First shave with a Schick Injector

[82R100]

I'm on my first EMS injector blade, using my G1 Eversharp Schick razor for the first time in three weeks. I'm not a habitual injector user and I find I'm still overthinking it.

My biggest mistake seems to be overdoing the pressure. Since the head is so small, it takes very little force to engage the whiskers with the blade. I also have been afraid to do the angle wrong and, as a result, have found myself holding the razor handle angled too far away from my face. Yesterday was my third shave on the blade and I had gotten a little creative with pressure and diagonal sweeps (à la Gillette glide) resultinig in some weepers and an overall uncomfortable shave. I was debating switching out the blade before this morning's shave, but didn't. This morning, beauty. A lighter touch with a more aggressive blade angle and I got a very nice shave.

- Chris

 

[taffy]

I hope you will let us know how you get on.
What have you been using up till now?

Rotation, rotation feather, lord, merkur progress/futur, weishi, a couple of gillette techs, gillette fat boy and a gillette slim adjustable plus 2 old gillettes when i clean them up so i fancied giving the injector a go and just my luck bought 1 from e bay from the states and the next day 1 appeared on the uk e bay site

 

[gollum83]

Well, considering ItsMikeE is in London, I don't really know if Rite Aid is a local chain across the pond.

Well probably not.

And yes, they were the Rite Aid branded blades. I ordered Pella blades and then bought a pack from Rite Aid as the Pella blades hadn't arrived yet and I had an Injector sitting there, bladeless, and mocking me. I have used several blades from both the Rite Aid dispenser and the Pella dispenser and I am convinced they are the same thing - same shave, same longevity, same case.

Okay, that makes a lot of sense. I almost positive that like what Rob said ASR manufactures the injector blades for all the chain drug stores here, as well as the Persona and Ted Pella blades because I remember it getting mention on here somewhere.

 

[ItsMikeE]

I got some vintage blades and some Tedpella.
I used the vintage blade in my first go.

 

[Corey]

I got some vintage blades and some Tedpella.
I used the vintage blade in my first go.

That may be where you're running into problems. Vintage blades, even when they look nice, are at risk of degradation of the edge over time. I'd be interested to see how your results are with a Ted Pella.

 

[ItsMikeE]

I'll try a Ted Pella tomorrow

That may be where you're running into problems. Vintage blades, even when they look nice, are at risk of degradation of the edge over time. I'd be interested to see how your results are with a Ted Pella.

 

[ItsMikeE]

Well I tried it
Bearing in mind that I still had some damage from yesterday's shave it went OK, certainly better than the first attempt.
I re-opened some of the nicks, but did not start any new ones. Still not a close shave below the jaw line.
Are there any videos online using the injector? That might help

I'll try a Ted Pella tomorrow

 

[82R100]

I'm afraid the only injector video I know of is NSFW.

- Chris

 

[kingfisher]

I use Schick branded blades I bought from drugstore.com. They're very sharp and very nice.

I use a seriously feather-light touch, and listen for the sound of the whiskers being whacked to make sure I have the right angle.

The injector can bite, for sure, but not if you handle it properly. (I actually have never cut myself with a DE, but I have done it twice with the injector. I believe that my old-school injector is quite a bit more aggressive than my usual DE, which is a 50s flare-tip superspeed.)

Keep at it. Once you get a feel for it, you'll get good shaves out of it. As a bonus, I've found that I can still get a good shave on the 6th day with the same blade, whereas with DE I change out after three shaves.

 

[Dennis]

I have found the Pella blades to be a touch on the rough side for the first shave but then they settle down and give me great shaves for another 5-6 days. If I shave everyday, obviously, I change the blade once a week - same as with Swedish Gillettes for my DEs. You didn't say which model you are using - if it is the Type G with the Bakelite handle, they are a little more aggressive than the later models. The angle is fairly easy to find and use a light touch. You still have to do multiple passes ala a DE - WTG, XTG, ATG, etc... It is not a once down, once up and done like a cartridge, but they can be a lot faster than a DE as the angle is easy to find and the head is small.

 

[ItsMikeE]

I actually bought 2:
A golden 500
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=102140

and an adjustable
http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=101446

The first shave was on the golden 500 with a vintage blade, the second on the adjustable with a Ted Pella.

I think my skin needs a bit of recovery time, so I will probably wait before re-trying

I have found the Pella blades to be a touch on the rough side for the first shave but then they settle down and give me great shaves for another 5-6 days. If I shave everyday, obviously, I change the blade once a week - same as with Swedish Gillettes for my DEs. You didn't say which model you are using - if it is the Type G with the Bakelite handle, they are a little more aggressive than the later models. The angle is fairly easy to find and use a light touch. You still have to do multiple passes ala a DE - WTG, XTG, ATG, etc... It is not a once down, once up and done like a cartridge, but they can be a lot faster than a DE as the angle is easy to find and the head is small.

 

[onotoman]

Are you certain the blade was nice and sharp? I've used an Injector for some time now and get great results. A few nicks at first, but once I got the pressure right (like NO pressure oher than the weight of the razor) all was fine.

Hope this helps

Having tried and failed with DE shaving and been back on cartridges for a good few months I decided to try a Schick Injector.

Had my first shave today.

I used Trumpers Coral skin food, then Trumpers Violet cream.
One WTG pass, one ATG pass then some tidying up.
Alum block and then more coral skin food.

Not great results.
Pretty good shave on cheeks down to jaw line, a bit rough below the chin and on the neck.
Several nicks which the Alum block alone did not stop (sorted out quickly with SENS sticks).
A little disappointed as I did not expect to get nicks (based on what people say about these razors).

 

[gollum83]

I have found the Pella blades to be a touch on the rough side for the first shave but then they settle down and give me great shaves for another 5-6 days. If I shave everyday, obviously, I change the blade once a week - same as with Swedish Gillettes for my DEs. You didn't say which model you are using - if it is the Type G with the Bakelite handle, they are a little more aggressive than the later models. The angle is fairly easy to find and use a light touch. You still have to do multiple passes ala a DE - WTG, XTG, ATG, etc... It is not a once down, once up and done like a cartridge, but they can be a lot faster than a DE as the angle is easy to find and the head is small.

I thought that the E's were the ones with the bakelite handles. I'm pretty sure the Type G's have molded plastic handles.

 

[Dennis]

I thought that the E's were the ones with the bakelite handles. I'm pretty sure the Type G's have molded plastic handles.

Yup - you are right. I have an E instead of a G after rechecking the Schick DB.

 

[Topgumby]

For me injectors shave great...and are very reminiscent of using a cartridge razor.

Ok, this thread got me to use an Injector tonight...a Butterscotch handle $2.00 antique store find.

Popped in a fresh Schick brand blade I got at the drug store, and it's always fun to load one of these gizmos and think about Col. Schick making a razor that worked like a rifle.

Lathered up with Tom's of Maine Calendula, and had a three pass shave that has me once again doubting my sanity for not simply using an Injector most of the time. My Ivory Club por Homme stung pretty good, but there was no blood and the shave is as good as my best efforts with my beloved Gillette DEs and Schick Kronas.

It's a great shave, but somehow I don't get as much pleasure using the whippy little Injector as I do with a DE razor.

If they shave in Star Trek, then Mr. Spock is using an Injector.

 

[ItsMikeE]

Are you certain the blade was nice and sharp? I've used an Injector for some time now and get great results. A few nicks at first, but once I got the pressure right (like NO pressure oher than the weight of the razor) all was fine.

Hope this helps

Having had a break (to give my skin time to recover) and tried again I found that by using virtually no pressure I got a decent shave.
No sting from the alum block. Felt as good as after a Mach 3 shave, but the smoothness did not last as long as after a Mach 3 shave.

This is going to turn into one of those endless quests, where I am never quite satisfied

 

[ItsMikeE]

The first shave was on the golden 500 with a vintage blade, the second on the adjustable with a Ted Pella.

Definitely improving. Getting better results using the adjustable with a Ted Pella than with the golden 500 with vintage blade.
I have not tried the golden with a Pella or adjustable with vintage yet so I cannot say for sure what the difference is (although I suspect it is the blade).
Even though I can now get a reasonable shave with the Schick I can't say that I particularly enjoy using it.

 

[newbie24]

OK, second injector shave today. New Schick blades, type-G injector. First shave was CCS, second was BBS in some places and DFS in others. Not much irritation, no nicks. Overall, I'm pretty pleased. I definitely see where it's not as fun as DE shaving, but with my rushed life, I think this is going to come in handy a lot.

What I find interesting is that in my limited experience thus far, the Injector delivers fantastic XTG and ATG passes, but it's the WTG pass where I feel it's lacking. I think my SS just takes a lot more hair off on the first pass, which is so far my only qualm with the Injector. I'll just keep working on my technique and experimenting with a little pressure to see if I can remedy that. I also LOVE how easy it is to blade buff with the injector.

 

[LayAl]

I love my Schick 1942 E injector. I much prefer it to a DE.

At first I used to nick myself with it once in a while (just as I did with my DE razors)-- but I think that was because my lathers were too wet & thin. No problem with nicks for quite a while.