For me, 2-3 weeks. My first DE shave was rather messy (6 weepers)--I have soft skin and a mild beard and my technique was awful (hard time unlearning years of cartridge shaving habits). I gather I'm an odd one: I enjoyed my Gillette Fusion. But I was intrigued with DE. Once I learned the appropriate techniques, I really began to enjoy shaving with my Maggard MR11 handle + V3 head. I doubt I'll ever go back.
How long did you DE shave before you said "I'll never go back"?
- Thread starter BaylorGator
- Start date
Not very long. And for the first several months I was using edge gel and Dorco blades. It was only a few shaves.
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Also I had learned to shave with a DE back in the early 1970's. So although it had been awhile (well over 30 years) it was a pretty quick acclimation. Good technique took a bit longer. My first brush and soap was about 6 months later. And I had to make adjustments to my technique.
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i borrowed my fathers super speed and did a dry shave, just to compare with how i was cartridge shaving, that shave prompted me to get a VDH razor, and sent me on my journey
Almost immediately.
When I decided to go DE and bought my first Muehle R89, I've never looked back.
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Haven't used a cart/disposable since my first shave with a DE. I keep a couple at the bottom of my dopp bag for when I'm away with work for 1-2 days but to date have preferred to grow a little stubble than use them. If I'm away any longer than that I take a DE, brush and cream.
Hi,
I started off with DE in 1976 at age 15. All the while, I have used mostly DEs - the razor changes as whiskers slowly grow ever tougher - along with SEs and Straights once in a while. While I received one of each cart in the mail as they came out, I never used them past the one free cart they came with. Well, until the TSA appeared and so now I have a Mach 3 that I actually bought some carts for.
There was a period at the start of 2011 where I became Mr Fusion for a few months. I had to work away from home and so took an apartment. I didn't want to pull any of the heirloom razors from the farm, so I opted for the newest cart that had graced my mailbox. That didn't last more than three months before I got a Gillette New Long Comb off of eBay.
But, there was something odd about it. I went looking for info when I tripped across the answer here on B+B. It was a British Raised Flat Bottom. I then lurked from time-to-time until finally joining a couple of years later. That was after I had discovered heretofore unknown DEs called Slants.
Stan
Edit: Oh, and I always used soap and a brush regardless of the type of razor. Even with the fusion....
I started off with DE in 1976 at age 15. All the while, I have used mostly DEs - the razor changes as whiskers slowly grow ever tougher - along with SEs and Straights once in a while. While I received one of each cart in the mail as they came out, I never used them past the one free cart they came with. Well, until the TSA appeared and so now I have a Mach 3 that I actually bought some carts for.
There was a period at the start of 2011 where I became Mr Fusion for a few months. I had to work away from home and so took an apartment. I didn't want to pull any of the heirloom razors from the farm, so I opted for the newest cart that had graced my mailbox. That didn't last more than three months before I got a Gillette New Long Comb off of eBay.
But, there was something odd about it. I went looking for info when I tripped across the answer here on B+B. It was a British Raised Flat Bottom. I then lurked from time-to-time until finally joining a couple of years later. That was after I had discovered heretofore unknown DEs called Slants.
Stan
Edit: Oh, and I always used soap and a brush regardless of the type of razor. Even with the fusion....
The moment I decided to go to Walgreens and buy one.
About a week. Once I improved my technique and the weapers quit! LOL I had been three pass shaving with a cart for several years, so the technique came pretty quit; once I understood NO pressure.
Bill
Bill
After my first shave, when I felt no irritation on my neck! Many say that it's not the cartridge's fault, because when I started DE shaving, is when I also started the proper preparation (shave soap and brush). Where with the carts, I would use Barbasol in a can lmao. But the cost of the blades now, knocks that theory out of the park lol.
It took me a few months to come to that realization. Unlike many here, I switched to DE shaving to reduce irritation. It became clear after those first few months I made the right choice and I wasn't going to look back. Then I found B&B and all of the ADs I didn't know I had and really knew I wasn't going back to carts! Although I likely will get some sort of cart for travel where I don't check luggage.
I think it took me about a week. I won a 40s style SS on the bays of E. It is the same razor my grandfather still uses and I can remember him using. While I was waiting for it to arrive, I stumbled upon this here website. I was semi-aware of the impending learning curve, but I can honestly say I was not fully prepared on my own. When I was 17 or so, I bought a horribly cheap boar brush from the grocery store. The brush was way too cheap, way to scritchy, and I knew nothing of break in time. I was using 4 bladed cartridges at the time, and the brush went in the bin. I think without Badger and Blade, I might have succumbed to a similar fate this time with DE shaving. It might have been something novel to try, but I might have stuck with Harry's or even gone back to Gillette cartridges if I was left to my own devices.
The research I garnered here helped provide the appropriate expectations and perspective that led to success when paired with dedication and willingness. Cartridges are idiot proof and I found shaving to be a chore. On the other hand, DE shaving requires skill and has a learning curve. I find the experience more enjoyable. My first DE shave wasn't great. When the second was better than the first and so on and so forth, I was hooked within the week. I had full confidence that it was going to keep getting better. I now own 9 DE razors and 2 1/2 straights. Since I have successfully flipped some antique store finds, in the 13 months of my wetshaving journey I have saved $10 over Gillette cartridges with my hardware (the consumables have made an impact the opposite direction since I never used creams, soaps, brushes, strops, balms, AS, stands, cases, or bowls when I was shaving with using Gillette cartridges 14 months ago).
The research I garnered here helped provide the appropriate expectations and perspective that led to success when paired with dedication and willingness. Cartridges are idiot proof and I found shaving to be a chore. On the other hand, DE shaving requires skill and has a learning curve. I find the experience more enjoyable. My first DE shave wasn't great. When the second was better than the first and so on and so forth, I was hooked within the week. I had full confidence that it was going to keep getting better. I now own 9 DE razors and 2 1/2 straights. Since I have successfully flipped some antique store finds, in the 13 months of my wetshaving journey I have saved $10 over Gillette cartridges with my hardware (the consumables have made an impact the opposite direction since I never used creams, soaps, brushes, strops, balms, AS, stands, cases, or bowls when I was shaving with using Gillette cartridges 14 months ago).
After 2 week of daily shaves with a DE I knew I wouldn't go back to carts or an electric. Once I stopped getting ingrown hairs and irritation I was sold!
I started DE shaving when I was in High School (1968 --1970). I used the razor until it was stolen from my dorm unit in college (1972). I restated DE shaving in Feb 2014 after finding my late father-en-laws's Gillette Tech Ball while helping clean out my mother-en-law's house after her passing. Prior to that I had been bouncing around between disposables with canned go, and electric. After 5 shaves, I had regained my 'shaving legs' and vowed never to return.
Half a stroke for me.
