To shavette or not shavette.
- Thread starter Tone deaf
- Start date
jump straight in.
shavettes are different animals. Having used both - straights are more fun, easier, and a better shave.
shavettes are different animals. Having used both - straights are more fun, easier, and a better shave.
Straight in!
I used a shavette for a little bit. Although, mine had something wrong with the pins that held the blade at the right height such that the blade was uneven across the edge. This led to several scratches, mainly. Since starting with a straight, I have gotten a couple of cuts, but the shaves are much better. I love it. If you have the means, jump right in. You'll figure it out quickly enough with the straight.
Think of a shavette as a convenient item for striaght users when traveling or extremely pressed for time.
I started with a Shavette but now have (see my signature) a fair number of decent quality straights. Even so, I still go back to my Shavette here and there Mainly when I'm pressed for time but still want a straight shave, but also on days where I just like the edge provided by some of my preferred DE blades (broken in half of course). Obviously a real straight is more attractive, but I find I can get an excellent BBS with my Shavette with little effort. And remember, barbers use these most of the time now, and they can often shave pretty well, despite some of the horror stories that have popped up on here of inept ones.
They don't have much choice, though.
It's funny though. The way I look at it, a straight can be dunked in barbicide and disinfected. The blade is all one solid piece. A shavette is a two piece design, there are crevices which biological material can hide in, and it almost seems like for a multiple use device, the shavette is riskier than a real straight.
You know, I had these exact same thought. I feel a disinfected straight would be better too. I wonder if there was ever actually an incident where someone was infected with something from a barber shave that caused them to shift to the Shavette...
It was fear of AIDS that caused traditional straights to be banned. The way the laws are written, barbicide is not enough. The blade has to be sterilized in a steam autoclave at 130 °C (266 °F) for 20 minutes. At that temperature, normal scale materials will melt, so the scales need to be stainless steel.
I've been playing with the idea of reintroducing traditional straights into barbershops for more than a year. I ended up buying an autoclave and several steel-scaled razors to test the concept. Unfortunately, the few barbers I have talked to are not interested, mainly because they do so few shaves and don't charge much for them. I think an authentic straight razor shave would be a very successful luxury service in a spa or club environment and someone is going to do it, sooner or later.
I've been experimenting with shavettes for the past few days. I'm getting very nice shaves with a Sanguine, but the Dovo Shavette is not working out. I have ordered a Monsieur Charles to try out as well.
The benefit to getting a shavette is that you can lather up and practice shaving WITHOUT THE BLADE LOADED. This can help you work out your grips, angles, etc., without any danger of slicing and dicing. It is no substitute for the real thing, but has its place.
The benefit to getting a shavette is that you can lather up and practice shaving WITHOUT THE BLADE LOADED. This can help you work out your grips, angles, etc., without any danger of slicing and dicing. It is no substitute for the real thing, but has its place.
shavette, uhhh, no man don't do it. go to a big 8/8 W&B and you will be fine!!!
honestly, stay away from the shavettes. not forgiving as a straight.
vgod
honestly, stay away from the shavettes. not forgiving as a straight.
vgod
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