Are DE, SE razors inefficient? A serious question

[Wolffer Montauk]

If make only 1 pass against-the-grain, I can get to a BBS shave. I do have to make some touch-ups here and there but only 1 full pass though. This holds true especially for an open-comb DE razor so far. Short strokes and proper angling have reduced the number of passes necessary. Currently, I'm only shaving one-pass with-the-grain every-other-day with a 1904/41C Merkur. I use Barbasol Sensitive Skin, a synthetic brush, and a hot water scuttle.

Cartridge razors worked fine for me on my sides/cheeks but proved harmful everywhere else. I actually started DE shaving after using the precision trimmer on the back of the modern Gillette Fusion Razors as if it were the only razor to be used anywhere. Then, I thought, they've got to make something with just one strong blade and that's how I stepped into DE shaving.

 

[Highspeedlane]

The more dense the growth I have, I find most traditional DE and SE razors that expose only one blade edge at a time to the skin are more efficient than cartridge type razors.

If someone is making the comparison between cartridges and a double edge razor that is considered mild, I can see where they might conclude the multi blade cartridge type razor is more effective.

 

[Pepin]

When I did use cartridges I never had a "one pass shave". It always took several passes to get a good shave. The cartridge were also famous for clogging and causing ingrown hairs.

I find the the DE and Se razors more efficient, easier to rinse out, and they have not cased any ingrown hairs.

 

[Wolffer Montauk]

If I were to buy/use a cartridge razor, it would be the Humble Twin that Dollar Shave Club sells. They seem cheap but good. One of my biggest problems with cartridge blades is that despite good care-taking they loose their edge quickly after 1 shave for me. I use a brand new blade each time I DE shave. It is cheap and eco-friendly. I can have practically 0 plastic impact on the environment.

 

[Esox]

I find a nice sharp DE blade much more efficient than my Mach 3, especially with more than two days growth. If I wait 4 or more days I'd need to make a pass with an electric trimmer before even thinking about using my Mach 3, and even then it would be a painful shave. Not so with a DE, and especially with my Gillette New LC. It does at least 5 times the work my Mach 3 did with longer growth, so for me much more efficient.

For me to get a BBS shave with a Mach 3 I'd need to work through an 8 pack of blades until I got the sharpest one, then with a three pass shave and a lot of buffing ATG on my neck I might get lucky and have BBS or near BBS. With either of my Gillette DE razors and a Polsilver or Feather blade, two passes and clean up on my neck and BBS or very near every time, with much less irritation, a much more comfortable shave and being so few passes with a single blade edge, much better for my skin.

Mach 3 cartridge quality in my experience is spotty at best and as a rule, out of an 8 cartridge pack, I'd get one blade that would last more than a single shave without painful tugging that caused irritation.

At $3.25 per cartridge here, cost is a no brainer. Shave quality is what matters to me and in that regard no cartridge or disposable razor I have ever used can compete with a DE.

 

[vtmax]

DE/SE's are more efficient with multi day growth, (3 days to a week or more.) I would never use a cart on more than 2 days growth. Carts do need more than one pass. Every blade I have tried does. Great shaving brushes and soaps helps eliminates any problem with cartridges or DE's. Most cart users suffer with canned junk.

I own a Wolfman SB, Timeless .68, Rockwell 6S and Mergress right now. Phenomenal shavers. Sure that's just me but who here is still playing that tired game that DE shaving has saved them money? It hasn't.

The cartridge market share reflects that they work for the vast majority of men. Their not being held hostage to carts. Wet shaving just makes them better.

It would be a lot easier if we just admitted we use DE/SE's because we like them and, for some, they give a better shave.

 

[BSAGuy]

YMMV. That's it.

 

[Lightcs1776]

DE/SE's are more efficient with multi day growth, (3 days to a week or more.) I would never use a cart on more than 2 days growth. Carts do need more than one pass. Every blade I have tried does. Great shaving brushes and soaps helps eliminates any problem with cartridges or DE's. Most cart users suffer with canned junk.

I own a Wolfman SB, Timeless .68, Rockwell 6S and Mergress right now. Phenomenal shavers. Sure that's just me but who here is still playing that tired game that DE shaving has saved them money? It hasn't.

The cartridge market share reflects that they work for the vast majority of men. Their not being held hostage to carts. Wet shaving just makes them better.

It would be a lot easier if we just admitted we use DE/SE's because we like them and, for some, they give a better shave.

I still play that game. In fact, I have saved a significant amount of money. I just don't let the addiction bug bite. However, there are far worse things you could spend your money on.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[1kentj]

I am lucky I guess, I can get a fine shave with any of the methods the OP brought up. If I am in a hurry carts give me a fine shave and I am okay with the cost because I no longer use the big name brands. I do like the nostalgia aspect of using an older method though and in this case I think the old ways are much better and a time to pause and think back is relaxing.

 

[Esox]

I still play that game. In fact, I have saved a significant amount of money. I just don't let the addiction bug bite. However, there are far worse things you could spend your money on.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

Yeah me too. My razors have been passed down by my father so no out of pocket cost for them, and so far I've spent $18CAD on a 7 brand blade sample pack, $45CAD on 200 Polsilver SI blades and $20CAD for 2 tubs of Proraso soap, one each White and Green and $15CAD for a new Omega boar brush.

Under $100CAD, in comparison to, $29.97 per 12 Mach 3 blades at Walmart locally, and with what I have now I'll be shaving a while. So even at $150CAD per year for 60 Mach 3 cartridges, the same money spent on soaps, creams and DE blades makes my world a much happier place.

 

[chongo gordo]

The first couple of shaves with a cartridge (I used to use Trac II) were efficient, but left my feeling very raw. After, five or six shaves the same cartridge would be in pretty sad shape but I tried to make the most of them. I honestly don't remember how many shaves I'd get out of them, but it was miserable.

Depending on the equipment a DE can be very efficient. With the various razors I use a WTG pass does 90% of job. ATG pass just smooths it out.

I know some people say they can get a great, shave from even the mildest razor, but I'd have to do multiple passes, which results with the same sort of burning the Trac II gave me.

 

[MntnMan62]

I used cartridge razors for decades before switching to double edge in 2016. My go to razor was the Mach 3. Back then I really didn't know how to approach shaving. But I never was able to do a one pass shave and get a BBS. Frankly, none of my shaves before learning how to really wet shave were BBS. Now that I have been wet shaving for about a year and a half, my elevated technique has now allowed me to take what I learned and apply it to shaving with a cart. Took one with me to Nashville last week and was able to get a BBS shave but it took the same number of passes as I do with a double edge. 3 plus some touch up.

 

[Strayhair]

I use the same number of passes for cartridge or DE. I get a closer shave from DE. I'd have to do an extra pass to get the same result in a cartridge.

 

[RazorMackham]

Another consideration: I went through over a dozen DE sample packs... it was a remarkably-cheap diversion. I experienced a slightly different shave from each one, which seems to be the norm. By the end I had a solid winner (Polsilver SI) and a few very good backup options.

Compare that to my cart experience. After I got sick of buying Fusion carts, I tried out Dollar Shave Club (3 blade cart?)... yowzers. Instant raw, rashy face. I tried one other, pricier DSC cart type, same experience. So I wound up switching from system to system... huge PITA!

Finally found one (800Razors) that worked without lighting my face on fire, although like Fusions I had to do pass after pass after pass in the shower to get a close shave inferior to my current 3-pass DE shaves, and frequent had a mild to moderate rash. Then the company went out of business, and started redirecting its website to another Dorco seller (same carts as DSC)... which is when I started exploring DE.

All that to say that cost aside, DE seems like a much easier way to hone in on your perfect shave... you may expend considerable hassle and expense trying cart systems and never find "the one."

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[SoullessSingularity]

Efficient in what way, though? There is efficient as in you need fewer passes. But there is also efficient as in results, avoiding redness, avoiding ingrown hairs, etc. There is efficient on the wallet (as long as you don't get the hoarding bug). There is efficient by not using so much plastic constantly.

 

[guyakaguy]

I used cartridge razors for decades before switching to double edge in 2016. My go to razor was the Mach 3. Back then I really didn't know how to approach shaving. But I never was able to do a one pass shave and get a BBS. Frankly, none of my shaves before learning how to really wet shave were BBS. Now that I have been wet shaving for about a year and a half, my elevated technique has now allowed me to take what I learned and apply it to shaving with a cart. Took one with me to Nashville last week and was able to get a BBS shave but it took the same number of passes as I do with a double edge. 3 plus some touch up.

I think this is exactly why I destroy disposables when I (infrequently) use them and they, in turn, destroy my face.

For me, trying to achieve the same DE smoothness I get from a Russkie blade and a 58 year old adjustable razor with my old go-to Schick twin is practically an exercise in masochistic futility. I get one passable, but frustrating and irritated/nicked shave and the razor is ready to be filed in the bin.

I don't even want to imagine how pathetically a Mach 3 would do nowadays, which was my previous go-to (before almost a decade using Schick or Wilkinson twins). I remember getting 2-3 weeks out of a cartridge and that was back when I first started shaving, which is coincidentally when the Mach 3 was first released. I remember getting one for Xmas that year that came with a bottle of Cool Wave A/S. Oh the memories...

Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk

 

[ackvil]

If your beard is like mine, it grows in various directions and changes its pattern in various spots. So a five or six blade cartridge does not benefit me. I have to change directions in order to get a smooth shave. Hence a four pass shave for me is what I use. If I were to use a cartridge - and I tried them years ago - in order to get all the hairs I would still need to do a muiltipass shave. Also, the cartridge blades are not very exposed with the result that stubble remained for me.

Further, because of the method used by multiblade cartridge razors the danger of ingrown hairs increases.

 

[Dave Deluxe]

The biggest problem I have with any multi-blade setup is that after the first pass it is that it is generally clogged, which makes it not work well no matter how many passes I do, or what direction I use. If I use my SE "Clog Proof" it is just as the name implies, so I can do as many or as few passes as I want, in any direction, it still works. Also the SE blade has a longer life-span than a multi-blade cartridge, so the blade is sharp much longer, leading to a more satisfying shaving experience. All this without even factoring in the cost.