Wet shaving

[KenR]

Originally Posted by Coleman

Seriously, Ken. I've only ever owned my one and only DE razor, and I've been at it for over a year. Do you want us to try to find you some help?

Yes...

Actually I am pretty much set with my 8 razors, 6 of which are vintage Gillettes. Will be adding one more to my brush collection though.

[FrankDC]

Originally Posted by CM Wolff

My wetshaving kit usually includes:

• Multiblade disposable
• "Best" badger brush from Crabtree
• Trumper violet, Taylors of Old Bond Street rose, Truefitt & Hill west indian limes, or Dr. Harris almond shave creams
• Dr. Harris Pink aftershave
• Thayer's peach witch hazel
• Clubman Osage Rub
• Lucky Tiger or Taylors Bay Rum
• Trumper sandalwood or extract of limes skin food

That's not a kit, it's a lifestyle. But man I bet you smell good afterwards.

Personally I use a Gillette II razor, some Barbasol and hot water, and Nivea for Men Extra Soothing Balm (great stuff btw) left on a few minutes, then rinsed off lightly. Takes about 6-7 minutes and I haven't had a single nick in years.

[Oxonian]

Originally Posted by nolan50410

While in college I used drugstore shave products with Mach 3 blades. It wasn't pretty. For a couple years after college, I switched to a DE Merkur and used various soaps and creams mixed with a little pre shave oil and a badger brush.

I eventually found it too time consuming. It certainly provided for a less irritating shave, but not really any closer then a Mach 3. I've since compromised a bit and use the Mach 3 again, but I buy very high quality modern shaving products. I mostly use Jack Black products, but have some Kiehl's and Anthony as well. The trick is I shave in the shower, which really opens the pores and makes things easier.

I was spending 20 or so minutes shaving the old school way. I much prefer 6 or 7 minutes, with virtually the same end result.

I use a Mach 3 but shave immediately after leaving the shower, so my skin is still pretty wet, pores open, etc. This may not be full-on trad but is definitely a big improvement over what I used to do, which was just put shaving cream directly on dry skin.

[LanceW]

Add me as another happy user of the Merkur HD and Old Post Road Shaving Soap. I prep my face with a few minutes to a wet, hot towel.

[agnash]

With a brush from Trumpers.

I switched to a Merkur DE safety razor about 5 years ago. I have a heavy beard, with a bit of a curl to it. I was tired off the razor burn I got from my Gillette 5000 Mach Hyperspace Piece of Plastic. It has been great. I do get a closer shave, because I can shave more closely without irritating my skin. A couple of years ago a dermatologist told me that single baldes are far better for men with sensitive skin, heavy beards, or both. It creates less skin irritation, and does a better job of keeping the beard from growing back as ingrown hairs. I have definitely seen this from personal experience.

[OPROCo]

Originally Posted by eagle2250

So far it has been working quite well for me, affording a close and comfortable shave and (knock on wood), no skin irritation to date! I did find that the soap tends to dry too quickly to soap both sides of your face at one time. Knowing the soap was drying, I was inclined to rush my shaving and incurred several nicks in the process. So, having learned from the experience, I soap one side of my face at a time and take the time necessary to good a close, and yet bloodless, shave!

I soap up with Old Post Road and do a with-the-grain pass, and then wet the face and neck with a bit of hot water; that tends to restore the lubrication for me and I get in an against-the-grain pass; then one more rewetting for an across-the-grain pass. By the time I get to this point the whiskers are cut close. After the second rewetting the face and neck seem to remain wet enough to finish up the hard to reach areas (mostly sides of neck and sides of larynx).

Since using the stuff I've become a lot more conscience of how the cartridge razor cuts as opposed to a double edge. It's really true that the cartridge lifts and cuts, as opposed to the safety razor, which just seems to shave the surface of the skin and everything else in its path. I've played around with using a double edge for the final pass; I like the feel but it becomes too much effort to keep track of two razors for a shave. The cartridge works well, and I don't have any complaints, but it's a different cut. I also find using OPR and a cartridge I don't need to do anything to the skin after the shave. If I use a double edge, I'll need the witch hazel.

The other thing I've become aware of is the width of the razor blade, or the swath of a shaving pass. I'm convinced I could do better in some areas with a razor about half the width of a Sensor or a double edge. I don't know who decided on what the optimum swath of a shaving pass should be, but the neck and the face seem to me to require two wholly separate approaches to shaving.

I've toyed around with the notion of prototyping a narrower blade. There's no shortage of machine shops in this area, but my wife already thinks I'm crazy. And I think it would be too much to use more than one razor for a shave.

But on the other hand ...

[FrankDC]

Razors like most everything else these days are extensively field tested. You may find a blade half as wide as a standard blade is difficult to keep straight enough to avoid nicks.

[eagle2250]

Originally Posted by OPROCo

I soap up with Old Post Road and do a with-the-grain pass, and then wet the face and neck with a bit of hot water; that tends to restore the lubrication for me and I get in an against-the-grain pass; then one more rewetting for an across-the-grain pass. By the time I get to this point the whiskers are cut close. After the second rewetting the face and neck seem to remain wet enough to finish up the hard to reach areas (mostly sides of neck and sides of larynx).
.............
...

Do you wet your face, prior to applying the OPRo soap? I have too date, been wetting my face, applying the soap and the reapplying warm water and soap, as necessary to keep things wet and lubricated. I will definitely give your approach a try.

[OPROCo]

I wet my face and neck with hot water, several times.
Then two pumps and rub that in. Then a third pump, and I start shaving.

As the soap sits on the whiskers it will soften them. For 2-4 day old growth I tell guys to let the soap dry on the whiskers for about 30 seconds, and then rewet thoroughly and add another pump or two and then start the shave.

I don't know of anything that can prep a 2-4 day old beard any better than this. Whiskers go from wire brush to wet spaghetti, and the shave is completely painless and very close.

If you use a cartridge, the second and third pass typically will not require any more soap, just rewetting to keep the lubrication sufficient.

If you use a DE, you will need to add another pump of soap for additional passes. That's just the nature of how the DE shaves.

[eagle2250]

^^
Thanks, I will give that approach a try!

Chuck

[ctt]

How often do you have to change a DE blade?

[smujd]

Originally Posted by ctt

How often do you have to change a DE blade?

I change mine weekly. I've gone longer a copuple of times (ran out of blades and didn't get aorund to getting new ones immediately), but I'd say 6-8 shaves is the upper end for most.

[Coleman]

Originally Posted by ctt

How often do you have to change a DE blade?

This seems to be a pretty personal thing as well. I change mine every Monday.

[eagle2250]

I find myself getting tree to five shaves from a blade, between changes.

[sowilson]

Originally Posted by ctt

How often do you have to change a DE blade?

Depends on the blade. I change my Red IP's every 3-4 days (Tue & Fri), Feathers 5 days.

[KenR]

I change blades after 4 shaves. At at approx. 30-40 cents per blade, it is a rather cheap investment, especially compared to other components of shaving, such as brushes and razors.

[fat paul]

Murkur classic, Vulfix pure badger brush, In the cup is home made soap. Finish with Pinaud bay rum. My blade of choice is American made Persona. I change blades once a week. I strap the blade before putting it in the razor to take off any burrs
cheers, fat paul

[sause]

I face lather with a Omega boar brush loaded with Tabac soap. I really do love the stuff. I mostly only go against the grain with my straight razor. Because of the why my hair grows it makes it almost pointless to go with the grain, especially around the chin.