Shavers.com Blog

Sereez Three dash thReEseveNty

The first round of new Braun shavers have landed with a resounding "thud" at the doorway of Shavers.com. The new "series-3" shavers, as they're called, promise a whole new experience of good shaving fun for all us unbearded boys. Yeah, right. Y'see, there's a problem. Now I hate to start off resoundingly negative, especially when I have yet to touch of those new beauties to my face as of yet. The problem started even before the shavers went into production. As many of you may have noticed, for some reason the Braun company (aka P&G) feels that there are far too few numbers in the universe and therefore must reuse them continuously and promote mass confusion in those who have bought a Braun shaver prior to...well, today.  While this new line has many of these examples, let's focus on one in particular. A shiny new example called the "Braun Series 3-370". Sounds simple enough, right? It's a series 3 shaver and it's the 370 model. What's the problem? The problem is that up until about a month ago (as of this writing) the Braun series 3-370 was a completely different shaver. It was a shaver that used to be called the model "5885" which was changed to "series 3-370" in order to conform to the new naming and numbering system that the young suits at Braun are all frothed up about. Confused yet? No? Don't see the issue here? Wait...it gets better. You see, the "old" series 3-370, formerly the 5885, takes a foil and cutter set called the "5000/6000 series". Why? Because when it was still called the "5885", that made perfect sense to all the existing Braun customers and shaver sellers. 5885=5000 series, and it was good. But then the name was changed to include the words "series 3" which said to existing Braun customers that it must be the 3000 series foil and cutter set that fits that shaver. That would only make sense based on the way Braun did their numbering system for the past 60 years, right? Wrong. Not anymore. So what do we have here? We have a brand new "series 3-370" that just came out to replace the old "series 3-370" that uses a different foil and cutter set (not yet available for sale) that has no relation to the old (5885) model, that comes either with or without a clean & charge system, and no way for the poor customer to officially differentiate the models they have for the purpose of purchasing parts. OH! And did I mention? The number "370" also refers to a Braun pocket shaver that is still out for sale today, but has been officially been renamed the "P70", despite that there are literally thousands of Braun 370 pocket shavers out there with the little "370" imprinted on them. What fun! All summed up, my fine fellows, this is a mess. And not just some crumbs on the table, mind you. We are talking mud on the celling, lost all control of the hose, dog ate the ex-lax kind of mess that makes you want to just suck the thumb and cry for awhile. We'll do the best we can on the website to keep the confusion under control, hopefully Braun will learn from mistake backlash they're going to get from all this. Maybe.

Electric Shavers and Shaving Green

Yeah. Everyone is trying to be "green" now. Minimizing that carbon footprint. Giving back to the earth. All that good stuff.

Okay, so what about shaving with an electric shaver and keeping green? I'm sure there are plenty of "do-gooders" out there who will insist that unless you are shaving with a whittled-down piece of sharpened bamboo and a facefull of plant-fat based lather, then we're doing harm to the planet. And maybe in some way that's true due to the components of an electric shaver: plastic, metal, batteries and motors can all be pollution contributions to the environment.

But, let's look at this another way. The alternative to an electric shaver is some form of blade razor--the most common of which is a plastic disposable razor that is tossed out after a few uses (those of you whittling a piece of bamboo need not read further). Now THAT is pretty bad for the environment too, because the problem with recycling those little blade heads is separating the little metal blade strips from the plastic housings. That presents a difficulty for a recycling company and therefore usually results in the old landfill option.

Now an electric shaver, while composed of many different components of plastic, metal, rubber and other "stuff", offers a greener comparison due to the fact that the typical electric razor lasts anywhere from 3-10 years. Just imagine how many disposable razors get tossed out in that amount of time from a single user. Getting the picture?  Components of an electric shaver are easily separated from one another with the removal of a few screws in order to break the machine down for recycling.

Now sit down, all of you now screaming into your computer screen that Ni-Cad and NMH batteries are located within most shavers and are highly toxic when they leak out into the environment. Yes, I know, I know. BUT do keep in mind that most electronic stores and many gas stations do offer to take used batteries in for recycling at no charge to you. And the removal of those batteries is, in most cases, as easy as two snips of a pair of household wirecutters or even as easy as a good hard pull.

Now some of you may ask; "But who the heck is going to take the time to break down an electric shaver for recycling?"

The unfortunate answer, for the moment, is not many. But the solution to that problem is simply a matter of getting used to doing something. I'm sure that many years ago people thought it a great inconvenience to separate paper from plastic from metal in their household trash, but now it is second nature to many of us. Is it so much to ask to disassemble an electric shaver once every 3-10 years? How long could it take--five to ten minutes? Shame on you, those who think that too much of an inconvenience.

With good intention, a little extra effort and a screwdriver, we can all use our electric shavers knowing that we are contributing to the health of our planet. Happy green shaving.

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