New to DE and... scared!

[skibik]

Welcome to the club! All great advice. I have never used the Muhle razor so I don't know how mild it is. I have a Merkur 34c, it was my first razor and now I really don't like it. If you want a mild razor find a Gillette Tech. If you want a new mild and cheap razor pick up a Wilkinson Sword Classic. Not sure how available they are in Australia but here in the USA they are $10 and come with five blades which are number one in my book. Try an adjustable razor, for vintage I like my Gillette Slim. For new DE adjustable razors there are a few out there, the Rockwell which uses plates to adjust the blade gap, Parker makes the Variant, Merkur has the Progress of which I have not used either but these you can adjust them from mild to aggressive. Merkur also has the Futur, I had a clone of one of these and not sure how close it was to actual I didn't like the way it held the blade causing a blade chatter. There was a mention of the Parker Adjustable Injector, I just picked one up and had my first shave yesterday and I am surprised how good it shaved, just after one use I would recommend one.

Blades are an individual preference and a blade can make or break a shave. Once you find a razor of your preference get a blade sampler package of some sort and try different blades.

Soap they also make a difference to me. I have found that using the same razor/blade combo and changing just the soap will make the razor/blade combo feel different.

You mentioned using an electric razor. I had to actually stop using mine because it actually cut the whiskers too close and made me itch for close to a day after using it. I did like the super close shave it gave me and used it for years but I couldn't take the itching anymore and had to stop using it.

I hope you get this figured out. Good luck!

 

[JohnPS]

Recommendations all good. I don't mean to be contrary but I'm not really down with 'No Pressure'. Although you hear that all the time. There's no such thing as no pressure far as I'm concerned. Trying to achieve that could result is not really controlling the razor and having it micro-bouncing on your skin. My disclaimer: I confess, I'm a Supply 2.0 user. The reason it works best for me is two fold: 1. The correct angle is almost built in to the design. 2. It's a heavy razor. I use the weight of the razor the establish the proper pressure. On occasion I'll hold the cap with my index finger. For me I like the consistency of it over the variety. I don't think it would get along in a harem of other razors. I know that I love it with the Schick blades and if those ever went out of production, I'd have to get into DE shaving.

I've got the supply, it's completely different to a DE shave, as in completely. The supply has been designed for cartridge shavers, it has a large buffer and even with the aggressive plate I am left with stubble. Supply designed their razors to be very forgiving especially for their target audience... the pressure cartridge mob.

So you might not be down with the "no pressure" thing because you haven't got the experience with DE to understand how to use them. Maybe a good analogy is that DE is shaving is close to a cut throat and your supply is close to a cartridge. Very different...

Also I do not recommend giving a novice advice on DE or Straight Razors especially with the chorus of experienced DE users have all said the same thing, these people with decades of experience might know a thing or two.

I am happy that the supply is working for you. If you ever "get into" DE and use "pressure" you'll find even with a mild R89, the weight of the head alone with a sharp blade will cut closer than your supply.

Lastly there is a danger is telling people to use pressure, you'll see them get hurt. Very bad advice.

 

[skibik]

Lastly, the pressure thing. I know it is impossible to do the "no pressure" thing and remove stubble. Maybe we need to change the saying to very little pressure. Let the razor do the work.

A short story: I used twin disposables for years and got tired of them clogging if I didn't shave at least every 3 days. I acquired my Dad's Schick Type J1 Injector and went to shaving once a week. I didn't know about the no or light pressure until I found DE shaving. Those once a week shaves I used the same pressure as the disposables and my shave always ended in nicks and scrapes, a considerable amount of them, think Home Alone AS scene when applying AS. I found DE shaving and quit using the Injector in fear of going back to the blood bath. I now use it on occasion using the lightest possible pressure and have used it for 6 years off and on and can count on one hand the amount of nicks, they are very rare now. Pressure makes a difference. Just don't be heavy handed like you would or have with cartridges.

 

[NickCutlip]

Welcome to B&B !!

 

[Benzadmiral]

My 3 recommendations to avoid irritation and get a good shave:

1) After you apply your soap or cream, wait about 3 minutes before wielding the razor. This allows the soap/cream to soak into and soften the bristles. Gillette themselves used to counsel this in the little instruction pamphlet that came with their razors.

2) Try lukewarm, cool, or even cold water for your shave. Hot can irritate.

3) If you have hard water, sprinkle some baking soda into the sink water and swirl it around to dissolve it. It will make the water more slippery.

 

[Mark Brandon Read]

Welcome to B&B! You have some great information in the above posts.
my 2 cents are.....
1. Map your beard especially round the neck, find out which way the hair grows we’re all different.
2. Warm not HOT really helps with irritation.
3. As everyone has already mentioned. Light pressure!
It does get easier with practice.
For me mapping the direction of growth and making sure I was going with the grain on the first pass was the key to irritation free shaves.

 

[Mark_mark]

Thanks all, will be DE shaving later tonight, first time after this info. Fingers crossed !

 

[Mark_mark]

Morning members,

Had a shave this morning. Got a hold of a Merkur 34C and found it very mild. Much more milder than the Muhle, which is probably a good thing whilst I learn proper technique.

I had barely any nicks, except for one tiny one on the chin and jawline, where I messed the angle up.

It was a really pleasureable experience. I found the key slowing down, relaxing and no pressure. Angle will take a bit more practice but I did find that sweet spot on the cheeks. I found going ATG on the bottom of the neck easier than WTG.

The hardest parts were the chin - I have very coarse hair there. Also that transition from chin to neck under the mouth. Practice will make perfect.

Many thanks for all the tips and advice gentlemen - it is greatly appreciated

Regards,
Mark

 

[dmshaver]

This is a tremendous community, I'm glad you joined & asked your questions. It will take time to acquire good technique, but you'll get it. Thank you for posting your shave results today, I look forward to reading your progress as you travel the de wet shaving road.

 

[Wolfgang von Kessler]

"Bloodbath"? That tells me that you are not working the razor correctly. Remember.....the head has to ALWAYS go straight down (or up), and NEVER sideways. If you go sideways (with the head), you'll nick yourself. Another thing to remember (mentioned above in the thread)....we are all different when it comes to direction of growth, skin sensitivity, etc. And lastly,....quit buying different razors, and remember ....""it's not the arrow, it's always the Indian". Go slow, shave often, and be mindful of the blade.

I used electric in the service (20+ years), then I started with carts (multiple blades), and they ALWAYS gave me ingrowns (by the nature of multiple blades, which are DESIGNED for the closest shave possible, by pulling the hair out of the skin, cutting it, and letting it retract under the skin). IF your skin closes over the retracted hair,....it WILL grow under, and start to curl (in some people the hair is strong enough to poke through the skin again, but my hair is soft, and fine, so it grows under!).

20+ years ago, I started with straight razor, and it was a learning curve. After about 50-60 shaves, I NEVER nicked myself again, and never had any weepers either. Just a close shave that lasts two days or so. I don't torture my face anymore by shaving daily (I am retired, and I don't shave more than every third day or so, unless I have some social engagements).

Be patient, and go slow with MINIMAL pressure.

Good luck.

 

[Tirvine]

While you already have a very mild razor, I went from a similar razor, a DE89, to a Feather AS-D2, and the Feather is noticeably more mild. Conventional wisdom is to pair it with a very sharp blade, a Feather, and while the razor definitely tames that very sharp blade, I like it better with Crystal blades. Of course this was a very large outlay, but I thought I ought to share it. Of course I had almost sixty years of practice and no issues with nicks or irritation. I just conned myself into something new. Oddly, even though I mentioned here what I was considering, no one egged me on.

 

[Old Hippie]

It was a really pleasureable experience. I found the key slowing down, relaxing and no pressure. Angle will take a bit more practice but I did find that sweet spot on the cheeks. I found going ATG on the bottom of the neck easier than WTG.

You're on your way, Mark! There are four little letters we live by here: YMMV -- Your Mileage May Vary. If you think about it, every single one of us pretty much has a unique set-up. Different razors, blades, brushes, soaps, preshaves, oils, hard or soft water, water temp, our age, skin type, skin condition, skin irritability, hair type, hair condition, growth patterns, time of day, season, relative humidity, whether they've finished counting the ballots in Georgia...you get the picture.

There are some generalities, however. If the kit's not really working for you after a trial it may need an adjustment. Generally that's a blade, because as we who used to race know, you always replace the cheap parts first. But then it's down to technique. Give technique time to grow. If this isn't working, what about if I come at it from that angle? The funny thing is that after you use a razor for a while, then put it down to use a different one and later return to the first razor suddenly it's like an old friend and you're seeing all kinds of new possibilities. I've got a couple razors I had to put down and come back to later about three times before I got comfortable with them.

I'm on a learning curve, too. I decided to pick up the skill of shavette shaving. Suddenly I'm back to looking at a razor and saying, "Let's not hurt each other, OK?" Got a few nicks and so forth, and will likely get more, but no irritation or burn. In the end this is not a competition. If it was I'd probably have some kind of medal for being able to shave for an entire hour and still not be quite finished. (Could be. As Grandma said, "Slow and steady wins the race." Where's my medal?)

Look for Beginner's Mind. That's the state that mixes excitement with trepidation, where everything you see is new and you're still figuring out what you need to pay attention to. If you can "rest in Beginner's Mind" and celebrate the excitement while keeping a leash on the trepidation, pretty quickly you'll be a lot more comfortable with all this. It'll help you build that muscle memory and coordination.

I approach shaving as a hobby. I can explore this and that, try new stuff, make some of my own gear and soap, and spend some time with this great community of folks who have their own reasons for being interested. I figure if I have to shave anyway I might as well enjoy it.

O.H.

 

[JCarr]

Lighten up on the pressure you're applying. Be careful with the number of passes you make...especially un-lathered passes. Make sure you lather with every pass.

 

[Mark_mark]

Gentlemen,
One thing I wanted to mention today..... it's day 1 post shave and my neck has never felt better.
Previous inflammation has died down, and my cheeks have never felt so soft. If this is the entree, give me the whole damn dish!

 

[McBlade]

The hardest parts were the chin - I have very coarse hair there. Also that transition from chin to neck under the mouth. Practice will make perfect.

Coarser hair tends to need a sharper blade but there are so many to choose from and no "sharpness" labelling. These blades cover a range from mild/avg to sharp (in order from mild to sharp): Astra Superior Platinum, Astra Super Stainless, Nacet.

Quite a lot of blades are very inconsistent with big jumps in sharpness between shaves. The three above were chosen for consistency.

 

[Running With Scissors]

My 2 cents..I'll agree that the razor you have is a good one to learn with, getting another will mean you'll have to "get the feel" of 2 different ones, and might not be the best course. You could...set yourself a goal of light pressure, one pass only, with the grain on the areas that are sensitive, don't go back and touchup, let your face heal up. It's a skill set that needs building to get to a super close shave with no irritation, the "no irritation" part is a great part to be able to nail first, the really close shave will certainly come with practice. Given time, you'll get to where your face feels great, and the shave is close... beyond what could be done with an electric, or cartridge..for most of us..

 

[ivan_101]

The hardest parts were the chin - I have very coarse hair there. Also that transition from chin to neck under the mouth.

Regards,
Mark

Every man has very coarse hair on the chin. Ask every barber and he will tell you that normally the whiskers on the chin are 3-4 times coarser and denser than on the other parts of your face. And that makes it the easiest place to get cuts.

 

[JohnPS]

Every man has very coarse hair on the chin. Ask every barber and he will tell you that normally the whiskers on the chin are 3-4 times coarser and denser than on the other parts of your face. And that makes it the easiest place to get cuts.

This is why youtubers who have a goatie or other fascial hair giving reviews on shaving are absolutely doing no one any favours. Not to be too harsh but it's ridiculous.

Also not everyone's facial hair is the same. I've had a few barber shave tell me when I've had a barber shave and there is a spectrum of coarseness, I've been given enough feedback on my stubble its' about 7 or 8/10... again most of the youtuber have fine hair ranging from 2-6, there are only a few with coarser hair. I'll give you an example, I've got a Rockwell 6c and in my first shave with it I moved from the 3 plate then to the 4 then straight to the 5 then to the 6, which I find to be mild. But people on the forums are using the 1,2,3,4 plates... this astonishes me, the R5 plate takes 3-4 passes with touch ups for a DGS. The R6 takes 3 passes with touch ups. Same with supply razor, that thing just won't cut my chin stubble, it just tugs at it. The wahl razor that I own is medium-aggressive, lots of blade feel, 1 pass WTG and boom, all visible stubble gone.

My point being after this rant is we don't know how coarse this fellow's hair is, it could be like mine or even thicker, that'd be crazy thick. A quick google search yield results and that men's hair stubble typically ranges more than 10x in diameter, this explains the differences and maybe he has "YMMV" coarser hair.

 

[DaveHStone]

...the head has to ALWAYS go straight down (or up), and NEVER sideways. If you go sideways (with the head), you'll nick yourself...

I will respectfully disagree on this one Sir.

What about Gillette slide (aka guillotine slide) motion...?

It is exactly going sideways, while going down simultaneously. Today we have slant head DE razors to mimic this.

Obviously you need to be careful and not go sideways too much, but it's a great motion IMHO. It really helps in getting a close shave.

Some people do this even with traditional SRs, let alone DEs.

 

[ivan_101]

This is why youtubers who have a goatie or other fascial hair giving reviews on shaving are absolutely doing no one any favours. Not to be too harsh but it's ridiculous.

Also not everyone's facial hair is the same. I've had a few barber shave tell me when I've had a barber shave and there is a spectrum of coarseness, I've been given enough feedback on my stubble its' about 7 or 8/10... again most of the youtuber have fine hair ranging from 2-6, there are only a few with coarser hair. I'll give you an example, I've got a Rockwell 6c and in my first shave with it I moved from the 3 plate then to the 4 then straight to the 5 then to the 6, which I find to be mild. But people on the forums are using the 1,2,3,4 plates... this astonishes me, the R5 plate takes 3-4 passes with touch ups for a DGS. The R6 takes 3 passes with touch ups. Same with supply razor, that thing just won't cut my chin stubble, it just tugs at it. The wahl razor that I own is medium-aggressive, lots of blade feel, 1 pass WTG and boom, all visible stubble gone.

My point being after this rant is we don't know how coarse this fellow's hair is, it could be like mine or even thicker, that'd be crazy thick. A quick google search yield results and that men's hair stubble typically ranges more than 10x in diameter, this explains the differences and maybe he has "YMMV" coarser hair.

I agree with everything you said.