Razor - Safety Razors

Safety Razors

The first safety razor protected the skin from all but the very edge of the blade and was invented in the late 19th century by a Frenchman, Jean-Jacques Perret, who was inspired by the joiner's plane. In 1875, it was marketed by the Kampfe Brothers as "the best available shaving method on the market that won’t cut a user, like straight steel razors."

In 1901, the American inventor King Camp Gillette, with the assistance of William Nickerson, invented a safety razor with disposable blades. Gillette realized that a profit could be made by selling an inexpensive razor with disposable blades. This has been called the Razor and blades business model, and has become a very common practice for a wide variety of products.

There are also safety razors that are made of inexpensive materials that are meant to be wholly disposable. One device was invented in 1963 by American entertainer and inventor Paul Winchell.

Sandvik is one of the world's leading manufacturers of razor blade steel for safety razors. Martensitic stainless chromium steel is delivered as cold-rolled strip steel with close dimensional tolerances and high accuracy on flatness and straightness.