Mühle Enthusiast Disposable Blade Straight Razor

[Brutus]

Mühle is better known for their shaving brushes and safety razors, but years ago I found some Mühle 5/8 straight razors in a shaving store in Vienna, Austria. I did not expect much for the ridiculously low price of the equivalent of $65 (if memory serves me right), but the razor turned out to be quite capable. It was so good that I went back the next day and bought the remaining two they had in stock.

I doubt that they were made by Mühle, probably just Mühle branded, but whoever made them knew what he was doing. Going by design, craftsmanship, and how they shaved right out of the box, I even wondered whether these razors might have been made by Ralf Aust.
Mühle themselves seem have been toying for a while with the idea of a straight razor, but so far nothing serious has come off it.


And now this:

MÜHLE Rasurkultur | Designserie ENTHUSIAST

ENTHUSIAST by MÜHLE | Razors for professionals and enthusiasts. Handmade. Exclusive. ➠ ORDER NOW !

www.muehle-shaving.com

(Image courtesy Mühle)

A disposable blade straight razor.

With the exception of the Feather AC series (and similar designs) I am not a fan of ‘shavette’ type contraptions, most look flimsy, have a jerry-built blade retaining system, lack the necessary straight razor heft and are to my eyes more neck scrapers than serious razors.
But this one looks well designed, well made, with a blade holder made from 316L surgical steel and a handle made from anodised aluminium.

Mühle even publishes a manual, to keep customers who might transition from safety razors from hurting themselves: https://www.muehle-shaving.com/downloads/EN/Manual_ENTHUSIAST-PRO-en.pdf

Be that as it may, I became curious enough to order one and may report back when I have used it a few times.
The price is a bit steep, €190, about $205 or about half-way between a Feather SR and Feather DX, but the ability to use standard safety razor blades may turn out to be an advantage when travelling.

Well, I’ll find out soon enough how good it really is - and if I should not like it I still could use it as an overpriced neck scarper.



B.

 

[ZeelandsRoem]

Would you mind posting some pictures of the Mühle straight razor/s as well? I never knew they were into this.

 

[JPO]

Mühle is better known for their shaving brushes and safety razors, but years ago I found some Mühle 5/8 straight razors in a shaving store in Vienna, Austria. I did not expect much for the ridiculously low price of the equivalent of $65 (if memory serves me right), but the razor turned out to be quite capable. It was so good that I went back the next day and bought the remaining two they had in stock.

I doubt that they were made by Mühle, probably just Mühle branded, but whoever made them knew what he was doing. Going by design, craftsmanship, and how they shaved right out of the box, I even wondered whether these razors might have been made by Ralf Aust.
Mühle themselves seem have been toying for a while with the idea of a straight razor, but so far nothing serious has come off it.


And now this:

MÜHLE Rasurkultur | Designserie ENTHUSIAST

ENTHUSIAST by MÜHLE | Razors for professionals and enthusiasts. Handmade. Exclusive. ➠ ORDER NOW !

www.muehle-shaving.com

View attachment 1670644

(Image courtesy Mühle)

A disposable blade straight razor.

With the exception of the Feather AC series (and similar designs) I am not a fan of ‘shavette’ type contraptions, most look flimsy, have a jerry-built blade retaining system, lack the necessary straight razor heft and are to my eyes more neck scrapers than serious razors.
But this one looks well designed, well made, with a blade holder made from 316L surgical steel and a handle made from anodised aluminium.

Mühle even publishes a manual, to keep customers who might transition from safety razors from hurting themselves: https://www.muehle-shaving.com/downloads/EN/Manual_ENTHUSIAST-PRO-en.pdf

Be that as it may, I became curious enough to order one and may report back when I have used it a few times.
The price is a bit steep, €190, about $205 or about half-way between a Feather SR and Feather DX, but the ability to use standard safety razor blades may turn out to be an advantage when travelling.

Well, I’ll find out soon enough how good it really is - and if I should not like it I still could use it as an overpriced neck scarper.



B.

It looks nice and solid.
There seems to be allot of blade exposure and no protection at the blade corners, like the Focus razors have.
Would be nice to get an update when you have used it.

 

[Brutus]

Would you mind posting some pictures of the Mühle straight razor/s as well? I never knew they were into this.

There you go:

A simple, basic ⅝ with plastic scales, but it works well and gets the job done.
Not stainless, but at that price it still makes a great little razor for travelling that won’t break the bank if the suitcase should get lost.

Except for the gold wash it just looks like my first Ralf Aust…


And her some more info and images of the Enthusiast disposable blade straight razor:

The new MÜHLE straight razor for professionals and enthusiasts

www.muehle-shaving.com

B.

 

[StillShaving]

And her some more info and images of the Enthusiast disposable blade straight razor:

The new MÜHLE straight razor for professionals and enthusiasts

www.muehle-shaving.com

B.

Nice find, the Muehle Enthusiast blade loading mechanism does look a touch easier overall when handling naked blades than most other systems.

That video has also been posted to youtube:

 

[Lather and Razors]

Look like sophisticated disposable blade straight razor you’d see in fancy barbershop.

 

[Brutus]

Yes, it’s well built.
It also comes in solid packaging that oozes quality, together with a manual (same as on the Mühle website) and a Mühle DE blade.
BTW, Mühle currently adds a free Grapefruit & Mint shaving stick, their latest addition, to orders above €50.

My Enthusiast arrived yesterday and I shaved with it today.
Very close shave that reminded me in many ways of Feather AC razors, but the first shave was not quite as harsh as when one puts a new blade in a Feather AC.
A shaver who is familiar with the Feather AC will feel right at home.


I shall wait until I have more shaves with the Enthusiast under my belt and may report back then.


B.

 

[DarkSpy]

Yes, it’s well built.
It also comes in solid packaging that oozes quality, together with a manual (same as on the Mühle website) and a Mühle DE blade.
BTW, Mühle currently adds a free Grapefruit & Mint shaving stick, their latest addition, to orders above €50.

My Enthusiast arrived yesterday and I shaved with it today.
Very close shave that reminded me in many ways of Feather AC razors, but the first shave was not quite as harsh as when one puts a new blade in a Feather AC.
A shaver who is familiar with the Feather AC will feel right at home.


I shall wait until I have more shaves with the Enthusiast under my belt and may report back then.


B.

I have several questions, but I'll leave it at two:
1) from the video there seems to be a lot of blade exposure, what do you think? Can you share some photos?
2) Hows the scent of the Grapefruit & Mint?

 

[gpjoe]

Mühle is better known for their shaving brushes and safety razors, but years ago I found some Mühle 5/8 straight razors in a shaving store in Vienna, Austria. I did not expect much for the ridiculously low price of the equivalent of $65 (if memory serves me right), but the razor turned out to be quite capable. It was so good that I went back the next day and bought the remaining two they had in stock.

I doubt that they were made by Mühle, probably just Mühle branded, but whoever made them knew what he was doing. Going by design, craftsmanship, and how they shaved right out of the box, I even wondered whether these razors might have been made by Ralf Aust.
Mühle themselves seem have been toying for a while with the idea of a straight razor, but so far nothing serious has come off it.


And now this:

MÜHLE Rasurkultur | Designserie ENTHUSIAST

ENTHUSIAST by MÜHLE | Razors for professionals and enthusiasts. Handmade. Exclusive. ➠ ORDER NOW !

www.muehle-shaving.com

View attachment 1670644

(Image courtesy Mühle)

A disposable blade straight razor.

With the exception of the Feather AC series (and similar designs) I am not a fan of ‘shavette’ type contraptions, most look flimsy, have a jerry-built blade retaining system, lack the necessary straight razor heft and are to my eyes more neck scrapers than serious razors.
But this one looks well designed, well made, with a blade holder made from 316L surgical steel and a handle made from anodised aluminium.

Mühle even publishes a manual, to keep customers who might transition from safety razors from hurting themselves: https://www.muehle-shaving.com/downloads/EN/Manual_ENTHUSIAST-PRO-en.pdf

Be that as it may, I became curious enough to order one and may report back when I have used it a few times.
The price is a bit steep, €190, about $205 or about half-way between a Feather SR and Feather DX, but the ability to use standard safety razor blades may turn out to be an advantage when travelling.

Well, I’ll find out soon enough how good it really is - and if I should not like it I still could use it as an overpriced neck scarper.



B.

The Enthusiast looks like a well made razor that is simple to load. Of course it's worth is determined (at least in part) by its utility, and it sounds like it delivered a satisfactory shave for you.

It certainly looks good.

Regarding the price:

To me it seems a bit steep. I'm not sure what the retail price of a Feather DX is currently, but I was able to purchase a brand new DX with wood scales recently from a Japanese seller for $135 shipped to the US. It may be "grey market" but looks genuine and I have no reason to believe it is counterfeit.

My only half-blade shavettes are a Parker and Sedef, and either will punish the user (well...me) for any lapse in attention or technique. I find the Feather to be far more forgiving.

 

[Brutus]

It’s ten days now since I started using the Mühle Enthusiast disposable blade straight razor daily and I must say that I am impressed.

I have been shaving for over ten years almost every day with straight razors. Along the way, I also picked up several Feather AC razors that particularly proved their usefulness when travelling on frequent overnight trips before my retirement. Conversely, I never acquired a taste for Shavette type razors, to me they don’t handle and feel even remotely like a straight razors. Suffice to say that I often refer to these as “contraptions”.


Already on the first shave it became clear that the Enthusiast shaves for all practical purposes like a Feather AC DX and shares some of the Feather AC’s features.
The razor is well built, looks and feels solid, with a heft and balance similar to a classic 5/8 straight razor.
The blade retention mechanism is well thought out, takes half a safety razor blade, and even has two small recesses for the ends of the blade broken in half, in case the areas where you broke the blade in half are not perfectly flat.

Mühle has (in my book at least) a solid reputation for quality and it also shows on this razor. They took great care to protect the Enthusiast buyer and even provide a small instruction manual with the razor. It is hardly necessary for an experienced straight shaver, but maybe Mühle had also buyers in mind who transition from safety razors, with no previous experience with straights.
One thing that I don’t quite agree with is the suggestion in the manual to hold the blade at an 30º angle, with no differentiation between with the grain (WTG), across the grain (XTG), and against the grain (ATG) passes. That is IMO a bit too much for WTG passes and certainly too much for XTG and ATG passes. Mühle is looking into this recommendation right now and might modify the text in the future.

As you can see on below picture, the Enthusiast blade length differs from straight and Feather AC razors, but I had no difficulty adjusting to the shorter blade. As is to be expected, the edges of the DE blade are almost 90º, so some more care is required. It may help to think “square point” when using the Enthusiast.
Blade exposure is similar to a Feather AC DX with Professional blades (top) and somewhat less than the Professional Super blades (bottom).

Not unexpectedly, a new DE blade broken in half in the Enthusiast is hellish sharp, but it does not have the roughness that I am used to from newly inserted Feather AC blades.

If one is careful, the shave can be surprisingly smooth, comfortable and exceptionally close. I find that for any kind of disposable blade straight razor a light touch is even more important than for a classic straight. These razors can be unforgiving…
For pre-shave, I wash my face with glycerine soap and when I afterwards apply a hot, wet towel for three minutes, the results after two passes plus one touch-up are that I can no longer detect any audible (crackling) feedback when the blade or fingernail glides over my cheek.
That for me is the mark of a BBS+.

With above kind of pre-shave, I can get three to four close and comfortable shaves from a DE blade broken in half. As I usually keep blade for a week in a safety razor that falls within expectations.
I have so far used one half Perma-Sharp blade and one half Mühle blade (a single Mühle blade is included with the razor) and inserted today the second half of the Perma-Sharp blade. Other blade brands will follow.

The profile of the razor is slimmer than a Feather AC DX (left) and beefier that a full-hollow 6/8 straight (right).

For all practical purposes, the Mühle Enthusiast feels and handles pretty much like an insanely well honed and stropped 5/8 straight razor.

In the hands of an experienced straight shaver the Enthusiast can be an exceptional razor. For a novice, just like with a Feather AC razor, I am not so sure. A beginner could concentrate solely on the shave and not have to worry about honing and stropping (either of which can ruin an otherwise perfect shave), but a well honed and stropped 5/8 may turn out to be more forgiving, even if the results should fall short of an Enthusiast shave. But then again, there is something to be said for just having to insert a fresh half-DE blade and be ready to start again.

I have to admit, I was more curious than convinced when I ordered this razor, but I have a soft spot for Mühle, as their products are reasonably priced and never seem to disappoint. In case of the Enthusiast, the razor did not only hold its own against the Feather AC DX and SR (thereby outclassing the Feather AC SR) and fulfilled all my hopes and expectations, it turned out to be an outstanding piece of kit.


I hope you find these comments useful.




B.

 

[Brutus]

I have several questions, but I'll leave it at two:
1) from the video there seems to be a lot of blade exposure, what do you think? Can you share some photos?
2) Hows the scent of the Grapefruit & Mint?

Regarding the blade exposure, I added today a 10-day review of the Enthusiast to this thread, which includes a comparison of blade exposure against Feather AC razors.

Regarding the grapefruit/mint shaving soap, like all Mühle shaving soaps, the scent is pleasant but VERY faint.
Among their four shaving soaps, I can tell the difference between sea buckthorne and sandalwood, but the aloe vera and grapefruit/mint shaving soaps smell pretty much all the same to me.
In fact, after the little porcelain bowls that contain the soaps got shuffled around I had to ask my wife (better nose than me) which one is which and she could identify the aloe vera and grapefruit/mint scents.

It is different for the Mühle aftershave lotions that I like quite a bit, the scents are stronger albeit still not what I would call “powerful”. I find them quite attractive and like the witch hazel that is part of their formula.


One last word regarding the shaving soaps, I had not used them for some years and, while I liked them, they were not in my top tier. I probably used them more because of the accompanying lotions than because of their own merit. The soaps that I got last month seem to be much better.

Mühle shaving soaps are rarely talked about, but it could be that their current formula, which is based on potassium stearate and sodium stearate instead of the previously used potassium palmate and sodium palmate, makes for a better shaving soap. Some shavers do believe that stearates make for better shaving soaps than (cheaper) palmates.



B.

 

[StillShaving]

Thanks for the review @Brutus, for providing a helpful comparison to some other razors. I especially appreciated the edge profile photo, to provide more clarity on how the razor looks and its potential impact on the shave.

 

[ERS4]

With the exception of the Feather AC series (and similar designs) I am not a fan of ‘shavette’ type contraptions, most look flimsy, have a jerry-built blade retaining system, lack the necessary straight razor heft and are to my eyes more neck scrapers than serious razors.

The Mühle Enthusiast is a high quality product and It looks like muhle is always beautiful.
----------
Adding that "Tedalus Essence" is definitely a member worthy of inclusion, and it can easily use blades such as AC/DE/Injector.

It holds in place magnetically, so there's almost no visible mechanism or gap for the blade when assembled, just like a true straight razor.
There is a bit of assembly friction when brand new, once run in it is smooth and easy.

 

[ERS4]

By the way, the Mühle Enthusiast reminds me of this shavette, only it opens in the opposite direction.

It combines the push button mechanism with the door, which I think is very clever and keeps the mechanism looking simple.

 

[JPO]

The Tedalus Essence is probably the closest you can get to the feel of a true straight razor.
The Mühle Enthusiast seems to be a nice alternative.

 

[JPO]

By the way, the Mühle Enthusiast reminds me of this shavette, only it opens in the opposite direction.

It combines the push button mechanism with the door, which I think is very clever and keeps the mechanism looking simple.
View attachment 1692687

Where can you get that one?

 

[ERS4]

Where can you get that one?

Saw it on a Chinese shopping site, so I'm guessing AliExpress will have it too.
刀雄美发刮刀理发剃刀刮胡刀老式刮脸刀剃须理发店专业男手动刀片 - Taobao - https://www.taobao.com/list/item/wap/595358587692.htm

 

[Mitzie]

Don't like the truncated tip of the Muhle shavette as you don't know where the blade starts. This makes it prone to giving you un-necessary nicks and cuts. And useless at trimming accurately the hairline/sideburns. The beauty of the Turkish Safed shavette is that you can position the blade right at the tip of the holder where you know where the blade starts

 

[ERS4]

It happened that a local distributor lent me a sample of Muhle Enthusiast Pro, and I took the opportunity to compare it with my Tedalus Essence. (already tried shaving)

The scales of Enthusiast Pro is very thick and made of two pieces of metal.
The scales of Tedalus Essence is a whole piece of metal, cut with gradient thickness.
This photo also shows the difference in blade thickness.

The Enthusiast Pro scales has a large sense of volume (thickness & volume). In addition to the obvious feeling that "the fingers are holding something", it makes me feel that the gaps between the fingers are violated. It also makes the weight of the front blade/rear scales centered around the blade axis similar. There will be a bit of a "pull back" feeling - the Enthusiast Pro will give me a "sluggish" knife control feel.

The scale of Enthusiast Pro is about the same weight as the blade, which will also increase the fatigue of professional barbers after long-term work.

The center of gravity of Tedalus Essence is on the front blade, so the blade control is relatively flexible.

The edge of the Enthusiast Pro is too thick, and the blade is exposed more, so the cutting angle is obviously larger. Even if you don't use the 30 degrees recommended by the manual, the control angle is still more limited than other shavettes.

The biggest advantage of Enthusiast Pro is indeed Muhle's strong point - the interior has been sandblasted to eliminate CNC traces, so the details are more perfect.

To be honest, I think even the "Parker Srx" "Sedef" is easier to control angles/balance than the Enthusiast Pro.

The real winner among these two razors, in my personal opinion, is undoubtedly the Tedalus Essence, and not just because it is my razor.
In fact before receiving the Muhle sample, I even considered leaving it on hand directly from the local distributor, but now I have completely given up on that idea.