Muhle R41 daily

[JPO]

Fascinating discussion guys. So here's the deal, I bought the Feather AS-D2, its an excellent razor for the price, an absolute tank! I also love the textured grip handle, easy to hold in the hand, and the weight of the razor, does all the work carrying the blade through the cut. You don't have to use any pressure, but because its a unique design, you have to use a weird angle of 50 degrees, and ride the cap. Its cast and or injection molded out of solid stainless steel, so durability is high, no chrome plating to chip away.

Having said all that, it is an extremely mild razor. Those who have reported themselves as baby faces, with very light soft hair on only parts of their face, the AS-D2 will provide the follicle weight reduction that you require. But keep in mind, even though its a mild razor, it can, and will knick you in the moostash area going ATG, if you are not careful, same goes for chin too. I discovered this the hard way guys, trust me, its a thing.

I find what works best, is working on the area a little bit, then immediately applying more soap lather to the spot, and going over it again. This keeps the skin slick enough, to allow the razor to do the job, without knicking you real bad. Part of how we knick ourselves with the AS-D2 however, is because were going over the spot numerous times, know why? Cause the razor is exceptionally mild! So, a razor that is supposed to keep you away from trouble, gets you into it faster then you can get out of it.

But guess what? I don't have a baby face, I don't have thin soft sparse hair growth. I have thick course wiry hair, yes the kind who's stubble could polish a rock! And this is why, even as much as I love my Feather AS-D2 razor, I have to stop using it for my 2-days shaves. I needed something that could handle course thick hair and 2-day stubble, and do it quickly, and efficiently. So, with that said, I decided to upgrade to an adjustable razor.

I ordered a Rex Ambassador, should get here next month. Its a razor that is supposed to handle large amounts of hair growth, and its supposed to handle course thick hair. My plan currently, is to set it to setting 4, try it out for the WTG pass on 2-day stubble. What I am looking for, is the razor to effectively remove all the bulk in hopefully single passes if that is possible. Then on the 2nd pass, I am going to come back on a ATG pass with the razor set to setting 1, for the final finishing and buffing.

Why am I no longer making XTG passes you might ask? Well, every single time I tried that with my Feather, for a total of a 3 pass shave, I'd knick my neck, cause extra irritation, bleeding. I just have one of those kind of faces and necks that just say, oh please god no. I find, I get plenty good enough shave with my Feather, with just a two pass shave. I expect no less of a higher end adjustable such as the Rex Ambassador, but I will have to see.

As with everything in life, YYMV.

Good luck with your Rex. Setting one is probably quite close to the AS-D2.
This razor can be a little picky on blade choice. Perma-sharp and Astra SP works well for me.
Setting 4 is a really efficient setting.

 

[JPO]

Hello all. First time poster but I have been lurking a while.

So background, I got into wet shaving a couple of years ago and started with some art of shave cream(just smeared on) and a Merkur 33c.
Then with research, that evolved into purchasing an omega brand brush, every blade imaginable from tryablade.com and a Edwin Jagger DE89. Since then I have purchased multiple RazoRock brand heads from italianbarber, tried a feather popular and even some Parker shavettes.

To help fast forward to where I am at now, I have settled on/daily use the 20mm Rockwell synthetic brush, Soap Commander unscented soap and the Muhle R41 head on a stainless steel handle from italianbarber and Astra SP blades.

I typically shave only 1 full pass. I shave with the grain on mustache, against the grain on cheeks and chin and slightly sideways(against the grain) on neck. I am fairly baby faced and really only stash and chin hair to worry about.

I know that YMMV but I am assuming that when people say that the Muhle is too aggressive for daily use, they are doing like 2-3 passes?

I used a shavette for about a year and it got me closer and more important lasted longer, than any of the DE razor heads I tried, EXCEPT the Muhle.

Maybe since I only do one full pass(two on chin area) I am not eating my face up? I would think I have fairly sensitive skin but I whip a thick lather with the SC soap and ride the cap with the Muhle so I've never felt it was too much for my face.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but it seems like with the aggressiveness/blade gap of the head, I have a window of adjustability based on cap on skin placement of how aggressive/mild I want a pass to be. It might just be me, but the more milder heads I used, I felt *locked in* to a specific window of usability.

If you have not tried the Gillette Yellow Sharp Edge in this razor, you should try it. This blade does not work well for me in any other razors, but for some reason it works really well in this razor.

If you are in the market for a stainless razor, the GS version is an upgrade from the standard. If you don't have coarse stubble you might not notice a difference. The GS model does offer a little less blade chatter then the standard model.

For me the advantage of using this type of razor is the wide effective shaving angle.

 

[Cafebarian]

Fatip Lo Storto (zamak unfortunately)

The Fatips are coated brass razors. Zero zamak...

 

[ClumsyBull]

The Fatips are coated brass razors. Zero zamak...

I stand corrected you are right.

 

[JoSk]

I also find R41 the best razor on the market. I also have Fatip Piccolo SE and it is also a great razor and for my taste more beautiful than R41, but, if you ask me, the R41 is the winner. If I shave daily, or every other day, all I need for more than DFS with R41 is just a single pass WTG and that's it. And my beard is pretty coarse and not easy to shave off.

 

[Edmund A]

Good afternoon, friends of the sharp edge.

I got a Mühle R41 last week after using several R89 heads and a Merkur 34c CC for quite a while.
Loaded it with the Mühle blade which was delivered with the razor.
My preparations were as usual a hot shower and a Proraso pre shave.
Shaving cream was also from Proraso, thoroughly lathered in a bowl with a Mühle XL Classic badger silvertip.
The first two shaves left me with some minor weepers but an absolutely BBS skin.

Today I gave a third try to the beast after having read lots of comments about the right angle of shaving. I tried to use an acute one of about 30 degrees.
I made my usual three passes (WTG-XTG-ATG) and you find me with no bloodspots or nicks at all after a comfortable and very close shave.
I could well imagine to use the R41 as my daily driver.

 

[ShavingPrimate]

I shave every day with the 41, I would never go back to my Rocca, 89,34c and other razors that I have.

I do go back and try the DE89, 34c, the Rocca and others.

I have used the Rocca the past two days. This is the first time I have used it two days in a row.

The save was close and it was smooth. But, as I sit here, the shave looses its closeness past the end of the day.

This would not be an issue for 90% of the people. But after the super close and comfortable shaves from the R41, it just does not compare.

I can use the R41 daily with no problem. It doesn't bother me at all to shave daily with it and use any of my regular blades.