First on the neck issues. I had some issues with my neck as well in the beginning and what I found is that have to do another full pass on the neck to get it where I want it. I found if I go to ATG to quickly and there is excessive stubble left I would get irritated. I actually do WTG, XTG, XTG and then ATG. Each pass reduces the stubble which leaves just a little bit left for the ATG.Today I went back to my tried and true method of shaving and had an absolutely marvelous shave, quite possibly the best shave I've had since starting this journey.
I used the Gillette Fat-handle Post-war Tech with the 7 o'clock Super Platinum blade, the Saponificio Varesino Morado soap and the Yaqi 24mm Huskey synthetic brush.
As usual with the Tech it was an incredibly easy and effortless shave during all three passes. No tugging, just smoothness. I did get two nicks on the ATG pass on my neck. This is an area where I need to improve my technique because nicks are fairly frequent there.
In terms of quality it was near BBS with one or two minor DFS spots. Just an awesome shave overall.
As for the soap, this time I did face lathering and the result was excellent. It was very easy to build a creamy, thick lather and it created so much lather it could've been used for 6+ passes, just insane amounts of lather.
I also felt like the lather soothed the skin a bit when I applied it before the second and third pass, something I've not experienced with previous soaps.
First impression are first impressions, but I sincerely hope this keeps up.
And it's been a while since I shared one of my razor purchases, so let's share.
This was another purchase where I took a flyer on a razor with no info, bad photos and it looked like there might be a piece missing. But I got it for next to nothing so why not buy it... Anyway, here goes:
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It is unmarked, but it looks a lot like the Gillette Old Type Vest Pocket razor. The strange things is that it is unmarked since by the 1920's it seems the razors were always branded while the earliest Gillette Old Type did not seem to have the Gillette markings on the baseplate.
There are very minor differences between the example shown on Mr-Razor and this one though, so perhaps it is just an unknown copy. Who knows.
I've tried cleaning it by soaking it in hot soapy water and scrubbing with a toothbrush which helped, but it is still quite dirty and I'll gladly accept suggestions on how to clean this.
Very nice razor! As far as cleaning it. I saw you used a toothbrush. Did you try using tooth paste with the toothbrush? Tooth paste is every so slightly abrasive and may help get rid of some of that and be safe at the same time. I was going to recommend bar keepers friend but I'm not sure you can get that in Sweden.