A razor is a bladed tool primarily used in the removal of body hair through the act of shaving.

These were made of bronze or obsidian and were generally oval-shaped, with a small tang protruding from one of the short ends.

Excavations in Egypt have unearthed solid gold and copper razors in tombs dating back to the 4th millennium BC.

[4] Several razors as well as other personal hygiene artifacts were recovered from Bronze Age burials in northern Europe and are believed to belong to high-status individuals.

[5] The Roman historian Livy reported that the razor was introduced in ancient Rome in the 6th century BC by the legendary king Lucius Tarquinius Priscus.

Benjamin Huntsman produced the first superior hard steel grade, through a special crucible process, suitable for use as blade material in 1740, though it was first rejected in England.

[9] Barbers were specially trained to give customers a thorough and quick shave, and a collection of straight razors ready for use was a common sight in most barbershops.

They were immensely successful because of advertising campaigns and slogans denigrating the straight razor's effectiveness and questioning its safety.

[10] The blades were extremely hard to sharpen, were meant to be thrown away after one use, and rusted quickly if not discarded.

The blade can be made of either stainless steel, which is slower to hone and strop, but it is easier to maintain since it does not stain easily, or high carbon steel, which hones and strops quickly and keeps its edge well, but rusts and stains easily if not cleaned and dried promptly.

Handle scales are made of various materials, including mother-of-pearl, celluloid, bone, plastic, and wood.

[13] The invention was inspired by the joiner's plane and was essentially a straight razor with its blade surrounded by a wooden sleeve.

[13] An early description of a safety razor similar in form to the ones used today is found on William Samuel Henson's 1847 patent application for a comb tooth guard.

The blade on the double-edged safety razor is slightly curved to allow for a smoother and cleaner shave.

This has been called the razor and blades business model, and has become a very common practice for a wide variety of products.

Even today, these various securing forms still persist in their variety in DE razors, all accepting the same universal blade design.

[18] Disposable safety razors are highly similar in design to cartridge razors, constructed from inexpensive materials (most commonly injection molded polycarbonate)[citation needed], yet are meant to be wholly disposable after use with no blade sharpening or replacement possible.

[21] Industrial production of electric razor machines started in 1937 by the US company Remington Rand based on the patent of Jacob Schick from 1928.

Applications include detailed carpentry work like sanding and scraping (in a specialized holder), paper cutting for technical drawing, plumbing, and finish work such as grouting and cleaning, and removing paint from flat surfaces such as panes of glass.