Teaching an old dog new tricks...

[Johnson]

My beloved Father has been shaving with a single blade Bic disposable and Barbasol for several years now. He's never shaved with a DE or straight until today. I ordered him a Fatip Piccolo with an assortment of blades, a Yaqi synthetic is on the way from bat soup land. We loaded up a 7 O'Clock yellow Gillette blade and I whipped up some Stirling soap for him. He didn't cut himself and had some slight irritation around his chin. Overall I think he liked it. I think he might struggle in the patience department, he even commented on how long it took me to get lather (even though it took less than a minute).

Do y'all have any stories about people you've gotten into wet shaving? Any tips I should pass onto my Dad?

 

[Sabre]

All of my friends wet shave, it's the biggest market in the UK over dry shaving. Obviously most shave with Fusions and gels...

 

[Johnson]

All of my friends wet shave, it's the biggest market in the UK over dry shaving. Obviously most shave with Fusions and gels...

Maybe I should have said proper wet shaving.

 

[samhain666]

Maybe I should have said proper wet shaving.

He is being a bit of a smartmouth. We know what you meant

Can't really give any advice though, I converted only my brother in law and it was simple. I gave him Wilkinson TTO and few different pucks of blades and a stick of Palmolive with synthetic brush. I just told him don't use pressure and go slow for a start. He got hooked after one shave and threw Fusions away. Another piece of advice I gave him was "Blades are too cheap to suffer bad shave from a DE. If a blade doesn't feel just right, throw it out"

 

[SillyPancake]

Would be cool to convert my dad, but he used to use DE razor back then, but he said he always had some nicks and with cartridge he has none...once bitten twice shy, so I am not even trying.

 

[rbscebu]

A few months ago I gave a friend of mine (cart shaver about twice a week) a Ming Shi 2000S, a puck of DE blades, Chinese pure badger hair synthetic brush and a tube of Sanofi Australian shaving cream. After I gave him his first lesson he was on his own to learn. It wasn't long before he was shaving twice a day, whether he needed to or not. He loved it.

A couple of weeks ago I gave him a generic Chinese SS shavette. No lessons this time. He took to it like a duck to water. The first few shaves drew blood but that didn't stop him. Now he can't stop talking about his shaving experiences.

In another month or two I'll give him a traditional SR and some basic honing gear. It'll be interesting to see what sort of monster I have created.

 

[JCarr]

Great story! Best of luck to your Pop in his new shaving endeavor. Best of all, he's got you to guide him.

Let the razor and blade do the work...no pressure should be applied. Nine times out of ten, that's what causes irritation. I think this aspect of double-edge shaving is somewhat different than using a cartridge type razor.

 

[BigJ]

Good man!!

I have gotten a few friends to start making lather with brushes and soaps. However, IME it is difficult to get a guy who has been mindlessly using Gillette’s newest carts to try something different.

 

[Sabre]

Real men straight shave, none of this safety nonsense...

 

[BudgetShaverGuy]

Real men straight shave, none of this safety nonsense...

real men use clamshells and olive oil

 

[KeenDogg]

real men use clamshells and olive oil

I'd be remiss if I didnt mention I use a belt sander.

 

[BudgetShaverGuy]

I’ve tried to get my dad and brother to go DE but they are what I am guessing many are like: don’t really care / just want to get the chore over with.

I got my dad to use a DE back in January, and he had a great first shave. Then the next day he destroyed his chin. It’s been carts ever since. He never wanted to mess with soaps and brushes either.

My advice is try to help but don’t be surprised if you see the cans and carts around again, it’s just easier for those who don’t require the extra benefits, that ultimately require a little more work, depending how you do it of course.

 

[Sabre]

I'd be remiss if I didnt mention I use a belt sander.

At weekends I use Obsidian shards and dog slobber....

 

[KeenDogg]

At weekends I use Obsidian shards and dog slobber....

Love it.

 

[Tallships]

I taught my sons how to DE/SE shave, 2 changed to carts saying it's faster, my youngest still DE shaves. He likes the close enjoyable shaves he gets. I think he'd really like it when he gets my razor and also my fathers and grandfathers razors.

 

[EclipseRedRing]

I taught my sons how to DE/SE shave, 2 changed to carts saying it's faster, my youngest still DE shaves. He likes the close enjoyable shaves he gets. I think he'd really like it when he gets my razor and also my fathers and grandfathers razors.

I can pretty much guarantee he will - I would give every razor and brush I own, plus a lot more besides, to own a $5 tech that was used by my Father. Those razors, plus the memories of being taught to use them, are literally priceless.

 

[RookieGuy]

Ok, I knew I was doing it wrong! I've been using my aid splitting ax, lathering with a paste of bacon grease and campfire ash. Typical rookie mistake.

Shortly before covid, a coworker and I were talking about shaving for some reason. He said he inherited his dad's razor, but only uses it occasionally because he didn't want to run it. I let it go, family objects have more sway than I. So I got him a VdH setup, about 15 full and partial tucks, whatever synthetic brush that was at Target, and William's Mug soap. So hopefully he'll get the confidence to use his old man's more often and keep a good vintage razor in use.