Mach 3 Revisited

[c__port]

To be clear, was this an 8 year old used cartridge or an 8 year old new one?

A brand spanking new 8 year old cartridge. last one in the 4 pack plastic holder. Lube strip still intact, all that.

I did expect it to have a few "strop strokes" but it felt nice and sharp. It just left stubble, stubble that mostly receded as my post-shave treatment dried out, but reappeared almost with the movement of the hour-hand.

I'll have about 14 more days to re-adapt to it. I used to get a month out of every cartridge. We'll see how this goes.

 

[tejolot3]

For me, the main problems with carts were the high cost, all the plastic, and how easily they clogged.

Those are the exact same problems I had with my Mach3. Your #2 and #3 might be switched around from mine, but that's basically it.

 

[Jay21]

Those are the exact same problems I had with my Mach3. Your #2 and #3 might be switched around from mine, but that's basically it.

If I placed them I order of annoyance, then we’d be in perfect agreement. I listed them as they came to my mind.

 

[Frito Ray]

The Mach3 was the last usable cartridge for me. Anything over three blades clogged too readily.

 

[HoosierTrooper]

A brand spanking new 8 year old cartridge. last one in the 4 pack plastic holder. Lube strip still intact, all that.

I did expect it to have a few "strop strokes" but it felt nice and sharp. It just left stubble, stubble that mostly receded as my post-shave treatment dried out, but reappeared almost with the movement of the hour-hand.

I'll have about 14 more days to re-adapt to it. I used to get a month out of every cartridge. We'll see how this goes.

Ok. Sounds like it just doesn’t work for you. I really like the Mach 3, but that’s just me.

 

[lancre]

All I can think of now is "manscaping" for large mythical reptiles. My brain is broken.

You need to bleach your brain!

In the process of moving, I packed everything that was nonessential for the next 3 weeks. While packing, I found an 8-year-old Mach 3 cart and handle, and thought that I would use that as a transitional razor. After all, I spent a decade using the Mach 3, believing to the end that this was the pinnacle of shaving technology.

The first pass was magnificent, sublime, almost dreamy in perfection. All my love for DE razor shaving was in danger of being exposed as an infatuation, a fad - until I rinsed.

What a crop of stubble!

I lathered again, and gave my beard a second pass. Still only a CCS - no closer in feel; hairs under my nose still scratchy and untouched.

As I attempted to buff, I found that I was unintentionally applying pressure in an attempt to get closer. When I rinsed, I saw the telltale redness on my neck from which I've had 8 years of near-freedom.

I miss my DE razors already. I will have to be content with a CCS for the next 3 weeks.

It was nicknamed "The Face Grater" for a reason!

 

[Alum Ladd]

Mach 3 is useless anymore.
When I started with SR DE I started using the Mach 3 in Dragon Balls, but I started to have a lot of folliculitis. I had to abandon it permanently.
Now, for the beard I use SR DE and for the Philips Bodygroom + SkinGuard Gillette dragon balls.

May I ask which country you are from Brother @Hu3ir0 Hu3Hu3 ?

I do not want to make you feel belittled in anyway, If so my great apologies.

You can be assured it was neither my nor any others intent, but it is humourus in English.

I think it must be a machine translation thing, these Dragon Balls.

I wonder if it is 'cartridges'.

 

[NorthernSoul]

Maybe switch to the BIC Metal for the duration.

I never really got along well with those multi-blade cartridges that pivot. They seemed over-engineered to me. I like the simplicity of the single-blade BIC Metal that shaves kind of like an injector razor.

 

[Goblin]

Maybe switch to the BIC Metal for the duration.

I never really got along well with those multi-blade cartridges that pivot.

Agreed, when I lost my luggage on holiday a few years back I had to buy a pack of Gillette Blue 2 disposables to see me through. To be honest, I think they shaved better than the Mach 3 for me precisely because of not having a pivot.

Once you get used to holding an angle manually, a razor that tries to do it for you just seems to be making life difficult!

Edit: ...and another thing I have noticed when using the Mach 3, is that when you have multiple blades, the lowest blade is the one that meets the hairs first during a shaving stroke and (so it seems to me) gets the most wear on it. If you want to get the full life out of the cartridges, that means you have to keep shaving when the lowest blade is blunt, tuggy and irritation causing, and it is the top blade with less wear that is actually doing the work and severing whiskers. That is certainly what it feels like to me once I have a put a few shaves on a cart. So, it's a choice between enduring uncomfortable shaves to get some use out of the uppermost blades, or chuck a cart out after a handful of shaves - wasteful and expensive.

No wonder I switched to DE.

 

[c__port]

Today's shave with the Mach 3 was on an order of magnitude better. I remembered that when I only shaved with the Mach 3, I also used Cremo. I found an as-yet-unpacked tube of lavender cremo on a shelf in the shower and used it instead of the vetiver croap I have been using for the past two months.

The shave was effortless and the razor seemed to get much closer. No sting on application of vanicream/aftershave. This is how I remember the Mach 3.

Like many others in this post, I don't use the 5 and 6 blade razors because of clogging. I don't have entirely wiry thick beard hair, but I do have a salt/pepper mixture with some hairs that feel thick as tree trunks, and when I find these I generally had to wait a day or two and pull them out with tweezers, because no cart razor is ever going to do anything but yank on them.

 

[Hu3ir0 Hu3Hu3]

I think it must be a machine translation thing, these Dragon Balls.

it is not automatic translation.
That's exactly what you understood

I don't have the courage to use the Safety Razor on them to avoid a vasectomy.
Therefore, Bodygroom + SkinGuard is the best combination to safely trim Dragon Balls hair.

Mach 3 pulls and cuts the hair below the skin layer, thus favoring the appearance of folliculitis.

 

[JTiberiusHenson]

The reason you got a bad shave is you need at least 5 blades to get a good shave, but in my opinion it's best to play it safe and go with at least 7. Also the Mach 3 doesn't even have a motor, without any vibrating action how do you expect to stimulate your follicles? You wouldn't want to shave unstimulated follicles, would you? </sarcasm>

Mach 3 was my first razor, it was fine, but Gillette had peaked with the Sensor Excel. Fusion converted me to DE

 

[StewB]

For me, the main problems with carts were the high cost, all the plastic, and how easily they clogged. But as far as the actual cutting of hair went, I never really had any issues.

This. The clogging...oh how I hate the clogging. The clogging of multi-blade cartridges, as well as the relatively high per-cartridge cost, was what caused me to start looking at DEs. Once I switched to simgle-blade razors, I experienced an unexpected benefit: A noticeable reduction in what I thought was acne. Turns out it was really ingrown hairs. I still get the occasional ingrown hair, but not nearly as often as when I shaved with multi-blade cartridge razors.

 

[Goblin]

FWIW, in honour of this thread I shaved with a fresh cart in my Mach 3 yesterday evening and got a surprisingly good result. I did have to make a lot of strokes to take down the whiskers, and had to go ATG everywhere even though Gillette say not to. I was a bit sore afterwards, but overall it was an acceptable shave and closer than a DE around the chin. I suspected I might suffer ingrowns from over-shaving, but so far, so good.

With a bit of practice I suspect I could refine things.

So, I have to concede that the Mach 3 might not be as bad as I was remembering. BUT I do love a fresh blade. That was a fresh cartridge, so it was all good, but for cost reasons you can't be having a fresh cartridge for every shave like you can have a fresh blade in your DE. I wonder if I will be as satisfied with the next few shaves?

There's no doubt that when I was using cartridges in my before-DE days, I pushed them far too far, which may have contributed to my terrible results. I think I will stick with the Mach 3 for the next few shaves and see how many I can get before I feel the cart performance is less than optimal. I am guessing about 4 or 5...let's see!

 

[WetShaveVet]

I prefer the Sensor when carrying on luggage but honestly the Mach III works fine for me as well. Good lather, three passes, DFS+.

 

[Hu3ir0 Hu3Hu3]

Also the Mach 3 doesn't even have a motor, without any vibrating action how do you expect to stimulate your follicles?

Hot

 

[Goblin]

For all my naysaying, I just got another really solid shave from my Mach 3 - second shave on the cart. Much thinner lather and the initial passes were more effective than last time.

It makes me question just how much of my terrible cartridge experiences were due to:

a) Sticking with the same cart for far, far too long.
b) Bad routine / technique - it was only when I switched to DE that I began to learn a lot of things about shaving that I should have known since I was a teenager, but I had nobody to teach me and there was no internet back then.

Anyway. I no longer dread using the Mach 3 when I travel.

For the past few years I have been using up a pack of Gillette Blue 2 disposables just for tidying up my neck and eyebrows. I am on the last one, so I ordered a 7 O'clock PII from Ebay, which apparently is an Indian version of the Trac II, to use as an alternative. I am quite curious to shave with it too.

 

[StewB]

It makes me question just how much of my terrible cartridge experiences were due to:

a) Sticking with the same cart for far, far too long.
b) Bad routine / technique - it was only when I switched to DE that I began to learn a lot of things about shaving that I should have known since I was a teenager, but I had nobody to teach me and there was no internet back then.

My thoughts exactly. Good technique is good technique, and worn out blades are worn out blades. I get decent shaves from cartridge razors also, and don't like to use them as much, because 1. I tend to get too many ingrown hairs (although better technique probably helps with this), 2. The high per-cartridge cost tends to encourage overuse (leading to poor shaves), and 3. I hate multi-blade cartridge razor clogging.

 

[catchacoolbreeze]

I will add to what has been said that the increased pressure that is required to get a decent shave with a multi-blade razor is almost on a subconscious level. Gillette talks about the science of the amount of gap between the blades like this is almost a feature you can use to your advantage when you mash the razor into your face and not get cut. However, when the blades begin to dull, and you are trying to get the most uses out of the exorbitant cost of cartridge, I do catch myself adding that pressure. While you may not get cut with the pressure, using pressure is certainly is not a good way to prevent ingrowns.

If you have troubled areas and you are forced to use a cartridge for whatever reasons, the first thing I would try to focus on is mind the pressure and don't mash it into your face. The Mach 3 is a pretty mild razor so maybe the thinner cream helped you feel like you were getting better blade to hair contact without that pressure. For me, almost all soaps provide a layer of cushion over creams which is why I like them more.

 

[Goblin]

My thoughts exactly. Good technique is good technique, and worn out blades are worn out blades. I get decent shaves from cartridge razors also, and don't like to use them as much, because 1. I tend to get too many ingrown hairs (although better technique probably helps with this), 2. The high per-cartridge cost tends to encourage overuse (leading to poor shaves), and 3. I hate multi-blade cartridge razor clogging.

Ingrown hairs were definitely a big issue for me when I used to use carts - I still have a scar on my neck from one particularly terrible ingrown. That is what tipped me over the edge to look for an alternative way of shaving and led to my discovery of B&B.

I am still waiting in trepidation for the ingrowns to appear in a shave or two when this cart starts to dull!

However, the good couple of shaves with this cart are leading me to think the unthinkable...I always thought that I didn't like the Henson because it shaved like a cartridge razor. Maybe if I can learn to get decent results with a cartridge, I could actually get a decent result from a Henson too.

No, that's a step too far!