My experience switching to wet shaving after a lifetime of electric.

[Tokyospike]

Hi @WetshaveConvert and welcome aboard. It took me months to finally get lathering down. A few things I was told here that have helped me (sorry I'm not able to credit my benefactors properly):

• The consistency you want is not foamy, not beaten-egg white, but more like yogurt - I bowl lather, and that takes a minute or two to whip up;
• Also, you're not really whipping, you're swirling;
• A lather that's a little too wet is better than a lather that's any kind of dry.

Personally, I've found two things myself, though they may not apply to you:

• All of the above is easier for me using a tallow-based soap than a vegetal, though I can do a pretty good job with both now - slickness is the single most important quality of a lather;
• Using the same brush and the same soap every day for at least a month was a revelation - helped straighten me out in a big way.

Good luck!

 

[jcs266]

I used an electric for probably 25 years or so. It was quick and the shaves were lousy, but I hated shaving and didn't really care too much as long as I didn't look too bad. Ingrown hairs on my lower neck were a hassle.

Discovering the DE razor and brush/soap has been a life changing experience. I now LOVE shaving and look forward to it every morning. It takes a bit of time to work out the "how-to" of it, but trust me it's fun and unless you want to turn it into a hobby it's much cheaper than these 6-blade wonder cartridges sold in the stores.

I experimented for several months with various razors and soaps until I found what worked for me. I now use the same razor, blade, brush and soap every day and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

You'll learn all you could ever want to know about razors, soaps, brushes, aftershaves, etc here.

 

[WetshaveConvert]

If you are looking into the perfect auto-pilot shave. Look into getting a Oneblade. The blades do you expensive for that razor though.

Oh, I'm not looking for an auto-pilot shave, though I'm getting there with how easy the ASD2 is getting to be. In fact, I'm looking forward to learning how to use a shavette when it arrives.

Hi @WetshaveConvert and welcome aboard. It took me months to finally get lathering down. A few things I was told here that have helped me (sorry I'm not able to credit my benefactors properly):

• The consistency you want is not foamy, not beaten-egg white, but more like yogurt - I bowl lather, and that takes a minute or two to whip up;
• Also, you're not really whipping, you're swirling;
• A lather that's a little too wet is better than a lather that's any kind of dry.

Personally, I've found two things myself, though they may not apply to you:

• All of the above is easier for me using a tallow-based soap than a vegetal, though I can do a pretty good job with both now - slickness is the single most important quality of a lather;
• Using the same brush and the same soap every day for at least a month was a revelation - helped straighten me out in a big way.

Good luck!

I use a bowl too, much easier. The problem I've had with the soaps is I can't seem to get enough transfer from the solid puck onto the brush, to make anything meaningful happen in the bowl. I've let hot water sit on the puck for a minute like the dozen videos I've watched say, but all I can get out of the bowl is a bundle of thin bubbles.

 

[davedm]

About the jawline... I open my mouth real wide, and this essentially moves the difficult part of the jawline up onto the flat part of the cheek. Then, I can shave it sideways, which is against the grain.

What kind of brush are you using? Is it possible that's part of your problem with soaps? Also what kind of soap have you tried? Some soaps just can't be lathered by some people. Some people have hard water which makes it difficult. For me it's Mystic Water. Just can't get it to work for me, though I have good luck with many other soaps. If you want to have another go at soaps, try Tabac, or Haslinger, or something from Stirling or Razorock. These are all easy to lather.

 

[WetshaveConvert]

About the jawline... I open my mouth real wide, and this essentially moves the difficult part of the jawline up onto the flat part of the cheek. Then, I can shave it sideways, which is against the grain.

What kind of brush are you using? Is it possible that's part of your problem with soaps? Also what kind of soap have you tried? Some soaps just can't be lathered by some people. Some people have hard water which makes it difficult. For me it's Mystic Water. Just can't get it to work for me, though I have good luck with many other soaps. If you want to have another go at soaps, try Tabac, or Haslinger, or something from Stirling or Razorock. These are all easy to lather.

Just the Wilkinson Sword soap. The film on my razors that I always have to wipe off tells me I have hard water, so I guess that's an issue.

The proraso creams are working great for me, though.

 

[Tokyospike]

I use a bowl too, much easier. The problem I've had with the soaps is I can't seem to get enough transfer from the solid puck onto the brush, to make anything meaningful happen in the bowl.

Ah ha! The way I learned to deal with this is I keep a teaspoon in the shave den. I use the teaspoon to get an almond-sized snurdle of soap from the puck, then press it into the bottom of the bowl with my thumbs. Then use my soaked brush to lather off the snurdle in the bowl.

 

[Stingy Jack]

Great write up. I too started out with electric razors when I was 14 before moving to cartridge about a year later. I was never satisfied with either and the n I discovered DE shaving 7 months ago.

 

[WetshaveConvert]

Ah ha! The way I learned to deal with this is I keep a teaspoon in the shave den. I use the teaspoon to get an almond-sized snurdle of soap from the puck, then press it into the bottom of the bowl with my thumbs. Then use my soaked brush to lather off the snurdle in the bowl.

Now that's an idea! We'll see.

In other news, I finally tried the feather blades that came with the ASD2. I started by slicing my thumb pretty nicely when I tried to wipe the glue off the blade, so that was a good start. After admiring how cleanly and painlessly it cut, I got the best shave ever. Lol.

I'm actually going through a sample pack of 100 blades I got from Amazon. Two kinds of Sharks, four kinds of Lords, a Big Ben, an ASCO, an Astra, and a Crown. I've also tried the a Derby and a Merkur blade that came with their razors. Honestly I'm not feeling much difference between them. The Sharks seem least effective, but they were also the first I tried, so I'm sure it was user error. I'll try another one of them soon. The feathers are the first to be noticeably better, though.

 

[BassPlayerBoz]

Nice write up. I've been on B&B for about a year. (Started DE shaving after needing to move to an electric for a little while after an arm injury, finding this place looking for info on better creams/soaps to use with the new electric, & discovered the DE safety razor world.) I, too, still have my Sensor & Fusion handles with several 5-pks of cartridges each and a few cans of Edge Gel w/ Aloe that I'd used for decades. I keep them just in case I need them for quick shaves or travel convenience, but I haven't needed to use them so far. (Been able to take the DE, soap, & blades in checked luggage without much problem.) I also keep the electric charged & use it occasionally (usually when I want a clean up, but don't want to spend extra time using the DE.) In contrast to your lifetime of experience with an electric, I've found that if I press hard trying to get a closer shave, though I can't actually cut myself I can give my face some pretty nice razor burn fairly easily. The big advantage I find with the electric is it's very convenient. But I also find that I need another shave about 4-5 hours later. The DE lets me go a whole day.

I also love the idea of spending less money on blades (using 1/week, a 100-pk will last almost 2 years!) But how many of us actually save money? A year into this, & I'm still working on my initial sampler pack - yet I've bought a few more tucks of blades, numerous soaps/creams, 4 x brushes, 1 razor, and another handle w/ 4 different heads that fit it... and I feel like I'm one of the more frugal guys on this forum. Granted - I haven't bought any $200 razors/brushes or MdC soap. But I have spent a bit more than the $70/year I would normally have spent on Sensor XL cartridges in a year. Still - compared to my other "hobbies" (i.e. guitars & amplifiers, motorcycles, & power tools), the money I spend on shaving gear is minimal.

 

[WetshaveConvert]

Well yes, most of us aren't in this just to save money. But if you were a college student scraping by, a $50 handle should be your only major investment. Then it's a year's worth of Astras from Amazon for $15 and whatever shaving cream you were using with cartridges anyway.