Learn me razors

So I've been using Gillette Mach something or others for as long as I can remember. And its always the same. Maybe a weeks worth of alright shaving, then two weeks of horrible irritating shaving. I've tried different shaving creams, even ones supposedly for delicate skin like mine. Well I'm done with it. Learn me old fashion razors.

ive been using the disposable blue razors all my shaving life. I can't see myself spending $20 for a razor and an additional $15 for refills. The cheap blues work just fine.

When my wife told me how much the disposable blade cartridges for my Gillette were the last tim She got me some I told her I should get my Grandfathers old strait razor out. Look around here http://thefedoralounge.com/ and I am sure you will get an answer. I havent had time betweene work and hanging out here.

Are you doing it right? Are you shaving after, or during a shower? Those are good blades. I have a heavy beard, and got weeks out of those when I was using them. Since I don't have to shave for my job, I gave up, and have been using the shears with no attachment for the last few years, instead. Now I look like Don Johnson

safety razor / end thread.

Disposable in a hot shower. You know where all the parts are by now. I have used this method for years with no problem, no cuts. Cheap razors last me at least a month.

I get no less than 3 months out of my Mach 3 and many times as much as 6 months, but I probably do it differently than you do. I first shave with an electric razor.

The electric razor really cleans up around my mouth better than any the manual razor. It also takes the edge off of the beard so that the Mach 3 takes the rest off with nary a pull or scrape. I finish the shave in the shower using the excess shampoo from my head.

I've tried the 5 bladed razor and they don't seem to do as good a job as the Mach 3.

When my electric razor was new it almost cut as closely as I wanted but now I don't care how sharp my electric one is. All I want it to do is cut around my mouth well and begin the shave process. The current electric one is a very many years old Norelco.

Collectively the 2 together are better than any 1 razor.

I have a friend who was an engineer for Schick. I asked him what their life expectancy on blades was and, as I recall, I think he said it was three days. I'm sure that was driven by the marketing department, but it was interesting to learn what they use as their baseline.

saw an article about a year ago, the death of blades and the key to keeping them alive is water. If you dry them off after use they last longer. I shave both head and face so my razor gets a workout and since I have taken to drying the razor after use I can get a good 3-6 months out of a single cartridge. It does make a difference.

JThw8 wrote: saw an article about a year ago, the death of blades and the key to keeping them alive is water.

Stainless steel doesn't rust, it pits.

My dad used to drop his safety razor in a baby food jar of baby oil and his lasted quite a bit longer that way. Shake mine off well off and then lay it face up on the ledge of the shower window.

Straight razor for the best shave, but I'm too lazy for that. I use Gillette 2 or 3 blade disposables. They seem to make the best sense financially. Also, be sure to shave during or immediately after a shower.

Being in college, I can let it go until it bothers me (or the girlfriend makes me). Right now its actually No-Shave-November, so it looks really really bad right now.

Go backwards with it against the palm of your hand after every few uses and it will stay sharp. I used a Mach 3 with reasonable results. I own a straight razor, and it worked, but my chin is really hard to shave (tried it at a barber, too, she took just as long, like 20 minutes just for my chin) and the rest of it, even without the chin, takes like 30 minutes with the straight razor, and according to my wife, wasn't any better. I'll ship it to you for shipping costs if you want to try it, but it sits there on a shelf at my house. The best thing I found is real soap. I bought artisan soap from Etsy. Two different vendors, two different soaps. They both sold me a large block of soap and a sample of something else for like $4. Seriously. And they were fantastic. They even smell good (one is cinnamon) and they work better if you have a brush and a little patience. Plus, if you're an environmentalist, you can feel better not using aerosol and throwing away can after can. I am not, and it sure is a benefit to me.

DukeOfUndersteer wrote: ive been using the disposable blue razors all my shaving life. I can't see myself spending $20 for a razor and an additional $15 for refills. The cheap blues work just fine.

Same. Buy a pack of disposables and forget it. Soap and water are plenty of lubricant. There's no need for sissy aftershaves.

mtn wrote: Right now its actually No-Shave-November, so it looks really really bad right now.

No shave november, i let it get a bit grown in but everyone kept asking me to grow it out...well i did. so far i love it.

Damn, I'll have to start drying my razor now...

I've had my closest shaves using shaving oil instead of cream or gel, but it's slower and a bit fiddly, so I usually stick to barbasol. I've used the Mach III for a few years now and its my favorite mass-market razor so far. I rinse and dry off my razor after each use to help it keep its edge, and go through two or three a month.

I use a Merkur double edge and shave soap with a brush.

Try it and you'll never go back.

Plus, a pack of 10 blades costs less than $10.00 and lasts me a year. These multi-blade widgets are a rip-off.

Shawn

Yeah, I think your doing it wrong, use shaving foam, the cheapest stuff works the best(works great for gun cleaning as well), and in the shower as previous posted. I use disposable blades, wet my face in a steamy hot shower, apply a generous amount of foam against the grain so that the hairs stand up at as close to a right angle to your skin as you can, then shave as normal, rinsing the blade in the running shower to clear the blade or hair every pass or two.

A non-fogging mirror for the shower helps alot, but I am tall enough to see over the shower door, thus I don't need one. If you feel the need to prevent a possible 5 o'clock shower, after you are done going with the grain, go against the grain, it "pulls" the hairs more and will dull the blade faster, but gets a closer shave.

There are products out there designed to sharpen or extend the life of a disposable razor but I have not tried them myself, as I rarely shave. Razor sharpener from Lehmans

!.) Dry the blades - do the Karate Kid hand drum thing to shake it all off.

2.) Strop it against your forearm or palm (run it backwards - eg: in the non-shaving direction) several times after it's dry.

I always shave within a few minutes of getting out of the shower. I go with grain, which means going up on my next and down on my face. I rinse the blade after every pass in hot water. I think I may go back to using an electric razor. Wet shaving gets me two or three in grown hairs and a lot of irration. Gotta try the in the shower method.

Drew, trust me on this one. The people that are saying to use the Gillette disposables are speaking truth.

I had huge irritation with my old Mach 3, then my Schick Quattro. I went to the 20 pack of Gillette "Good News" razors for like $5, and i haven't had any irritation since.

Amusingly, the blades also get clogged less often since there's more space between, so i can shave faster, and it also seems to be a closer shave.

It's a win win win win situation.

I used a double edge safety razor for years, and still insist it's the best shave, but taking it apart to dry it all out takes more time that I seemed to have for a while there. Swapped to Mach 1 and hated them. Swapped to the disposable Schick 3-blade jobbies and have been using them for years.

The trick is to knock all of you hair out from between the blades and rinse thoroughly so it all dries evenly when you are done. I think the gap between the blades is just a bit bigger on the Schick ones, which lets them clean out more easily than the Mach 1s. I suspect that's also why regular shaving cream works better than the gel, it's thinner and easier to clean up and rinse out.

If you still have a bunch of Mach 1 blades maybe you should grab a bar of shaving soap and a brush. They are still available almost everywhere, and the foam you get is lighter still than regular shaving cream. I used to use it on the sub because the aerosol requirements were so wacky it was easier to not worry about it than figure out what I could use. Same bar has been bouncing around for years, thousands of shaves, I just tossed it in the bottom of a tiny Tupperware container and seal the lid when done. Easier to use when flying too, since it's just a bar of soap.

I use Mach 3s. I love them.

But what I don't get is how sometimes I'll get a blade that works well for about a week, and other times I'll get one that lasts six to eight months.

I generally shave every other day (in the shower) using Dove soap and I pitch my cheapo Schicks after one week's use. I can tell they're dull after three uses.

Due to this thread I tried an experiment this morning. Instead of using the electric razor first I shaved with a brand new blade in the shower. It made me remember why I began using the electric razor first, it almost totally eliminates the pull.

I don't have the toughest beard as I'm blonde, but I do have sensitive skin so comfort is an issue with me. I have a faint hint of 5 o'clock shadow when I shave with just a blade or just the electric razor, but put them together and the shave is much more comfortable and there's no 5 o'clock shadow.

There are probably as many blades and techniques that work as there are types of skin and beard. A heavy beard probably does demand a lot of cleaning of the blade or blades that are far apart as in a double blade.

BTW my wife uses those gillette double bladed disposable thingys on her legs and I've tried them. They are medieval instruments of torture compared to the Mach 3.