Shaving razor was essentially a small piece of a straight razor attached to a handle using a clamp mechanism. Before each shave the blade had to be attached to a special holder, stropped with a leather belt, and placed back into the razor. After a time, the blade needed to be honed by a cutler. In 1895, King Camp Gillette invented the double-edged safety razor, which utilised inexpensive, disposable blades sharpened from two sides. It took him until 1901 to build a working, patentable model, and commercial production began in 1903. The razor gained popularity during World War I when the
Electric razor cord to drive a flywheel. Electric shavers fall into two main categories: foil or rotary-style. Users tend to prefer one or the other. Most rotary-style shavers are cordless—they are charged up with a plug charger or they are placed within a cleaning and charging unit. The first person to receive a patent for a razor powered by electricity was John F. O'Rouke with his US patent 616554 filed in 1898. Others followed suit, such as the American manufacturer Col. Jacob Schick who patented their first electric razor in 1930. The Remington Rand Corporation developed the electric razor further, first producing