Haha imagine me once with R41 with Feather inside and shaving in a hurry! A bloody mess!
But this is why it IS THE most aggressive razor in the whole planet.
But this is why it IS THE most aggressive razor in the whole planet.
DE newbie with a muhler r41
- Thread starter Jakebullet
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #262
I too, have seen that bloody faced, muhle wielding, feather toting, lather covered, dripping swearing lunatic in the mirror.
And they say the 2011 is even more vicious than the 2013. Based on descriptions of the 2011 it would seem you'd be just as well off using a straight 
I've not only completed my first Muhle R41 shave, but one that was completely free of cuts, nicks or errors, thanks to the great B&B forum membership. The only way this was possible was through advance knowledge of this razor's characteristics courtesy of membership experience, as well as meticulous mental preparedness and adherence to years of tried and true techniques and lessons learned using other high-efficiency razors. I can see where someone with little or no prior DE experience could select an R41 and without knowing it, set themselves up for things to go badly.
This will not be a daily driver for me (too much time and care required), but a way of challenging myself after a week of ho-hum workday shaves. This razor screams "Handle With Care" and feels extremely blade forward. I did a one-pass with targeted touch ups but was very deliberate and methodical, making it a more lengthy shave than would work for me on workday mornings. I was also able to do some ATG on areas I have extensive experience with and had no problems. Overall a good DFS with some areas BBS.
For a blade I chose to use a Kai that would be on its 5th shave in the R41 and would be already "smoothed out". I deliberately avoided a new blade due to their sometimes problematic nature when fresh out of the wrapper.
I doubt I'll use mine often enough to ever be concerned about Zamak longevity, but heads are cheap enough that if this is your regular razor, buying one or two backups to give you peace of mind would be no financial impact. I put mine on a RR Old Type barber pole and it feels and handles great.
This will not be a daily driver for me (too much time and care required), but a way of challenging myself after a week of ho-hum workday shaves. This razor screams "Handle With Care" and feels extremely blade forward. I did a one-pass with targeted touch ups but was very deliberate and methodical, making it a more lengthy shave than would work for me on workday mornings. I was also able to do some ATG on areas I have extensive experience with and had no problems. Overall a good DFS with some areas BBS.
For a blade I chose to use a Kai that would be on its 5th shave in the R41 and would be already "smoothed out". I deliberately avoided a new blade due to their sometimes problematic nature when fresh out of the wrapper.
I doubt I'll use mine often enough to ever be concerned about Zamak longevity, but heads are cheap enough that if this is your regular razor, buying one or two backups to give you peace of mind would be no financial impact. I put mine on a RR Old Type barber pole and it feels and handles great.
- Thread starter
- #265
I was on the lookout for a new aftershave as, although I love Proraso Green AS, I wanted something new to try so ordered a bottle of Floid Vigoroso which came highly recommend on the forum for around £10.
It arrived a couple of days ago and I was pleased when I opened the box to find a few free samples enclosed, one of which was a small tub of Proraso pre shave. I’d never used a pre shave before so was interested to try.
So the next morning with the sun out hot and early I opted for a Proraso shave to give me a cool start to the day.
I got a fingertip of the Proraso pre shave which I’d never used before and rubbed it in under the grain of my stubble. It smelled stronger than the soap and straight away it started to cool my face. By the time I’d loaded a new Polsilver SI and loaded my brush with Proraso green soap my face was chilled to the bone.
I made a great face lather and got to work. With each pass my face felt cooler until my final touch up, warm rinse, cold rinse, alum and towel which really chilled my face then a little Proraso green AS to finish it off for a brilliant shave.
I couldn’t really say if the pre shave made a difference to the end result although there’s no doubt it made the shave more enjoyable and really woke me up.
So today I thought I’d try it again and this time I wanted to try the Floid Vigoroso AS which is menthol based too.
Again just a fingertip of the pre shave and again a great intense cooling refreshing feeling. I worked it in with my fingertips under the grain of my face in a way I could never get with my badger brush.
Chilly! Icy! Refreshing! It’s very strong stuff and just a perfect strength without being too overpowering.
Those clever fellows at Proraso seem to get everything just right.
I left it on my face for a couple of mins as I got ready and then face lathered on top of it and did a lovely cool, smooth, 3 pass shave then a touch up pass. I re applied the preshave before pass 3 too.
The cold rinse was really icy and the smell brilliant and refreshing, I really love using the Proraso range, it’s really great stuff and a great price too,
And that pre shave is brilliant and cooling but I’m still not sure if it adds any slickness or improvements as I find the Proraso green soap pretty slick any way.
So after the cold rinse and cold towel (a break from the alum today) I tried a splash of the Floid Vigoroso.
I must confess to being unsure as to whether I’d like the smell as it wasn’t too great smelling it from the bottle but once on the face it was a different story.
Very cooling but with a great alcohol burn too and it smelled great. Musky, manly, barbershop.
But it’s the post shave feel I’ve got which I’m most impressed with, my face is softer and smoother today than any other shave I’ve had. 7 hours later my girlfriend commented on how soft my face was. It’s rare to get a compliment from her.
Not sure if I just got things right today or if my face just really agrees with the Floid, but either way my face has never felt like this although annoyingly I did seem to miss one or two areas, not sure how after pretty much 4 passes, I have to concentrate more.
Anyway I’m going to try it again tomorrow as first impressions are that the Floid is wonderful stuff, really wonderful and the Proraso preshave is a winner too and all those products, muhle R41, Polsilver SI, Proraso pre shave, Proraso soap and Floid AS all compliment each other brilliantly so I’ll use this combo again tomorrow and see what tomorrow brings.
It arrived a couple of days ago and I was pleased when I opened the box to find a few free samples enclosed, one of which was a small tub of Proraso pre shave. I’d never used a pre shave before so was interested to try.
So the next morning with the sun out hot and early I opted for a Proraso shave to give me a cool start to the day.
I got a fingertip of the Proraso pre shave which I’d never used before and rubbed it in under the grain of my stubble. It smelled stronger than the soap and straight away it started to cool my face. By the time I’d loaded a new Polsilver SI and loaded my brush with Proraso green soap my face was chilled to the bone.
I made a great face lather and got to work. With each pass my face felt cooler until my final touch up, warm rinse, cold rinse, alum and towel which really chilled my face then a little Proraso green AS to finish it off for a brilliant shave.
I couldn’t really say if the pre shave made a difference to the end result although there’s no doubt it made the shave more enjoyable and really woke me up.
So today I thought I’d try it again and this time I wanted to try the Floid Vigoroso AS which is menthol based too.
Again just a fingertip of the pre shave and again a great intense cooling refreshing feeling. I worked it in with my fingertips under the grain of my face in a way I could never get with my badger brush.
Chilly! Icy! Refreshing! It’s very strong stuff and just a perfect strength without being too overpowering.
Those clever fellows at Proraso seem to get everything just right.
I left it on my face for a couple of mins as I got ready and then face lathered on top of it and did a lovely cool, smooth, 3 pass shave then a touch up pass. I re applied the preshave before pass 3 too.
The cold rinse was really icy and the smell brilliant and refreshing, I really love using the Proraso range, it’s really great stuff and a great price too,
And that pre shave is brilliant and cooling but I’m still not sure if it adds any slickness or improvements as I find the Proraso green soap pretty slick any way.
So after the cold rinse and cold towel (a break from the alum today) I tried a splash of the Floid Vigoroso.
I must confess to being unsure as to whether I’d like the smell as it wasn’t too great smelling it from the bottle but once on the face it was a different story.
Very cooling but with a great alcohol burn too and it smelled great. Musky, manly, barbershop.
But it’s the post shave feel I’ve got which I’m most impressed with, my face is softer and smoother today than any other shave I’ve had. 7 hours later my girlfriend commented on how soft my face was. It’s rare to get a compliment from her.
Not sure if I just got things right today or if my face just really agrees with the Floid, but either way my face has never felt like this although annoyingly I did seem to miss one or two areas, not sure how after pretty much 4 passes, I have to concentrate more.
Anyway I’m going to try it again tomorrow as first impressions are that the Floid is wonderful stuff, really wonderful and the Proraso preshave is a winner too and all those products, muhle R41, Polsilver SI, Proraso pre shave, Proraso soap and Floid AS all compliment each other brilliantly so I’ll use this combo again tomorrow and see what tomorrow brings.
- Thread starter
- #266
Been a week or two on the Polsilver SI but I finished my last blade yesterday and my bulk order hasn’t arrived yet so I loaded a Gillette 7 yellow for this mornings shave. I wouldn’t exactly say I was pushed for time but I had no time for dilly dally either.
Cleaned the razor and loaded the 7 then soaked the badger brush as I jumped in a quick shower. I’ve been using TOBS Eton College Bath soap in the shower which smells great and citrussy like the shaving cream and gives a full rich lather. Nice start to my routine.
I put on a rub of the Proraso pre shave and let it chill on my face for a minute. People recommend a pea sized blob but it doesn’t quite seem enough for me so will try a nice big blob tomorrow.
I Lathered with Proraso soap from the tub. Hot water flooded out onto my face from my soaked badger brush as I built the lather on my face, and fumes of menthol and eucalyptus filled and chilled my nose and cheeks. I find concentrating on the smells and feelings and textures help put me in the moment and help clear my head. I had a mindful but quick 3 pass shave with a touch up.
Changing the blades in about a two week rotation really helps me appreciate the quality of each blade and the 7 oclock yellow was on great form today giving me a close, gentle, smooth BBS and was a nice change from the Polsilver which I also love.
Lovely icy splash of water then rubbed the cold wet facecloth all over followed by a splash of the Floid Vigoroso with damp hands.
What a great shave and again a beautiful post shave feeling. I think it’s the floid that agrees so much with my face as every shave has been brilliant afterwards since I started using it. The only problem is I tend to spill too much out when using as the bottle lip doesn’t seem to be the best designed and the AS sometimes runs down the outside of the bottle, but a small price to pay for such lovely stuff.
Cleaned the razor and loaded the 7 then soaked the badger brush as I jumped in a quick shower. I’ve been using TOBS Eton College Bath soap in the shower which smells great and citrussy like the shaving cream and gives a full rich lather. Nice start to my routine.
I put on a rub of the Proraso pre shave and let it chill on my face for a minute. People recommend a pea sized blob but it doesn’t quite seem enough for me so will try a nice big blob tomorrow.
I Lathered with Proraso soap from the tub. Hot water flooded out onto my face from my soaked badger brush as I built the lather on my face, and fumes of menthol and eucalyptus filled and chilled my nose and cheeks. I find concentrating on the smells and feelings and textures help put me in the moment and help clear my head. I had a mindful but quick 3 pass shave with a touch up.
Changing the blades in about a two week rotation really helps me appreciate the quality of each blade and the 7 oclock yellow was on great form today giving me a close, gentle, smooth BBS and was a nice change from the Polsilver which I also love.
Lovely icy splash of water then rubbed the cold wet facecloth all over followed by a splash of the Floid Vigoroso with damp hands.
What a great shave and again a beautiful post shave feeling. I think it’s the floid that agrees so much with my face as every shave has been brilliant afterwards since I started using it. The only problem is I tend to spill too much out when using as the bottle lip doesn’t seem to be the best designed and the AS sometimes runs down the outside of the bottle, but a small price to pay for such lovely stuff.
Get yourself some travel bottles from Home Bargains. They come in a pack of three, only a couple of quid. I use a pump action one for witch hazel
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
- Thread starter
- #268
Thanks very much for the suggestion, sounds ideal.
- Thread starter
- #269
Anyone know what those little plastic dropper dispensers in the top of the Proraso green splash are called?
I call it a flow limiter.
I bought my R41 in February and thought the same thing, great razor but not for everyday use. Was I ever wrong! It just seems to get better and better. I am now just as confident and comfortable with the R41 as I am with my 34C and 37C.
- Thread starter
- #272
I haven’t missed a daily shave for months but for the last few weeks I’ve had 2 or 3 in growing hair bumps which I keep scraping over so I thought I’d let my beard grow for a couple of days in the hope of them growing out. It didn’t work so last night I had a couple of whiskies, said a prayer then lay back and let my girlfriend loose on my face and neck with her tweezers.
Glad I had the whisky as she dug and pulled and scratched and ripped many innocent hairs out at the root but in the end to my great relief, she’d found and torn out all the ingrown hairs.
So I woke up this morning with a 3 days growth to tackle.
Letting the muhle do its thing on a seriously tough growth is like taking your 4x4 off road and experiencing it at its best.
In the hot shower I went against the growth with a hot wet face cloth and came out with my face seriously prepped.
I rubbed a big fat blob of Proraso pre shave into the fuse wire passing itself off as stubble on my face and lathered up with Proraso green, it felt nice lathering with a face choc full of stubble it seemed to give the brush something to work against.
The razor sang down the first pass ringing like a tiny rasping bell with a ping ping ping ping ping! Leaving almost nothing in it’s wake but decapitated thick black and grey stubble and soap running down the lather channels. Two more lovely gentle passes and a touch up and I’ve got a great all over BBS with no redness off those annoying ingrown bumps.
Hot rinse cold rinse, wet towel rub then a splash of floid, a great Sunday shave. Cutting through a few days growth is satisfying. I wish I could leave my face for a few days more often but there’s no chance.
On the problem of spilling the floid and looking for a flow restrictor (thanks GearNoir) online, my girl asked me ‘why don’t you just use your thumbs? You’ve already got two of them.’
I had an ‘oh yeahhhh’ moment.
Glad I had the whisky as she dug and pulled and scratched and ripped many innocent hairs out at the root but in the end to my great relief, she’d found and torn out all the ingrown hairs.
So I woke up this morning with a 3 days growth to tackle.
Letting the muhle do its thing on a seriously tough growth is like taking your 4x4 off road and experiencing it at its best.
In the hot shower I went against the growth with a hot wet face cloth and came out with my face seriously prepped.
I rubbed a big fat blob of Proraso pre shave into the fuse wire passing itself off as stubble on my face and lathered up with Proraso green, it felt nice lathering with a face choc full of stubble it seemed to give the brush something to work against.
The razor sang down the first pass ringing like a tiny rasping bell with a ping ping ping ping ping! Leaving almost nothing in it’s wake but decapitated thick black and grey stubble and soap running down the lather channels. Two more lovely gentle passes and a touch up and I’ve got a great all over BBS with no redness off those annoying ingrown bumps.
Hot rinse cold rinse, wet towel rub then a splash of floid, a great Sunday shave. Cutting through a few days growth is satisfying. I wish I could leave my face for a few days more often but there’s no chance.
On the problem of spilling the floid and looking for a flow restrictor (thanks GearNoir) online, my girl asked me ‘why don’t you just use your thumbs? You’ve already got two of them.’
I had an ‘oh yeahhhh’ moment.
Excellent. For me the R41 requires too much concentration to use on work days when I'm staring at the mirror wishing I didn't have to be up so early
There is something addictive about it though.Good shave @Jakebullet!
- Thread starter
- #275
Having some strangeness with the Astra SP.
A few weeks ago out of the blue I found I could no longer get a great shave with them. Still good but not great anymore.
After a week of poor shaves I changed to Polsilver and Gillette yellows.
I went back to Astra 2 days ago and found the new blade immediately a little tuggy, something I’ve never found before. Not a great shave.
The next day was better, no tugging but still not the best and this morning on the 3rd use it was decent but not outstanding and the post shave was just ok. It’s annoying as this blade always gave me bbs and was smooth with it, so much so that I bought 50 for £5. Do other people ever experience a blade suddenly stop working so well for them or have I just got a bad batch?
I’ve put a 7 yellow in for tomorrow morning looking forward to it.
I’m going to use a great big blob of Proraso preshave, followed by lashings of mentholy Proraso green soap, annihilate every single hair with 3.5 smooth easy well practised passes of the r41 and Gillette yellow, and finish with Proraso green AS.
A few weeks ago out of the blue I found I could no longer get a great shave with them. Still good but not great anymore.
After a week of poor shaves I changed to Polsilver and Gillette yellows.
I went back to Astra 2 days ago and found the new blade immediately a little tuggy, something I’ve never found before. Not a great shave.
The next day was better, no tugging but still not the best and this morning on the 3rd use it was decent but not outstanding and the post shave was just ok. It’s annoying as this blade always gave me bbs and was smooth with it, so much so that I bought 50 for £5. Do other people ever experience a blade suddenly stop working so well for them or have I just got a bad batch?
I’ve put a 7 yellow in for tomorrow morning looking forward to it.
I’m going to use a great big blob of Proraso preshave, followed by lashings of mentholy Proraso green soap, annihilate every single hair with 3.5 smooth easy well practised passes of the r41 and Gillette yellow, and finish with Proraso green AS.
These posts may be a bit old, but I too have joined the brotherhood of R41 + Feather.
My first admittedly quick & carefree shave was not pretty, leaving me with maybe a half-dozen minor nicks! Shave number two, done more moderately, still left me with several minor nicks. Shave number three was done with reasonable deliberation & diligence, though not extreme deliberation & diligence, and I still got two (very minor) nicks!
I'm trying shave number four in the morning, using extreme deliberation & diligence! If it this razor & blade combo is not fully tamed by that, I'm going to toss my beloved Feather, and try a GSB (or maybe KAI).
Hannah's Dad
I Can See Better Than Bigfoot.
I agree 100%.
- Thread starter
- #279
You’re a brave man, I had 3 shaves on a feather after my 1st month DE shaving and found it had great next level sharpness, really great but it left quite a lot of weepers on my cheeks and a few nicks here and there. They were too good for my average technique and I paid in blood though I am intrigued to trying them again now that I’ve been at it about 4 months.
Took a break from my R41 for a couple of shaves and used my 37C slant. Today I was back with my R41 and what A GREAT shave. Just love this razor!
Similar threads
