Super smooth shave

Tom Suddard wrote: Here's the answer: https://www.dollarshaveclub.com I'm on the $6-every-other-month plan and love it.

My own experiences with them were less than great.

Shipping costs nearly tripple the actual cost.

The blades are mediocre and the razor itself is junk. Very awkward angle to work with.

While they are great at billing the credit card every 30 days, they are nowhere near as good at actually shipping blades that frequently. I was getting them roughly every 45-60 days.

I emailed them a few times (like 2 times) about this delay, never got a response.

After a few months, they dropped me. Quit shipping blades and then quit billing my card.

I paid for something like 6 months, got three sets of blades.

No intention of doing business with them again.

Osterkraut wrote: Sorry man, you can't claim a year and a half from a safety razor, normal facial hair growth, and also claim to hate dull blades, even if you strop the berkeley out of them. Not to mention the TIME lost. I'm all for being frugal, but when a year's worth of beautiful Feather blades is $20, you're not seeing the ROI. I had completely forgotten about your "pre-shaving" too... man, you crazy. It wouldn't be bad if you just kept that crazy to yourself, but trying to con your fellow GRMers into it... Life is too short and my face is too pretty to deal with a 3 act play and dull blades every time I shave!

So don't do it. No one's trying to make you do it.

I do it because it works. Stropping is only one aspect, it's the combination of things that keeps the blades sharp. For grins I put a new blade in my razor to try and see the difference. There was a difference, the glide strips were higher on the new blade which made it tougher to get a close shave.

Comfort was the same which tells me the blade's not dull yet because I take care of it so I put the old blade back on.

We share on this forum and help each other out. I have no idea what Feather blades are, but I'll look them up. If they are the double sided safety razor blades I won't try them because I know they don't do as good a job as the multi blades that are the norm nowadays. They nick a lot more and like I said, I have sensitive skin so I want smooth and easy.

carguy123 wrote: I do it because it works. Stropping is only one aspect, it's the combination of things that keeps the blades sharp. For grins I put a new blade in my razor to try and see the difference. There was a difference, the glide strips were higher on the new blade which made it tougher to get a close shave.

There's works, and then there's works and makes sense! But shine on, you crazy diamond.

1988RedT2 wrote:

DrBoost wrote: While I am fat, and do occasionally wear wool, I'm not affiliated with Mitchells Wool Fat Soap.

This is funny.

Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all weeks folks.

Who am I kidding, this place is my life. I'll be forEVAR!!

carguy123 wrote:

Osterkraut wrote: Sorry man, you can't claim a year and a half from a safety razor, normal facial hair growth, and also claim to hate dull blades, even if you strop the berkeley out of them. Not to mention the TIME lost. I'm all for being frugal, but when a year's worth of beautiful Feather blades is $20, you're not seeing the ROI. I had completely forgotten about your "pre-shaving" too... man, you crazy. It wouldn't be bad if you just kept that crazy to yourself, but trying to con your fellow GRMers into it... Life is too short and my face is too pretty to deal with a 3 act play and dull blades every time I shave!

So don't do it. No one's trying to make you do it. I do it because it works. Stropping is only one aspect, it's the combination of things that keeps the blades sharp. For grins I put a new blade in my razor to try and see the difference. There was a difference, the glide strips were higher on the new blade which made it tougher to get a close shave. Comfort was the same which tells me the blade's not dull yet because I take care of it so I put the old blade back on. We share on this forum and help each other out. I have no idea what Feather blades are, but I'll look them up. If they are the double sided safety razor blades I won't try them because I know they don't do as good a job as the multi blades that are the norm nowadays. They nick a lot more and like I said, I have sensitive skin so I want smooth and easy.

I'm not saying you don't make a blade last a year cuz maybe you do. If you do, more powah to ya for sure! I'm sure everyone's facial hair is different. Mine must be iron or something because I've never gotten more than maybe 6 shaves out of a blade before I notice degraded performance. By the 10th shave (if I try to push it) I'm cutting myself bad.

As far as nicking yourself with the DE blades, it's a combination of the blade, the soap/creme and the technique. I had to remember that the head is fixed, so my wrist can't be. That helped a lot. Some blades (like the Wilkinson Sword) are more aggressive, some (like the Feather) are less aggressive. Then, the biggest difference (for me at least) is the creme soap. I don't remember what I was using before, but it was fine. Then my wife got some stuff that was terrible. I'd cut myself around the shirt-collar area bad! Now I have this wool fat soap and man, it's great! No more cuts, even on the razor bumps that still exist from the last crap I tried.

I just posted this because I know there's guys here that are looking for a better/different way, and I know you're not knocking any of this.

I just shaved this morning for the first time with a SINGLE edged safety razor that I bought at an antique store for $8 (with bakelite case!). I'd been considering trying the traditional route for a while, then read this thread, then saw the razor this weekend. It's taken me a few days to round up the supplies - preshave, brush, soap, fresh blades, post shave balm....

First attempt was this morning. Not the best shave I've ever had, but I didn't filet my head, so I'll count it as a win. I expect to get better with practice, and I did enjoy the process.

Strangely, there is very little support ( or blades) available for single edge safety razors - all the kids are using double edge. The razor I bought is a Gem Micromatic, circa 1940. I found pretty good soap locally, but I'm keeping this link to the Wool Fat stuff, it sounds nice.

Dr. Boost if your facial hair is like steel wool then you, of all people, need to go to the extra trouble to make your blades last & to give you a comfortable shave.

I'm just a wuss, I like my comfort. Also I used to shave off the edges of my lips when I tried to get those little tiny hairs all around the mouth that bugged me. That hasn't happened to me in the longest time, the elec. pre-shave takes care of that. It also makes the shave much more comfortable and helps a lot with manual blade life cause it's not working so hard and therefore not getting dull as quickly.

Put me in the electric club. Plug in, buzz away, done in 2 minutes or less. Pop in new blades every 8 months or so.

Gearheadotaku wrote: Put me in the electric club. Plug in, buzz away, done in 2 minutes or less. Pop in new blades every 8 months or so.

If I do an electric razor till my face is smooth then I get a rash, but if I do a manual razor I miss spots, cut my lips and it's not comfy at all.

In reply to Gearheadotaku:

I can stop up an electric like a mower hitting a tree stump.

ultraclyde wrote: Strangely, there is very little support ( or blades) available for single edge safety razors - all the kids are using double edge. The razor I bought is a Gem Micromatic, circa 1940. I found pretty good soap locally, but I'm keeping this link to the Wool Fat stuff, it sounds nice.

GEM blades. I have used my GEM for at least 3 years and finally got a double to try feather's . Shaved with the double today and I still prefer my single with GEM blades