Journey to find my razor preference

[Ohjay]

Date: 2024-04-27
Razor: Gillette Sheraton (1937?)
Blade: Dorco - Titan
Brush: DScosmetic 26mm Tuxedo
Soap: Saponificio Varesino Cosmo
Aftershave: Arran Machrie
Passes: 3
Rating: 8.05
Rating is a combination of shave comfort and quality

I have to admit I was a bit worried about the shave today. I have not had the best experience with the Dorco Titan blade and it had been a few extra days between shaves meaning the stubble was a bit longer than usual.
Turns out there wasn't much to worry about after all. The blade handled the longer stubble just fine and the shave felt a little bit more comfortable than the last one. The blade still struggled on the ATG pass though.
I also feel that the quality improved a little as well, not quite BBS but a very good DFS. I did end up with one weeper on the upper lip which I think happened on the WTG pass.

After three shaves with this blade I have to say I still really, really like the Sheraton. But I do not like the Dorco Titan. The overall shave experience wasn't as good as with the other blades I've used in the Sheraton but it definitely hasn't had a negative impact on my view of this razor.
On to the next blade!

The NEW RFB I shared a couple of posts back was bought at an auction and the seller had several razors for sale at the same time and there were several Swings, Matadors, Aeterna and Gillette razors. I tried to win a few more than the RFB but they kinda got expensive and I didn't want to splurge on more razors at that time.
But, I did manage to snag this one:

This is an unknown Swing razor. The base plate and the top look very similar to my other Swing but the handle is all metal on this one. It weighs 56g and is about 85mm long.
Condition isn't great but shouldn't affect the shave, so it will be interesting to compare this one to my other Swing.

 

[Guido75]

Nice catch!! The Swing is absolutely wonderful! Sorry to hear the Titan wasn’t it for you. I like them very much in about all my razors, but I will admit not having used the Titan in my Aristocrat OC yet, do I need to verify if the blade/razor combination might be similar to your experience or not.

Cheers,

Guido

 

[Ohjay]

Thanks @Guido75. Yeah I'm not sure what it is about the Titan that does not work for me, but I have had similar experiences with certain blades in the past. When I started shaving with a DE I probably tried 10-15 different blades and some just refused to work for me. I will need to do a few more shaves with other razors and the Titan before I finally decide to give up on that blade, but it's not looking promising.

Date: 2024-04-29
Razor: Gillette Sheraton (1937?)
Blade: Treet - Carbon Steel
Brush: Yaqi 24mm Sagrada Familia tuxedo knot
Soap: Saponificio Varesino Cosmo
Aftershave: Simpson Bay rum
Passes: 3
Rating: 6.025
Rating is a combination of shave comfort and quality

Decided to try a new brand of razor blade today... and I was in for quite a surprise, and not a good one as can be seen in the rating

Right off the bat it felt very similar to the Dorco Titan on the WTG pass, like the blade struggled to cut the stubble and I could really feel it struggling too. When I was done with the first pass and felt my face I thought, "This ain't never gonna work", there was a lot of stubble left after that first pass.
Second pass (XTG) was better and I did not feel the blade struggling nearly as much as on the previous pass, but once again when I felt my face after the second pass the same thought came into my head, "This ain't never gonna work".
On the third pass, which was ATG of course, I had to stop when trying to shave my upper lip. It just wasn't possible. The blade kept getting stuck regardless of angle and it felt inevitable to get bad cuts if I continued. It did fair better on the rest of my face and it didn't feel like it struggled.
The final shave result was also fairly disappointing and I ended up with a CCS type shave. Granted it could have been worse, but I am expecting better result from a three-pass shave. On the upside I only got one nick.

I'll have to stick to it and do two more shaves with this blade, but my mind is telling me to just ditch it. That it's not worth the effort. We'll see, but my ambition is to persevere and gain more data.

 

[Ohjay]

Date: 2024-05-01
Razor: Gillette Sheraton (1937?)
Blade: Treet - Carbon Steel
Brush: Yaqi 24mm Huskey
Soap: Saponificio Varesino Cosmo
Aftershave: Simpson Bay rum
Passes: 3
Rating: 5.925
Rating is a combination of shave comfort and quality

Another shave with the Treet blade today and it was pretty much identical to the previous shave. The only difference was that the quality of the shave was a tiny bit worse.
I've probably been a bit too kind in my rating of this blade, because I can't quite see how it can be worse, and I sure hope I don't come across a worse blade.
Anyway, not going to spend more words on this blade and I threw it away after this shave. So I'll use something new next shave.

 

[Phoenixkh]

Date: 2024-05-01
Razor: Gillette Sheraton (1937?)
Blade: Treet - Carbon Steel
Brush: Yaqi 24mm Huskey
Soap: Saponificio Varesino Cosmo
Aftershave: Simpson Bay rum
Passes: 3
Rating: 5.925
Rating is a combination of shave comfort and quality

Another shave with the Treet blade today and it was pretty much identical to the previous shave. The only difference was that the quality of the shave was a tiny bit worse.
I've probably been a bit too kind in my rating of this blade, because I can't quite see how it can be worse, and I sure hope I don't come across a worse blade.
Anyway, not going to spend more words on this blade and I threw it away after this shave. So I'll use something new next shave.

I like the Treet DuraSharp blades @cranewarrior recommended a few months ago now. But I remind people.... I'm a one and done shaver so I only need a blade to be sharp and smooth for one shave. Carbon Steel has a reputation of not lasting as long as the Stainless Steel blades... but I wouldn't know, obviously. <eg>

 

[Ohjay]

I like the Treet DuraSharp blades @cranewarrior recommended a few months ago now. But I remind people.... I'm a one and done shaver so I only need a blade to be sharp and smooth for one shave. Carbon Steel has a reputation of not lasting as long as the Stainless Steel blades... but I wouldn't know, obviously. <eg>

I'm hoping that the Treet blade I used was a dud somehow and the next time I try one it will fair better. I'll check out the DuraSharp, perhaps that's a Treet blade that fits me better.


Date: 2024-05-03
Razor: Gillette Sheraton (1937?)
Blade: Super Iridium
Brush: DScosmetic 26mm Tuxedo
Soap: Saponificio Varesino Cosmo
Aftershave: Simpson Bay rum
Passes: 3
Rating: 8.95
Rating is a combination of shave comfort and quality

Ah, back to our regularly scheduled programming. Was choosing between the Super Iridium and Feather blade and ended up going for the Super Iridium.
Such a wild difference compared to the Treet blade. This shave was very comfortable during all three passes. Not the most comfortable ATG on the upper lip but definitely serviceable, and only one nick as well.
Quality was also very, very good. Mostly BBS but one or two DFS spots.
The skin did feel slightly agitated after the shave though, but otherwise no complaints.

Can't remember if I have shared it before or not, but I have a Kent badger brush that I bought a few years ago where the head eventually fell out of the handle and I have not taken the time to repair it. Until this week that is.
This is what it looked like before I took care of the glue residue:

Used a Dremel to get most of the glue out of the handle, there wasn't much there but I figured it would be best to have it as level as possible:

I was actually unsure if I should level the head as well since I didn't know where the knot started and where the badger hairs were glued. But I decided to try anyway and it was definitely the right choice:

Used to quickdrying two-part epoxy to glue the parts back together and it almost looks like new:

It's been 48 hours or so since I glued it so it should be cured and ready to go, but I'll let it sit for a little while longer before giving it a clean before using it in a shave.
But I can't wait to use it, this brush was absolutely amazing although a bit too big in size (size 8 I believe, so not even the biggest Kent made before stopping to use natural hairs)

 

[Ohjay]

Date: 2024-05-05
Razor: Gillette Sheraton (1937?)
Blade: Super Iridium
Brush: Yaqi 24mm Huskey
Soap: Saponificio Varesino Cosmo
Aftershave: Simpson Bay rum
Passes: 3
Rating: 8.15
Rating is a combination of shave comfort and quality

Not quite as good as the previous shave with this blade. I got some mild skin discomfort during the shave and also afterwards. Did three passes and this time it struggled a little bit on the ATG pass which affected the quality. I also got quite a few nicks and one weeper. Not sure why it got worse, and don't get me wrong, it was still a good shave.
Anyway, I ended up with a very good DFS shave.

Last time I used this blade it seemed to improve after each shave, while this time it seems to regress.
I'm not liking what it seems to be doing to my skin and I also don't get as close a shave as I would like as there was a fair bit of stubble after less than 24 hours. But I'll definitely use it for one more shave with this razor.