First Shave with Muhle R41

[ImAdummy2]

I have been shaving with a DE for about 4 months now. I used the standard cartridge razor before that. With both I get some irritation after the shave below my chin and on my neck, though less with the DE. I also noticed that it's normally the third pass that I get it no matter the direction of the pass. Guess Im just a two pass kinda guy.
This lead me in a search for a more aggressive razor than my Progress. One that will allow me a two pass DFS or the occasional BBS shave. With much trepidation after watching Mantic tear his face up with it and reading all of the reviews, I ordered the R41. The more I read about it, the more I was regretting my decision. I even picked out a name for it like we did for our rifles in the Army. "Muhle The Mauler" I was going to call it.
D-Day was today. It comes with a Derby blade but I've never had much luck with Derby. I wanted a middle of the road sharpness blade so I went with an Astra. I lathered up with some of Al's "Goodfellas" cream, stuck my face in a hot towel for a few minutes, re lathered, took a breath and my thoughts went to reminding my self "No Pressure" means NO PRESSURE. I started with a few short strokes and switched blades. Too much tugging and pulling. I went with a Perma-Sharp. Better, but there was still some tugging and skipping on my upper neck and below my chin on the second pass against the grain. I'll try a Feather blade next time, but we don't always get along either.
Overall, my cheeks are as smooth as they have ever bin. Chin and upper lip too. Neck, kinda rough. This is where all the skipping happened. I am happy to report however, that nary a single drop of blood was shed this time. Ill try the Feather blade tomorrow if my neck is feeling up to it. I'm wondering if instead of more aggressive I should have gone more efficient in the form of a slant? Your thoughts, comments and funny looks are most welcome.

 

[Jarick]

My thoughts are I wish the open comb I ordered forever ago would show up! Can't wait to try it.

 

[shave/brush]

Stick with it. Astra blades are considered very smooth by most guys here. But as we say YMMV. Try the Feather blade but just go slow and easy.

 

[ImAdummy2]

After switching blades, I'm not sure it was the Astra blade. I was so concerned with applying as little pressure as possible that I may not have applied enough. All the horror stories and videos were flashing through my mind at the time and my face is too pretty to have any gashes on it

 

[keithmax]

I find my R41 is very pick about blades. Astra were horrible but feathers worked well but iridium supers and GSB works best. I learned in blood to,use this razor and now when I want a super close shave this is the razor I use.

 

[bmilcs]

I am currently experimenting with the 2011 R41 and its insane. It's uncomfortable even with a featherlight grip. This is coming from someone who loves maxing out his Futur.

My favorite out of the 20 or so razors I own is the Merkur 37c slant!! I shave my head and face daily and it's extremely efficient and smooth. It feels on the mild side but shaves beautifully!! Huge blade gap but the angle of the blade is just right. Pick one up and keep your R41. With time and experience you might grow to love it as I have with the Futur. My first few shaves with the Futur were frustrating and razor burn city. Heavy and slippery. Now, a few months later and I'm obsessed.

 

[martym]

I use the 2011 R41 Grande exclusively. This is what I have learned: increase the angle and no pressure.
the further the handle from the face, the smoother the blade cuts. I learned that this razor's angle is steep so you must keep the handle further from the face. Almost to the point that you are just running the razor's head across your skin. I find that this gives me a very close shave. As always, YMMV
marty

 

[bmilcs]

I use the 2011 R41 Grande exclusively. This is what I have learned: increase the angle and no pressure.
the further the handle from the face, the smoother the blade cuts. I learned that this razor's angle is steep so you must keep the handle further from the face. Almost to the point that you are just running the razor's head across your skin. I find that this gives me a very close shave. As always, YMMV
marty

Thank you!
I will give this a try tomorrow tho it
may be difficult to alter my headshaving technique drastically.

 

[ImAdummy2]

I use the 2011 R41 Grande exclusively. This is what I have learned: increase the angle and no pressure.
the further the handle from the face, the smoother the blade cuts. I learned that this razor's angle is steep so you must keep the handle further from the face. Almost to the point that you are just running the razor's head across your skin. I find that this gives me a very close shave. As always, YMMV
marty

Good advice. Ill try that tomorrow

 

[ImAdummy2]

I find my R41 is very pick about blades. Astra were horrible but feathers worked well but iridium supers and GSB works best. I learned in blood to,use this razor and now when I want a super close shave this is the razor I use.

Figures, I dont have any Iridiums and the only Gillette I have is the black box ones. I've been meaning to try the Iridiums as I hear great things so this may be an excuse to pull the trigger on some. Thanks

 

[keithmax]

Figures, I dont have any Iridiums and the only Gillette I have is the black box ones. I've been meaning to try the Iridiums as I hear great things so this may be an excuse to pull the trigger on some. Thanks

For this razor I find the blade is very important, plus a great excuse to get a great blade.

 

[ImAdummy2]

I am currently experimenting with the 2011 R41 and its insane. It's uncomfortable even with a featherlight grip. This is coming from someone who loves maxing out his Futur.

My favorite out of the 20 or so razors I own is the Merkur 37c slant!! I shave my head and face daily and it's extremely efficient and smooth. It feels on the mild side but shaves beautifully!! Huge blade gap but the angle of the blade is just right. Pick one up and keep your R41. With time and experience you might grow to love it as I have with the Futur. My first few shaves with the Futur were frustrating and razor burn city. Heavy and slippery. Now, a few months later and I'm obsessed.

Ive actually thought about getting the slant as well. As I stated, it was a toss up between the two and I went aggressive instead of efficient. My Progress gives really great shaves on about 4 or 4.5'ish but with three passes. As mentioned in my previous post, not much good happens after the second pass with my skin. BBS but neck is burnt up. My thinking was that if I could find a more aggressive razor to just do two passes with the same results as the Progress Id be golden. But heck, any excuse to buy another razor is good by me. I'll keep at the r41 for a few weeks and see how it goes but I see a sledgehammer in my future as well. If for no other reason other than to have all three designs

 

[Jeff_H]

I am enjoying this conversation greatly. I hope you can come to terms with you R41 as there have been some good technique suggestions offered. Some I am going to at least try with my razor.

I have been shaving primarily with an R89. At first it was wonderful and gave me consistently good shaves. Lately I've been getting more irritation than I'd like and the shave quality seems to have gone down. Not quite sure why. The quality should at least stay the same or get better. Anyhow, I've been thinking how I learned on an open comb (Merkur 25c) and always got good shaves, but wanted something more pleasing to the eye and not so utilitarian. I had my eye on the Muhle for some time.

The 2011 R41 scares me quite a bit. But the 2013 R41 sounds like something I could really like. I've been debating ordering one, but just haven't brought myself to pull the trigger. I have more razors than I use already (but when has that stopped anyone here?). So, I'm still considering. I try to read every thread about the R41 I can...trying to soak up info.

I'll be curious to hear how your shaves go. Good luck.

 

[bmilcs]

I use the 2011 R41 Grande exclusively. This is what I have learned: increase the angle and no pressure.
the further the handle from the face, the smoother the blade cuts. I learned that this razor's angle is steep so you must keep the handle further from the face. Almost to the point that you are just running the razor's head across your skin. I find that this gives me a very close shave. As always, YMMV
marty

Ive actually thought about getting the slant as well. As I stated, it was a toss up between the two and I went aggressive instead of efficient. My Progress gives really great shaves on about 4 or 4.5'ish but with three passes. As mentioned in my previous post, not much good happens after the second pass with my skin. BBS but neck is burnt up. My thinking was that if I could find a more aggressive razor to just do two passes with the same results as the Progress Id be golden. But heck, any excuse to buy another razor is good by me. I'll keep at the r41 for a few weeks and see how it goes but I see a sledgehammer in my future as well. If for no other reason other than to have all three designs

Yah I need a sledgehammer too. I love the shorter version so much I want another!

 

[mielbadger]

I have a 2011 R41 that I've used for about five shaves. Today was the first day I went ATG with it and also the first day I used a Gillette Silver Blue. Either my face didn't agree with a GSB or going ATG (or both) because I had razor burn afterwards. Until now I had used a Astra SP in the R41 with good results only going WTG and XTG and finishing up with my EJ DE89BL. I think I'll go back to that until my technique is better. I went to the R41 for the same reason you did, to try and get the shave I wanted in only two passes.

 

[bmilcs]

I use the 2011 R41 Grande exclusively. This is what I have learned: increase the angle and no pressure.
the further the handle from the face, the smoother the blade cuts. I learned that this razor's angle is steep so you must keep the handle further from the face. Almost to the point that you are just running the razor's head across your skin. I find that this gives me a very close shave. As always, YMMV
marty

I can't recommend the Merkur Slant enough. It's one of the smoothest and quickest shavers out there. Look into it.

 

[Teppanyaki]

I have a 2013 R41. Based on what I have read (and, moreso, the pictures of blade exposure), I wonder which model you have. I love my R41, but I probably would have skipped the 2011 version. Any razor where the blade can "flex," or "bite" to the depth of the blade edge I saw exposed in a side shot, is not a razor that I would see myself using. Caveat - Several months in, so pretty new to all of this. But the 2013 R41 with some Mike's is my standard morning.

 

[Sir Lurkalot]

I test drove a 2011 version and it's too much blade for daily use. Looked nice, but not practical for me.

 

[Sceptic Pencil]

I am awaiting the arrival of a 2013 R101 (R41 head / black plastic handle), so I am reading this thread with interest. You guys seem to be mainly US based, so I'm guessing you are using the more manly 2011 R41, unless you bought them from a UK based site. I have had a 2013 R41 in my hand & the blade exposure was probably about 1/4 of the exposure on my FaTip Picolo & the blade gap was way less that on my Tradere OC, so it looked relatively tame (looks can be deceiving though!!). I will report back when I have taken my R101 for a spin. I already get a two pass BBS from the Picolo, but with all the things I have heard about the R41 head & the fact that it has been made more user friendly, I just had to give it a go. I will report back next week.

 

[Edinburgh]

The angle of the blade is paramount when using this razor; much more so than with other razors. You may want to consider dropping the angle (between the blade and your skin) even further by raising the handle of the razor so that it's more perpendicular to your face. In another way, think of it more as cutting as opposed to scraping.

I find that Astras are perfect for this wonderful razor, but that may not be the case for you. In any case, you should adjust your blade angle (if you haven't already) before moving to another blade in the R41. The Astra may well turn out to be perfect.

I would advise not giving up on the R41, as I find these to be really nice razors. I have and enjoy both the 2011 model and the 2013 model. I achieve close and irritation-free shaves from each, but for me the 2011 model is clearly the winner when it comes to closeness.