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Bad 1st shave with Derbys? Try this....

Every 1st shave with a new derby blade is horrible for me so I decided to sort of strop the blade first against my jeans 6 times on each edge... low and behold I had a great shave.

Ive tried this with 3 new blades to ensure that it wasnt just a lucky blade and it doesnt seem to effect performance apart from giving me a MUCH better 1st shave.

Have any of you guys tried this before?
 
Derby's tend to have a 'break in period'. I tried a few of them when they came with my EJ..every first shave with every blade was pretty bad. The second was good..the third was meh.
 
Phew!! Relieved that it wasnt just me going crazy lol.

It was just the 1st shave for that was almost unbearable but now they're great! I suppose its your typical YMMV scenario.
 
The first time i tried them was a couple of years ago and remembered that i preferred them to feathers because they were quite a mild blade. Feathers were way too aggressive for me :scared:
 
Most blades I tried seem more comfortable after the first shave, Derby is no exeption but still a nice first shave.
 
It does not matter what i do to a derby you name it i have probably tried it and it still just kills my face, instead of a BBS i get something similar to a cheese grater shave. Razor burn i don't think so its more like an oxy-acetylene torch got me. I have on the other hand had some luck with the 7-0clock yellows when rubbing them just on my arm give me a OK shave.
 
Was going to suggest corking but it has been suggested :sad:

I don't find the first shave with a Derby objectionable so it is out of the paper, into the razor, and on the face for me
 
It does not matter what i do to a derby you name it i have probably tried it and it still just kills my face, instead of a BBS i get something similar to a cheese grater shave. Razor burn i don't think so its more like an oxy-acetylene torch got me. I have on the other hand had some luck with the 7-0clock yellows when rubbing them just on my arm give me a OK shave.

Whats your go to blade?
 
Not a big fan of Derby's, tried a while back, not impressed and I have no motivation to try them again. I prefer blades that come shave ready. Corking or stropping, to get our DE blades to shave right, hmmmm, too extreme for me. But then again, we all take our hobby to different extremes at times. I have my shaving rituals that others probably would find extreme too.
 
There are a lot of people out there that like Derby's, but Derby's don't work for me. Derby's don't work for me on the first shave or any shave after that. There are to many good blades out there for me to sit around, trying to figure out how to make a Derby work. YMMV.
 
my Go to blade would have to be a tie between astra sp in my merkur and a feather in my edwinn jagger de89 because the 89 is a little milder. but with the feathers in the merkur I tend to get a little burn and the same with the astra in the merkur. I do also use the Gillette blacks from time to time when i can get my hands on them.
 
Was going to suggest corking but it has been suggested :sad:

I don't find the first shave with a Derby objectionable so it is out of the paper, into the razor, and on the face for me

I too get fine shaves from a Derby, I use them in milder Razors like an SS or Fat-Handle Tech.
 
I'd be OK with a quick, simple thing like palm or denim stropping to smooth out a blade.
Much more, though, and it's time to find a new favorite blade.
 
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