Changing Technique with Blades?

[MoJoe]

Folks, I'll open by saying that I'm a noob. I've been using a DE razor for just short of a year. I started out using Merkur and Derby blades in my Merkur HD/Noob razor. I began to favor the Merkur blades. I wanted to like the Derby's and thought that they were better at first. However, on my third day with a new Derby my skin would get very irritated after the first pass. So I began to favor the Merkur's and never had any skin irritations.

About a week ago I noticed that I was running out of blades and was considering changing blades. I was very curious about the Feathers and wanted to give them a whirl. Today was my first shave with a Feather. I was impressed with how close I got on my first pass and continued on for passes 2 & 3 being careful because of Feather's reputation for sharpness.

After I completed and started to wash my face with cold water I noticed that my shave was somewhat inconsistent compared to what I experienced with a new Merkur blade a day earlier. This brings me to my question; does anyone change their technique when they change their blades?

With the Merkur's I went WTG, WTG, ATG and got a very consistent and close shave. I'm considering experimenting tomorrow but was curious since I had gotten used to a blade and technique and this is the first time in a long time that I changed blades.

 

[82R100]

First, with respect to your experience, it's possible that your technique changed out of fear/respect for the Feather blade (and understandably so). For many of us it takes a few shaves to get used to a new blade.

For me, the main change in technique for a new blade consists of getting back to the basics of the blade angle and keeping the pressure light. If the blade's noticeably failing to remove whiskers in a pass where you'd expect it to, you'll find yourself adding pressure and tilting the razor without thinking of it and the quality of the experience goes downhill pretty quickly after that (towards big time irritation).

My learning curve on DE's is a bit delayed because I keep venturing into single edge and injector razors. No regrets though. The variety keeps me guessing every morning.

- Chris

 

[Tom Ford]

I've only been DE shaving for about 2 months. In regards to the Feather blade, after reading everything about them on this forum, I had no choice but to alter my technique out of fear that my face was going to look like a scene from Jaws.

After a couple of shaves, I was able to relax, but not much. Feather blades are great, however for day to day shaving I can't go past the smooth and enjoyable shave from Red Personna's. They seem to suit my technique, face, and provide no irritation.

So to answer your question, yes my technique changes with blades. When experimenting with a new balde, I always alter my technique to ultra careful.

 

[Koss]

I specifically make sure to not change my technique when I try out new blades. I do everything the same. I have a whole routine set out as my baseline so I won't have to worry about variables when it comes to using different soaps, or creams, or preshave preparation stuff. Just the blade itself.

So no I do not change technique. The only time I do is when I am comfortable with a blade and trying to fine tune the way I shave. Sometimes that works, sometimes trying new things does not work. Ah well... thats how you learn what to do, and what not to do.

As for feathers, yes they are sharp. They might not be as forgiving as other blades out there... but I think people really over state how dangerous they are.

Its not like they will start biting or nicking you for no reason. if your technique is sound... then you have no worries. If your technique is sloppy... why blame the blade? I guess one can look at it as other blades are more apt at hiding errors in how one shaves.

After saying all this, I do not want to come off as being full of myself when it comes to shaving. I Sometimes get nicks like any other guy in the world. And its not like I've been DE shaving for years. So of course YMMV when it comes to blades... or any personal opinion one can come to when talking about various products in life.