TheAdvocate's Full Review: Remington Smooth and Silky WDF-5000 Electric Shave...
This year I’ve been helping out at my son’s private school three days a week. One of my new duties is assisting the swimming teacher in classes held down at the local Rec Center. Friday swimming class starts at 1:00 in the afternoon, but I have to be at school at 7 a.m. to unlock the doors and I quickly found that shaving my legs at 5:30 in the morning just wasn’t safe.
What to do, what to do… when you can’t shave the night before and expect the effect to last… when you can’t afford regular salon waxing… and when you can’t see your legs in the shower (because your glasses are sitting on the sink) and you can’t balance on one foot while shaving a blurry leg? You go comparison shopping for electric shavers.
After looking at Braun, Panasonic and Remington products, I chose the Remington because its high-end product was on sale for $50. The high-end offerings of both Braun and Panasonic ranged from $80 - $110 at the Target store in my area.
I chose the Remington WDF-5000 because it sports both foils (for stubble) and trimmers (for longer hair). Personally, I don’t know why anyone would buy a foil shaver alone – what if you got behind in your shaving routine? They probably have their reasons, but I find it useful to have the trimmer feature, which retracts when you don’t need it. This unit is also rechargeable, so I don’t have to shave near an outlet (heck, I can shave in my car if I want to!) or worry about getting my shin bones tangled up in a cord.
Cleaning this shaver is a snap, literally. Make sure it’s turned OFF. Then just push the Head Assembly button on each side of the razor’s top and snap off the trimmer/foils unit. Below the foils are two rows of “cutters.” Swipe them with the cleaning brush (included) and sweep out the interior crevices, snap the head back in place, and you’re good to go. (Note: don’t use the brush to clean the foils, just the interior mechanisms.)
This shaver also comes with a plastic headguard which I promptly threw away. If you’re worried about dust getting in your foil, it might seem useful to you, but I imagined it would live permanently under my bed if I didn’t discard it immediately. When replacing the shaver back in the charging stand, just make sure the green light is on – it doubles as a great night light!
Recommended replacement of the foils is every 6 months, and the internal cutters, once a year. As the foil wears, it can cause skin irritation, and as the cutters wear, you can experience “pulling” and a less-than-close shave. Common sense, really; as always, regular cleaning will reduce wear and tear on any shaver. The Remington WDF-5000 comes with a 2-year warranty and a 30-day money back guarantee; just return the product, with receipt, to the store you purchased it from and Remington reimburses the retailer.
So far I’m very happy with my Remington. I can shave my legs at any time of the day or night (well… within reason), I don’t have to be immersed in water, shaving takes just minutes, and the result is consistently smooth skin. I’ve taken it right to the swimming pool locker room, to shave just minutes before class starts; that’s very convenient. But I do have two complaints: 1] the motor is extremely loud for such a little thing, and 2] because the cutters don’t pull the hair up like conventional razor blades, my legs have the feeling of stubble long before any hair is visible. But for swimming class purposes, this little shaver is working out just fine.
PLEASE NOTE: if you are planning to replace an old, worn-out rechargeable shaver with a new Remington WDF-5000, remember to remove the old rechargeable battery and recycle it, or dispose of it in accordance with your state or local requirements. Don’t dispose of rechargeable batteries in an incinerator or fire bin, as they can release toxic chemicals when burned, and don’t ever try to dismantle or short-circuit a rechargeable battery.
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