Scored an amazing haul today and with it was a nice Gem G-Bar many of you are familiar with. Put in one of those coated blades and went to work. Usual prep with PSGT went WTG and ATG. So far good. Relathered again went ATG and BAM! I started to look like a porcupine sat on my face. Seven weepers where I shaved and counting. Never happened to me on any razor. Not even an OC. I stopped, switched to my Future to finish up and by the end of the shave all the weepers had disappeared. Man, NOT what I was expecting.
Alright Losers, what happened with my first SE shave?
- Thread starter rxonmymind
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Did you get the bade positioned correctly in the head? If you are not careful you can get it on TOP of the side stops which would make it like a straight razor not a safety razor.
Just shaved with my push button GEM tonight (midnight shave). Close comfortable, no weepers, no irritation at all. Closer shave then I have gotten with any DE or straight razor. AND the push button is not supposed to be all that good of a SE razor either. AND I am on shave 7 with the same blade....
Just shaved with my push button GEM tonight (midnight shave). Close comfortable, no weepers, no irritation at all. Closer shave then I have gotten with any DE or straight razor. AND the push button is not supposed to be all that good of a SE razor either. AND I am on shave 7 with the same blade....
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- #3
Hey Turtle!
Yup loaded fine. It's a no brainer. The only thing I did differently than usual is I did one less pass than usual before my ATG. So must have pulled a lot of hairs out of the pores instead of cutting?
Yup loaded fine. It's a no brainer. The only thing I did differently than usual is I did one less pass than usual before my ATG. So must have pulled a lot of hairs out of the pores instead of cutting?
Did you use a very shallow angle (5° is what most SE razors like instead of 30° that a DE likes). It almost feels like the top of the head is against your face when it is at the correct angle.
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- #5
Yup. I remember I had to get the head real close and thought how cool it was. But come to think about it I'm not sure if I did this ATG. Hmm. It certainly gave a great DFS shave. But going for that BBS hurt. Lots of scraping ...
Maybe your blade was a dud? The G bar is as mild as a superspeed but with a se blade......
I actually reach for that when I need to shave and my skin is kind of not up for shaving.... Something was up... That handle design kind of forces you to use correct angle with and against.
I have had a few weepers myself from the coated blades, usually on the first shave. Never had a problem with the G-Bar or Push Button though, they seem to work just for me in those two.
i would bet cash money, the head angle against your skin was off. when shaving wtg, or (down) the handle needs to point at the wall instead of the floor... in other words, the head needs to be almost flat against skin. When going to SE this can be the speedbump most de users run into. Result, drag and pull. Think of an SE as a minny straight. entire blade almost flat against skin, short motion, rinse repeat.
I've noticed some of my old SE razors are not square and plumb...I guess from drops, abuse, tossed around. Fortunately, all but one still seem to function OK but I can see where this could make for some unpleasant shaves if the problem is severe enough.
I'm betting that it was because it was a new blade. I have found that the first shave with a SS blade tend to be on the harsh side. Ted Pella's are even worse. Don't pass judgment on the SE shave until at least the 3rd shave.
I keep hearing this, and I have to say, it is just fuzzy logic. I should not have to wait until shave number three to have a good shave.
I have been having the same problem with the Ted Pella's, it is not until shave three do they start showing signs of being a good blade. So with that being said, what are we suppose to do for shaves one and two, just suffer through them?
Not sure if corking will work or not but having two bad shaves before having a good one is not acceptable in my book.
+1. Can't accept that. I had my fill of razor burn, rash, bleeders and weepers from carts. That's why I wet shave now.
I don't know what you mean by fuzzy logic, but, since you are having the same issue that I and a couple others are having, sthere has to be some merit to what I'm saying. To me, the Ted Pella's are a harsher shave than the Walgreen's Gem SS blades. As for what to do? All I can think of is not to use them. Just go with either the normal Gem SS or maybe try the carbons out. We are kind of limited by our blade selection. Or you can do a quick 2 pass to help age the blade before going for the all out BBS. I'm sorry I can't be any more of help but that's all I've got until we find a new blde somewhere.
I agree that the first shave off the Ted Pella's can be harsh but smooths out about shave 3.
I have been trying "corking" by very lightly pulling (no pressure) the edge through the corner of my shavestick lid. (OK, not really through; it barely bites in, it just skates on it) It's a polypropylene material like milk jug stuff. I think it came from MamaBear. I suspect that works as well as corking does. I do a bit of hand strop after as well. that seems to make the first shave less harsh, and doesn't reduce the number of shaves I can get.
I have been trying "corking" by very lightly pulling (no pressure) the edge through the corner of my shavestick lid. (OK, not really through; it barely bites in, it just skates on it) It's a polypropylene material like milk jug stuff. I think it came from MamaBear. I suspect that works as well as corking does. I do a bit of hand strop after as well. that seems to make the first shave less harsh, and doesn't reduce the number of shaves I can get.
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- #16
Boy, I opened a can of worms.
These are fine blades for DFS WTG and XTG passes thus making them a great quick five minute weekender blades, which btw are much better than carts! The prep & lather took longer than the shave. Anyhow, the eighteen blades should last a loooooooooooooong time at this pace
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These are fine blades for DFS WTG and XTG passes thus making them a great quick five minute weekender blades, which btw are much better than carts! The prep & lather took longer than the shave. Anyhow, the eighteen blades should last a loooooooooooooong time at this pace:
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How bad was your first DE shave?
Thinking about, those of us that have strops and blade holders could just run the blade on the strop a couple of times befwore the first shave. I have 1 Pella left that was PIFd to me. I'll try ut tomorrow and give you guys the run down.
this would sort of defeat the PTFE coating I would think. Couple of laps on the strop and it would be straight stainless with no coating.
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