduce friction and enhance your shaver’s durability.
Proper Charging Practices
I know a lot of people who don’t charge their electric shavers often and use it till the entire battery is drained out to zero level.
This is a very unhealthy practice for two reasons. One, such a way of stressing out the battery depletes its overall life very soon.
And two, using your razor toward the low battery cycle won’t deliver optimum performance and your shaving experience is not going to be as pleasant.
Therefore, recharge your electric razor to the fullest before every shaving session if possible. If you’re a frequent traveler, pick a device that comes with a bigger battery unit.
Lastly, don’t overcharge your razor. It’s good if your device has overcharge protection. But in case it doesn’t have this technology, this would damage your razor in the long run.
Storage
Storage space for your electric shaver needs to be dry and safe. It’s better to store inside a solid case instead of something soft to prevent damage from accidental drops.
Also, the storage space must be away from rooms that have high moisture or temperature – like the shower or kitchen.
If you must store your razor inside your shower, make sure to keep an air-tight container to mark your razor safe from moisture-based damage.
When to Upgrade Your Shaver: Key Considerations
When do you need to consider upgrading your electric shaver? There are three arguments which consumers agree upon that are worth getting a new device to replace the old one.
Performance Decline
Once you start to notice there’s a significant dip in your razor’s performance, initially you should check if it’s fully charged or the foil cutters are in mint condition.
If everything checks out, then you’ll be able to come to the conclusion that there’s either something wrong with your shaver or it has simply hit the age after which it’s going downhill.
You’ll still be able to use it for a certain time once such symptoms start to appear, but it’s a reminder that you should start looking into better alternatives.
Advancements in Technology
You know, shaver technology works wonders in the present era and modern electric razors are endowed with such advanced features that some are hard to miss out on.
For instance, men with sensitive skin will find razors like the Norelco 7200 to be worth buying into, given that you have a much older device at home.
Norelco 7200 from Philips has an AI built into the system that not only regulates motor power based on your beard’s density, but also teaches you how to properly utilize a rotary razor.
One thing to note is that, you won’t have to purchase every time a new tech is embedded into a modern razor.
Rather, look into the review and assess whether the feature caters to your specific requirements, only then the upgrade would be worthwhile.
Cost of Replacement Parts vs. New Shaver
Once you cross a certain threshold with your older electric shaver, you’ll notice that the frequency of purchasing replacement parts has increased.
Some older models demand quite expensive replacement parts and it might be spreaded out across time, this will still add up to a large sum from a broader perspective.
Should that happen, evaluate if carrying on with such replacement is still the cost-efficient way or simply buying a new razor would cut down on your cost in the coming future.
Top Durable Electric Shaver Models
In this section, I’m going to introduce you to five different electric shaver models at different price ranges. My primary choice is the – Braun Series 9 PRO+ – the killer in the grooming industry and it’s by far the finest device I’ve ever laid my hands on.
Second to it is the ARC5 LV67 unit from Panasonic and it’s priced almost half as the Series 9 PRO+. However, it shares a lot of the features with the competitor brand. Finally, consider the most durable electric razors of them all – the BaBylissPRO FoilFX02 from their MetalFX series.
Quick Guide: Signs It’s Time to Replace Your Electric Shaver
Before we close the blinds on today’s discussion regarding how often you should replace your electric shaver, let me teach you the basic signs that are telling you to replace your shaving device!
Loss of Cutting Efficiency
The gradual loss of efficiency is in the nature of electric razors and usually replacing the foils or blades solve this problem.
But if such replacement isn’t improving the situation, then my dear friend, your razor is trying to tell you that it can no longer perform at the top level.
Increased Irritation
Again, this sign would surface regardless of foil or blade replacement. If every time you shave, your skin starts to irritate, burn or cause ingrown hair, that’s a big omen in the grooming universe.
This means, your motor, foil and blades aren’t performing in sync and such issues can rarely be mitigated. Usually, buying a new razor is the most go-to approach by groomers worldwide.
Frequent Battery Issues
Some consumers are riddled with the issue that their battery is consistently performing out of the ordinary.
By this, I mean that random drop of charge to zero, arbitrarily lowered drop of motor torque and in general an unreliable battery life is the major symptom here.
A large portion of such troubled consumers have replaced the battery and the problem wasn’t solved for around half of this group.
General diagnosis indicates that such battery issues actually stem from a faulty motherboard and the replacement is so expensive that it’s better to invest into a new shaver.
Noticeable Mechanical Issues
Other mechanical issues that you can notice or experience frequently should initially be checked out by an expert.
But there are some problems that cannot be solved and even if there’s a possibility, the cost would be very high.
These issues can range from lowered motor power, faulty battery indicator, misalignment of blades and foil, uncomfortable shaving experience, burning smell while charging etc.
If one, or more than one issues as such seem evident in your razor, then it’s definitely a big sign telling you to grab an upgraded model!
Final Thoughts
We’ve covered a lot of ground while trying to understand ‘how often should you replace your electric shaver?’
My personal opinion is, if the shaver isn’t disrupting your convenient grooming rituals despite showing troubling signs, you should hold on to it.
Yes, exploring other models is definitely something I’d encourage but minor or fixable issues shouldn’t be avoided because buying a good and new razor isn’t economically sound.
Once you’ve reached the point where the faulty shaver cannot be saved or used anymore, that should be the point of heading out to the market to buy a new shaving device!