Carts vs DE Razors - Pros and cons of both

[RayClem]

Straight razors, single edge razors, double edge razors, cartridge razors and electric shavers/trimmers are all tools to accomplish a purpose. I use all of them.

1. I use an electric shaver/trimmer to trim my sideburns, eyebrows, and mustache and to remove hair from my ears and nostrils.
2. I keep a cartridge razor in the shower to shave the back of my neck a few times each week.
3. I shave my face with some combination of straight razors, SE razors and DE razors.

Perhaps you could use a single tool to accomplish everything, but I find it easier to use a specific tool for a specific purpose. For me, it works better that way. If another tool works better for you, feel free to use it.

 

[Raissermesser]

People get ingrown hairs with carts, disposables, SE, DE, SR. YMMV, I was lucky enough to switch to DE which gives me no ingrown hairs or irritation(unless i shave very fast and recklessly). I think the flaw in my case of the carts is that they get TOO close, since they have to pull the hair under the skin to cut it. If you are lucky enough to not get any ingrown hairs from carts then it's definitely more effective than a DE also the "carts are too expensive" argument is kinda not true anymore. Many companies have surfaced over the years providing cheap carts. YMMV as always.

When I started shaving, I had a problem with ingrown hairs. My razor was a Schick Injector with twin injector blades. I had the same problem when I tried cartridges. Looking back, the culprit was likely face prep and pressure.

Don't recall razor burn with a cartridge, which is the shaving equivalent of a three-speed automatic transmission. Felt so bad on Wednesday last week (common cold), that I reached for a disposable razor because I could just shave without devoting much attention. OTOH, I get better shaves from DE and SE, which are like a five+ speed manual transmission.

Time-wise, I no longer notice a difference between the two. You can get to the point where you don't need more than one pass for a presentable shave with SE/DE, and wind up with results better than cartridges.

 

[Raissermesser]

I believe DE and Carts revolve around two different philosophies of shaving. Gillette claims,

"A single-blade razor can only cut what’s visible at the surface of the skin. A 5-blade razor can go so much further.
The first blade starts the job. It cuts the hair and, in the process, gently lifts it from the skin. Before the hair has time to fully withdraw, the next blade comes along and cuts it further down. This process is called ‘hysteresis’

Why does this matter? Facial skin is soft and gel-like, and when you press against it with your razor’s cartridge, it bulges in between the individual razor blades as the cartridge passes over it. This bulging can result in irritation, nicks, and cuts.

Five blades (at the right distance apart), rather than three, reduces that bulge, which means the skin is more even, with bulging reduced by more than 30% (Fusion5 vs. Mach3). As a result, you get a close, comfortable shave, and you’re less likely to cut yourself."

The above (in quotes) is directly from Gillette - Why Gillette razors have so many blades | Gillette

With a DE, assuming your pressure is right (little to none), a sharp blade will cut the hair perfectly fine in line with the surface of your skin and can't give you ingrowns if the blade never cuts the hair beneath your skin.

That's the theory anyway - I found the cart usually does part (and only part) of what it says it will do, and that is pull the hair out a little. I usually feel uncomfortable tugging with a cart but the blades that follow are not normally sharp enough to do a one pass shave to make shaving quick. The benefit of a DE for me is that I can actually get a sharp blade because I'm not stretching the life of a cart to save money. A sharp blade allows me to use little to no pressure and still shave my face. I think if guys shaved with a cart the way they did with a DE (little to no pressure), they would have decent shaves, but that would also require them to pitch blades more often and that is a lot of $$$ down the drain. Admittedly, I do exactly this when I air travel with a carry on and get decent shaves.

I still use a cart for air travel (when I am carry-on only) and I do a second pass on my head with a cart after a first pass with a DE. Once the hair on my head is plowed down by a DE, a one pass shave with a cart doesn't result in tugging (WTG). I can go quicker to clean the head up with a cart which is why I use it for that. Face shaving for me is the same amount of time. Seems to work fine for these specific instances, with proper DE technique and little to no pressure. If I shaved with a cart the way Gillette wants me to (pressure), its a disaster.

Also, for some crazy reason, I can extend the longevity of a cart for 2 months if I only do a one pass cleanup on my head. I have no idea why, but it seems to work for that and its quick. My face hair is thicker and coarser though. Only the shave gods may know the reason for that one.

That may well be what Gillette claims and maybe even believes, but is it valid? The theory of the twin blade was precisely this. Twin blades made quite a splash in the 1970s, showing up in injector and DE blades and not just cartridges and disposables. Yet Gillette's claim raises a question: if multiple blades are so much better, then why did they stick with two for so long before moving to three then four and five?

It turns out you can do the same thing with a single blade. This happens when we pull the skin to tighten it, and when we shave ATG. That was never pointed out when twin blades became popular.

 

[NPK]

I have never used cart razors as I went directly from electric (30+ years) to DE (6 months).

From what I can tell cart excel at:
1) convenience - just snap a new one on or off on ready to go
2) ease of use - optimum blade angle already built in, just shave with very low skill level required.

...that's it.