Slippery Creams That Don't Work Well With Mild Razors.

[Renato1]

On a few occasions I've posted here that my newest razor didn't work well, only to later find that it did work well. My problem was that I was using Trumpers Sandalwood cream as my control for testing new razors.

During that time, I've found that my very slippery Trumpers and Nomad creams didn't work well with my Weber DLC razor, Lord 122 (L5) razor with the Tech head, and even with my open comb Merkur 25C. Despite multiple passes, they just didn't shave close enough. But when I used them with less slippery creams and with soaps, the razors worked fine.

Two days ago I tried my Gillette Super Adjustable at setting 3 with Art Of Shaving Lemon shave cream. Same problem as with the other two razors, it wouldn't cut close enough. Today I used that shave cream with a Lord 1822 (L6) and got a nice close shave.

Meanwhile, my Merkur 33C, Lord 1822 (L6), Gillette SuperSpeed and others work well with the very slippery creams, but give me more nicks on less good creams and less good soaps. But the mild razors deliver a good shave with those lesser soaps and creams.

Does anybody else have experiences akin to mine?
Regards,
Renato

P.S. - In my update below, I describe having the same issue with the Azor cartridge razor.

 

[Le Buzz]

Hmm.. So basically you're saying that very slick lather causes your mild razors to not shave? Blade angle issue? I've never experienced this FWIW.

 

[Renato1]

Hmm.. So basically you're saying that very slick lather causes your mild razors to not shave? Blade angle issue? I've never experienced this FWIW.

If it were a blade angle issue, the razors would also not work with the less slippery creams and soaps.
Regardless, I varied angles in all directions trying to get the razors to cut properly, without any success.

This all came to a head when I received my Weber DLC - I was exasperated that my most expensive razor by far wasn't shaving properly, even with a Feather blade. It took me a few days to realise that if I used soaps instead of Trumpers cream, then it started cutting properly.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Bigsurprise]

Only thing I can think of is you might be mixing your lathers too dry. Do you feel you have room to water down your quality soaps a bit?

 

[Renato1]

Only thing I can think of is you might be mixing your lathers too dry. Do you feel you have room to water down your quality soaps a bit?

True, I always describe my lathers as creamier and pastier than some of the airy looking ones that people paste pictures of here, and I always try get the same consistency between the creams and the soaps - because they always gave me extremely good results with most of my initially purchased razors - the Merkur Bakelite, Merkur 333C, Feather Popular, Lord L6, Gillette Tech and Gillette Superspeed. And with Gillette Fusion, Mach 3 and several other cartridge razors. However, the consistency is wet enough that it doesn't dry out through the entire shave.

I could water down the creams and soaps a bit more, but not much more - else I'd be starting to be down to the level of canned foam.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Renato1]

Update:

A month ago I tried a King of Shaves Azor cartridge razor with Trumper's cream. I got a lousy shave - lots of fine stubble left on my face regardless of the number of passes. I concluded the razor was pretty useless.

A few days ago I was reading the reviews of the Azor razor. A few people thought it was junk like I did, but most had glowing accounts. It occurred to me that perhaps I may have been hasty in my conclusion.

So today I used the Azor razor with Cade puck soap. The result was a really nice, close shave, totally unlike that which I had experienced with the Trumpers cream.

Thus it appears that the issue of slippery creams and mild DE razors that I described in the Original Post above is applicable to cartridge razors as well. I'm not sure if the issue in this case relates to the mildness of the razor or to the lubrication goo it puts out while shaving. I've certainly had no problem using the goo-less Fusion and Mach 3 with Trumpers cream

I also hadn't been too enthused with the Schick Quattro and Schick 5 blade Hydro when used with Trumpers cream, but the results hadn't been as bad as with the Azor. I'll have to revisit them using normal soap.
Regards,
Renato