PanasonicPanasonic

Would it not be great if your car can wash itself, change its oil, and refill its own gas tank? How about your clothes? Do they wash, dry, and fold themselves? Man, life would be so much easier if they did! This is one area where electric razors are ahead of cars. Ever since Braun came out with their "clean and charge" system, it seems that razor manufacturers have found ways to make razors maintain themselves with very little effort on the user's part. Panasonic's system is called Hydraclean. This review is about the cleaning cartridge for the Panasonic Hydraclean system.It is hard to write about the cleaning cartridge without mentioning the Hydraclean system. After all, together they make up the cleaning system. One is only as good as the other. Let me say that the cleaning system does exactly what it claims to be able to do. It cleans, lubricates, dries, and recharges the electric razor automatically. The Panasonic system uses a very sophisticated process to do this. Instead of simply pumping liquid cleaning fluid from the cartridge to the razor stand, this Panasonic uses a solid detergent. The Panasonic WES035P is a solid detergent block with a small filter. The cleaning stand has a small, removable water tank. The cleaning system dissolves the detergent with the water, and then the water is pumped upwards to the razor. The razor is inserted upside down in the cleaning stand, by the way. At that point, the razor is cycled on and off. The liquid mixture washes away debris and captures them in the filter. After a set time, warm air circulated around the razor heads to speed up drying time. The detergent leaves behind a film of lubricant.The Braun system uses an alcohol-based liquid. It also does a fine job of maintaining your razor. However, the alcohol has a tendency to evaporate, whether you use it or not. As soon as you open the seal on the cartridge, its useful life starts evaporating away. The Panasonic system does not evaporate, and you only use up its life when you actually clean the razor. So the Panasonic system does have its advantages over the Braun. The Braun cleaning stand is also sensitive to being moved, as the liquid can spill out of the cartridge. The Panasonic system is less-susceptible to that, since the cleaner is in solid form and the water tank is capped. However, you do have to change out the water in the tank. You can empty out the tank every time you replace the cartridge. And if you live in an area where the water is hard, I recommend that you not use water straight from the tap. You might want to buy a gallon of distilled water to refill your tank, which should last for over a year if you change out your cartridge each month.I highly recommend the Panasonic Hydraclean system. It makes maintaining your razor a breeze. It does not get easier than this. The solid detergent that comes in the cartridges do have advantages over alcohol-based cleaners. And the price is very reasonable. I "subscribe" here at Amazon. The plan is for me to have a three-pack shipped to me every three months.

I've been using a Panasonic wet/dry shaver and the Vortex cartridges for 25 years or more. With long-time storage the cleaning cartridges become yellow-brown discolored (present when you open the foil), so don't buy more than a year's supply. I get 2 months or more out of each cartridge - and here's how. I run the cleaning cycle only when I charge the shaver. Since I no longer shave daily, that's probably once every 10 days or so. Yet, my shaving heads are spotlessly clean and bright with NO SHAVING CREAM RESIDUE on them at all. After every shave, I remove the shaving head cover, squirt a little LIQUID HAND SOAP on the blades, replace the cover and run the razor 15-20 seconds before rinsing with the cover off. This works because liquid hand soaps contain a chemical that keeps the soap in the liquid phase and also dissolves the white haze that otherwise collects on the blades, the inside of the cover and anywhere else your shaving cream settles! If you have a dense layer of shaving cream residue on your shaver, blades, etc, make a solution of liquid hand soap in a glass and place the removeable head of your razor in it overnight. The following day, lightly brush the inside and the blades with an old, soft toothbrush under warm water. You will have a new-appearing razor that also works like new. Mind your shaving cream, as well. The dense gel creams (like Edge) are a poor choice: they slow down the shavers blades, tax the motor (think "earlier replacement") and leave the most residue on the blades and inside casing. Semi-liquid shaving creams (like Neutrogena Shave Cream) work best, don't overwork your shaver's motor and leave the least residue on your shaver's blades. Whatever shave cream you use, apply only a THIN layer - remember, its primary job is to lubricate the process, not to melt your beard!

It seems like most of these reviews are more about the shaver than the product. Is the cleaning cartridge necessary and are there less expensive ways to clean your shaver? Maybe, maybe not. But don't give the cartridges a lower rating based on that. I put off buying new cartridges for months, but finally caved. Boy am I glad I did. My shave improved infinitely immediately.The cartridges do exactly what they claim to. They do a great job of cleaning my shaver and 10 bucks for three is a steal considering they last for a couple months. Panasonic recommends changing them every month, but I can usually last a bit longer without my shave suffering much. I'm also glad the cartridge fits so many different models. It would be extremely annoying if I had to search for a specific type and then probably pay more since it wasn't standardized. But for $10? I definitely can't complain. I don't understand why people are complaining about the price and product life. You bought a $200 shaver but can't afford $10 every six months to keep it nice and in good working condition?Anyway, mini-rant over. Overall this works great and lasts a long time. Definitely worth it for the price. Very easy to install with the included directions. Highly recommended.