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When testing a new razor….

FarmerTan

"Self appointed king of Arkoland"
.. Do you prefer to give it a thorough test by having a heavy growth, like three or four days? Or do you break it in gently with light growth?

My Leaf “The Twig” razor just arrived today but I shaved just shortly before. 😐. I’m really eager to give it a test run but I usually wait for my my stubble to get heavy when trying new razors (and blades.)
I'm kinda the same way.... But if you tend to only shave every other day, that's how I'd test it.
 
.. Do you prefer to give it a thorough test by having a heavy growth, like three or four days? Or do you break it in gently with light growth?

My Leaf “The Twig” razor just arrived today but I shaved just shortly before. 😐. I’m really eager to give it a test run but I usually wait for my my stubble to get heavy when trying new razors (and blades.)
I just do what I normally do, as that’s the best way to test how well the razor will do what I normally do.
 
Except under very rare circumstances, I shave to BBS daily with a not particularly challenging beard. All new razors get that and that alone to prove themselves and I can't really remember a razor I've owned for decades not working for me just like it's supposed to. I do not get the Leaf and other razors in that line. They'd be of zero use to me much less to even experiment with. I am very much a traditional shaver who feels that Gillette had solved shaving for the ordinary Joe by the end of the 1960's and then started screwing things up when they changed to the cartridge razors with the baloney advertising and incredibly increasing costs. Point being, new design razors that stray from a known working mechanism are non-starters. I simply cannot get better shaves than I do already using vintage Gillettes and now, a couple new razors that are just made better but still work on the same design principles.
 
Except under very rare circumstances, I shave to BBS daily with a not particularly challenging beard. All new razors get that and that alone to prove themselves. I do not get the Leaf and other razors in that line. They'd be of zero use to me much less to even experiment with. I am very much a traditional shaver who feels that Gillette had solved shaving for the ordinary Joe by the end of the 1960's and then started screwing things up when they changed to the cartridge razors with the baloney advertising and incredibly increasing costs. Point being, new design razors that stray from a known working mechanism are non-starters. I simply cannot get better shaves than I do already using vintage Gillettes and now, a couple new razors that are just made better but still work on the same design principles.
Should we get off your lawn? 😉
 
I prefer to shave daily, so I just give a new razor a go first thing in the AM. However, I assure that all of my kit is top-notch, especially my shave soap and also use a new ‘top-tier’ blade!
Smart. I think I made a dumb move earlier today when I put a used Feather in a brand new R41. I get along with Feathers just fine but I'd never shaved with an R41.
 
I actually get better shaves with more growth. The test of a razor for me is the daily shave. Sure, more growth means taking more time since I have to rinse and clear the razor and it feels draggy etc. but its much closer and feels smoother with 0 irritation guaranteed (at least for me). Test the razor for your use case. If you shave everyday...shaving a month long beard doesn't really help you in any meaningful way.
 

Star_Wahl_Clipper_Treker

Likes a fat handle in his hand
.. Do you prefer to give it a thorough test by having a heavy growth, like three or four days? Or do you break it in gently with light growth?

My Leaf “The Twig” razor just arrived today but I shaved just shortly before. 😐. I’m really eager to give it a test run but I usually wait for my my stubble to get heavy when trying new razors (and blades.)

You and I are exactly the same when it comes to that. Everytime I test a new razor, I have several days of whiskers growth. You can't really properly test a razors capabilities, if all your asking it to do is half a day, to 1-day of whisker growth. And truth is, when you test a razor out like I do, you might find that some razors will really surprise you.

While it is generally known that open comb razors, do a better job on several day whisker growth, some solid bar razors will genuinely surprise you, as to their overall efficiency. This is exactly what happened to me, when I tested out my new Merkur 37C slant razor. It took down my several day whisker growth, almost as if it were nothing!

Talk about a razor that is both efficient and smooth. Of course, the blade gap on the 37C is huge in comparison to most razors I'd wager, but dang man. If you need a fairly affordable razor that will get the job done on course whisker growth, you can say hello my 37C! LOL! But yeah, multiple day whisker growth, IMO, is the best way to go, when testing razors.
 

Ron R

I survived a lathey foreman
I have lots of different razors & brands and when ever I get a new razor I like to put it through some simple tests that simply indicates quickly what I'm dealing with for aggression and comfort with a known blade (Gillette Astra SP). I should mention that I'm a daily shaver also and some folks claim it is hard to get a consistent shaves and I do not seem to have that issue now. I do a 2 pass shave(WTG + ATG) with pickups and that is all I need to receive a close shave daily.
First thing I do is go through my regular prep & lather my face and then I take a short pass below my side burn WTG and a pass XTG and do a feel test right away, for what ever reason the feel test tells me if the razor has aggression (blade feel) or just a nice easy smooth razor. If it is aggressive than care is needed and I might change my technique to riding the bar to see how the performance can be tamed to my desire outcome. (aggressive razors I like to use a Steep angle(riding the bar with a short handle)
I also do like to do "J" hooking and the Gillette slide as I get more familiar with the razor to see if is nimble or bites, I use to J hook some trouble patches of my beard and it does work if a person remembers it or just change approach tactics a little for those tough areas where the beard grain direction is irregular and tough whiskers.
I also have different method of checking blade exposure on a razor with a USB microscope that kinds of confirms my thoughts better on the razor overall performance. It took a few years to figure & tweaking my simple testing and it works for myself.
Enjoy your new Leaf twig single edge razor!(My reading of others with this razor it is a tame mid range if that matters.)
 
Once you learn the ways of DE shaving, should you want to, you can shave daily to BBS and your face will thank you for it. Once you learn the ways... ;)

Actually, when I first started DE shaving, I did shave everyday using my Gillette Tech razor for about 2 months just to get my technique right so I could get a nice BBS or DFS. It was a perfectly enjoyable experience but as of now it's not necessary for me to be clean shaven every day. In almost two years my technique has improved so much that I can get a BBS or DFS in two passes.
 
Actually, when I first started DE shaving, I did shave everyday using my Gillette Tech razor for about 2 months just to get my technique right so I could get a nice BBS or DFS. It was a perfectly enjoyable experience but as of now it's not necessary for me to be clean shaven every day. In almost two years my technique has improved so much that I can get a BBS or DFS in two passes.
That's amazing that you can get a BBS in two passes. Good on you because I sure can't and I've been doing it decades longer than you, apparently. Maybe your whiskers only grow in two directions? But you first said daily shaving was overkill for your face and liked to give it a rest. My point is that unless someone has skin conditions, daily shaving, done correctly, will benefit your face/skin. If you don't feel like shaving daily, that's another story. I was responding to what you posted about how you test a razor.
 
That's amazing that you can get a BBS in two passes. Good on you because I sure can't and I've been doing it decades longer than you, apparently. Maybe your whiskers only grow in two directions? But you first said daily shaving was overkill for your face and liked to give it a rest. My point is that unless someone has skin conditions, daily shaving, done correctly, will benefit your face/skin. If you don't feel like shaving daily, that's another story. I was responding to what you posted about how you test a razor.

I guess my whiskers aren't as wiry or tough. But again, back to the topic, I suppose if I am really excited to use a new razor, I would use it after one day's growth and probably use it every day until I am used to it. I do have one newer razor I should use more often to get more used to it but sometimes I just want to shave with the old reliable Gillette Tech. 🤣
 
When I test out a new razor that I've just received, I just shave the next day with it. I'm not an everyday shaver and sometimes that means I'll have 1 day of growth or 6 days of growth.

But when I do receive a new razor, I usually shave with it every day for at least a week to get used to it and comfortable. Plus, it's like a kid getting a new toy, I really want to see if it's enjoyable and for me.
 
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