Most adult humans remove unwanted hair from their bodies. The removal method of choice of most people is to shave with a razor. In general, men shave their faces. Women shave various parts of their bodies, including underarms and legs, to remove excess hair. However, there are many drawbacks to conventional razors.
One drawback is the size of the razor head. A standard razor blade, either disposable or replaceable, generally has a shaving surface of less than two inches. Razor blades that have two cutting surfaces, such as double edged razors, do not significantly increase this shaving surface, since the cutting edges are parallel and the second edge merely reshaves that which was shaved by the first edge, making the cut "closer".
Due to the small shaving surface available in conventional shavers, a considerable amount of time is often necessary to effectively remove all (or most) unwanted hair.
A second drawback is the rigidity of the razor head. In conventional razors, when the razor head of a hand held razor is mounted to the handle thereof, the only movement, if any, in the razor head during use is in one direction. Thus the contours of the human body become difficult to shave closely, and repeated strokes of the razor over a given area from different directions becomes necessary. This also increases the time necessary for the use to effectively remove all (or most) unwanted hair.