Question for cartridge razor fans

[Franz_Biberkopf]

Hi,

Question for daily users of cartridge razors, especially if you used double edge razors before that.

What made you definitely switch to cartridge razors?
Today, I tried shaving with a cartridge (Proglide) after 10 years, and can't believe what kind of bbs shave it was. However, I did see a couple of a bit ingrowns, probably due to the closeness of the shave.

Which would you say is better for your skin, cartridge or DE?

And which cartridge would you recommend - Proglide, Mach3 or Wilkinson Hydro 5. Wilkinson price is quite appealing.

Thanks for your answers!

 

[Chandu]

I use DE, SE and Carts. I do it for variety. I can get a bbs with any of them, just a cart is quicker and easier to do it with as the head pivots and more blades, do cut closer. Now for some small portion of the shaving population carts probably do shave too close. But if that is the case, it's a matter of finding a less aggressive cart. That may mean one that simply shaves less close or one with fewer blades.

I don't think anyone type of razor is better or worse for one's skin. It's how you use the razor that is better or worse for your skin. For my many blade carts I use Dorco Pace 7, Fusion Proglide and a Schick Hydro 5.

Here is a Dorco/Schick Comparison Which cartridge razor did you use today and how many shaves?

Here is a Dorco/Gillette Comparison Which cartridge razor did you use today and how many shaves?

The deal with carts after DE or SE shaving is that the DE and SE enforce good shaving habits. Proper beard softening, proper lubrication for the shave and so on. Then team that with a razor that far more advanced than a DE or SE and you will get a great shave.

 

[Sicilian]

I switched to the Atra when it first came out because I could no longer find DE blades. They vanished overnight it seemed. Along with injector blades. I loved my Shick injector (until I dropped it). The worst shaving system ever was the Gillette Techmatic.

 

[Joncr]

I have added carts to my regular rotation because they are less effort to use for a close/BBS shave, without irritation or blood. I am a daily shave, 71 years old, so my beard is tougher and my skin more prone to nicks and irritation than when I was younger. The Fusion5 for me is the best of the Fusion series. The Harry's is equally good. The Mach3 cannot give me a close shave no matter what I try and I have given up on it. The Sensor with Gillette carts give a shave as good as the 5 blade carts, but because you can actually apply pressure on the skin from the blades, it can nick or irritate, the same with the Atra, but still I am far ess likely to irritate my skin or draw blood with any of these carts ghan with a DE.
I will be trying the TracII soon.
I have found the same prep as a DE shave, thoroughly wet the stubble, lather a good shave cream or soap on the face with a brush, 3 passes WTG - XTG - ATG works best for me.
My only recommendation ...... experiment.
Hopes this helps.

 

[Sabre]

How do you see ingrowns immediately after shaving?

 

[vtmax]

Hi,

Question for daily users of cartridge razors, especially if you used double edge razors before that.

What made you definitely switch to cartridge razors?
Today, I tried shaving with a cartridge (Proglide) after 10 years, and can't believe what kind of bbs shave it was. However, I did see a couple of a bit ingrowns, probably due to the closeness of the shave.

Which would you say is better for your skin, cartridge or DE?

And which cartridge would you recommend - Proglide, Mach3 or Wilkinson Hydro 5. Wilkinson price is quite appealing.

Thanks for your answers!

I primarily use the Proglide on weekdays now, DE’s for weekends, free time.

There was a lot more push back on the forums on carts some years ago but that has faded as many realized it was inaccurate and simply stupid. Most were (some still are) defending their expensive high end DE purchases or only used carts with canned foam.

With proper wet shaving prep the Gillette Proglide (or even the Schick Hydro 3) surpasses the closeness and smoothness I get with the Blackbird, Charcoal Level 2 & 3, Wolfman WR2 or the wonderful Karve.

More blades and quality steel built into a well tested system, mixed with great wet shaving prep, has quality carts edging out DE razors in my many years shaving with both. No problem admitting that at all.

 

[Sicilian]

I primarily use the Proglide on weekdays now, DE’s for weekends, free time.

There was a lot more push back on the forums on carts some years ago but that has faded as many realized it was inaccurate and simply stupid. Most were (some still are) defending their expensive high end DE purchases or only used carts with canned foam.

With proper wet shaving prep the Gillette Proglide (or even the Schick Hydro 3) surpasses the closeness and smoothness I get with the Blackbird, Charcoal Level 2 & 3, Wolfman WR2 or the wonderful Karve.

More blades and quality steel built into a well tested system, mixed with great wet shaving prep, has quality carts edging out DE razors in my many years shaving with both. No problem admitting that at all.

Well said Sir! I agree.

 

[FaceScraper]

DE shaving improves your technique immensely coupled with much better face prep techniques . Using a DE kinda made me “map” my face properly to know which way the hairs grew . 5+ years of DE shaving using super speeds , fatboy, slim adjustable plus modern razors like the Merkur 34C and Merkur progress means I am not a compete novice now .
However I went back to cart shaving last month because I feel I can get just as a good a shave with a cart as I do with a DE if I use proper face prep . Plus significantly less chance of nicks .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Big Jim]

I seldom get nicks or weepers with a cartridge. Got them nearly daily with DE.

 

[santamariasteve]

I have added carts to my regular rotation because they are less effort to use for a close/BBS shave, without irritation or blood. I am a daily shave, 71 years old, so my beard is tougher and my skin more prone to nicks and irritation than when I was younger. The Fusion5 for me is the best of the Fusion series. The Harry's is equally good. The Mach3 cannot give me a close shave no matter what I try and I have given up on it. The Sensor with Gillette carts give a shave as good as the 5 blade carts, but because you can actually apply pressure on the skin from the blades, it can nick or irritate, the same with the Atra, but still I am far ess likely to irritate my skin or draw blood with any of these carts ghan with a DE.
I will be trying the TracII soon.
I have found the same prep as a DE shave, thoroughly wet the stubble, lather a good shave cream or soap on the face with a brush, 3 passes WTG - XTG - ATG works best for me.
My only recommendation ...... experiment.
Hopes this helps.

Brother Jon,

Outstanding observations and advice!

 

[Joncr]

Brother Jon,

Outstanding observations and advice!

thank you

 

[olegunnar]

I would suggest doing the reduction method with a couple of passes even with the ProGlide. Maybe 1 WTG & 1 ATG with slightly more pressure than with DE razor. Maybe only WTG in the areas that give you ingrowns. ProGlide is my favourite. Get 6 months out of one of those. Daily shaves too. I know it is crazy and I switch almost out of bordeom and use DE-razor or electric for some months / years.

 

[FaceScraper]

I would suggest doing the reduction method with a couple of passes even with the ProGlide. Maybe 1 WTG & 1 ATG with slightly more pressure than with DE razor. Maybe only WTG in the areas that give you ingrowns. ProGlide is my favourite. Get 6 months out of one of those. Daily shaves too. I know it is crazy and I switch almost out of bordeom and use DE-razor or electric for some months / years.

Good recommendation. When i was DE shaving i did WTG, XTG and ATG. Sometimes i would skip the XTG.
Now with my TRAC II/Atra i do WTG and then ATG with ZERO pressure just like i did with my DE. I feel that's one of the biggest lessons i learned when DE shaving. Using ZERO pressure with a DE is very important. With my Trac II using vintage blades i haven't felt the need to use pressure. It cuts very well.

It also helps that the Trac II shaving technique is very close to a DE in that i have almost full control of the blade angle.

 

[DougK]

I was a long-time cartridge shaver (pick the cart, I probably tried it) and switched to DE about ten or eleven years ago when I was trying to save money and reduced facial irritation at the same time. For the last couple of years, I've been mostly a cartridge shaver again, mostly because I'm pressed for time in the mornings. I don't have the luxury or patience to do a "barbershop shave" every day.

That said, I think that learning how to properly wet shave with a brush and good soap/cream was the most important thing that I did to improve the quality of my shave. Ever since then, it really doesn't seem to matter what I shave with. Get lazy and use cheap shaving foam and, well, I pay the price. I like to keep my toe in the water with DE shaving (I have a bunch of blades to use up, after all), but seriously, prep and technique make all the difference.

EDIT: Ok, if pushed for a recommendation, I still use the Mach 3 more often than any other cartridge, although I like the Guard quite a bit and use it as my travel razor. The Sensor is good, too.

 

[mjclark]

Great thread!
I switched from DE/SE to carts when I started head shaving.

As far as I can tell, if your technique and prep are good you can get a fantastic shave from any of the Gillette carts all the way from the Trac II onwards.

 

[turkish]

I have severe arthritis in both hands due to an injury over 20 years ago. My problem with DE's is that it takes longer for me to shave with them. I've tried cutting down the passes from 3 to 2 but I still find that by the time I get to that 2nd pass my technique really starts to suffer because I'm trying to rush it. I end up with more razor burn, nicks cuts and ingrowns than a cart razor. I can't get away with just one pass from a DE either. So for now, I'm using a Schick Quatro and I've been getting some pretty decent shaves with it. I do 2 passes with it and my hand seems to tolerate it much better. I think the combination of the cart razor being lighter and being able to shave much faster with it helps me immensely. I haven't had very good luck with the original Fusion or the Fusion Proglide. Harry's Razors were o.k. The new Mach 3 skin guard looks intriguing. I bought the Schick Quatro ,came with 2 cart and I bought a 4 pk of cart that came with 2 free. So razor, 8 cart for around 20 bucks or just under. They were both on sale. I thought that was decent compared to the cost of fusion cart's. However, even though I still have to shave with a cart from time to time, I still use decent soaps or creams.

 

[Chandu]

ISo razor, 8 cart for around 20 bucks or just under. They were both on sale. I thought that was decent compared to the cost of fusion cart's. However, even though I still have to shave with a cart from time to time, I still use decent soaps or creams.

I think most of us cart users here get great shaves by using traditional wet shaving methods. I'm not sure how "Turkish" you are. Meaning of Turkish decent, or actually living in Turkey or something else. If you are in the US a couple of very good options are available.

1. Bic Flex 2. 5.99 or a handle and 10 carts available at Target and other retailers
2. Dorco makes a Pace 3 cart that they have on their online store. 16 carts for $16.00 and you do need to pay for the handle separately. They give you that option on the cart page to order one for $5 and you can choose a Pace 3,4,5,6,7 handle. The 3,4,5,6,7 blade pace carts are compatible with all 3,4,5,6,7 handles. I already had a pace 7 handle so when I ordered I selected the pace 6 handle. Both are good handles, I think I prefer the 7 a little better. Anyway, that choice is basically a $1.00 cart and also gives a good shave.

I'm personally not a fan of heavy razors and see how with arthritis a lighter razor would be less of a problem to hold for a prolonged time. The Bic Flex 2 is lighter than the Dorco, but the Dorco is certainly lighter than any DE. I think the Bic shaves a bit more efficiently in the same number of passes. The nice thing about the Dorco is it's one handle that you can use with any of their 3+ blade carts, so if you decide to try a 5 blade or whatever you are good to go.

 

[turkish]

Thanks for the info kind sir. And yes, I do live in the U.S. I've heard good things about the Dorco. I'll definitely check it out. Thanks.

 

[FaceScraper]

I was a long-time cartridge shaver (pick the cart, I probably tried it) and switched to DE about ten or eleven years ago when I was trying to save money and reduced facial irritation at the same time. For the last couple of years, I've been mostly a cartridge shaver again, mostly because I'm pressed for time in the mornings. I don't have the luxury or patience to do a "barbershop shave" every day.

That said, I think that learning how to properly wet shave with a brush and good soap/cream was the most important thing that I did to improve the quality of my shave. Ever since then, it really doesn't seem to matter what I shave with. Get lazy and use cheap shaving foam and, well, I pay the price. I like to keep my toe in the water with DE shaving (I have a bunch of blades to use up, after all), but seriously, prep and technique make all the difference.

EDIT: Ok, if pushed for a recommendation, I still use the Mach 3 more often than any other cartridge, although I like the Guard quite a bit and use it as my travel razor. The Sensor is good, too.

Same here i don't intend to fully give up DE shaving. I still enjoy the experience and will keep my FatBoy in rotation. Either for weekend shaves or maybe for 1 week per month using a DE, the rest using my Trac II / Atra.

Plus it will keep my technique from deteriorating.

 

[xiletero]

Hi, I NEED some help from the Dorco users.
I tried the Twin a week ago and got excellent shaves (orange strip 2 blades)
So i bought 90 carts at 1/2 price from Dorco. Now these are blue, tried one and did NOT shave...had to use Gillette. Now today I put glasses and these Twin Dorco have a blue glide strip at the bottom and the skin tensioner at the top. I think they are defective, they put the blades the wrong way..... Anyone has seen and tried these "new" blue ones that can opine..... I will probably write to them and request a refund....total waste