If I'm looking for vintage DE razors, what do most of you recommend as a good first vintage razor and where do most of you find them for a reasonable price? Thanks.
Vintage Razors
- Thread starter tlentz
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Any Gillette Super Speed variant. Your hunting should include but not be limited too, B/S/T forum, antique stores, eBay and Etsy. If you search dilegently, you should be able to get a decent, user grade DE for well under $10. Sometimes, if you're lucky, it may even be in excellent shape. Watch the pay if forwards on here, because, you may find yourself winning one of them. I recently PIF'd at 1969 black handle Super Speed to a new member who was lucky enough to win. I've found plenty in antique shops, some of which, I have purchase for under $5 in excellent condition. Usually, they look really dirty and when I first started looking for these vintage razors, I would think to myself, "there is no way this will ever clean up" but once I took it home and hit it with the scrubbing bubbles, I virtually had a brand new, old razor. Word of advice on cleaning them; don't boil them, don't use bleach. Coating them in Dawn dish detergent and soaking them in hot tap water for several minutes to several hours is enough to get them user ready. Consult Mr. Razor so you can get an idea of how to identify the razor you may come across in the antique stores. I have a $5 rule for the Super Speeds. If it's under $5, I will buy it, no matter the visual appearance, so long as it is mechanically sound. Good luck. The one in the picture below I found at a gypsy junk dealer and traded him a Timberland jacket for. I never wore the jacket anyhow. I scored a Gillette Adjustable Black Beauty for nearly nothing when I went to an antique store that was closing their doors for good. I found six, so so looking, razors and amongst them was a Black Beauty. I set them down and said, "I'll take these old junkers" and the clerk, who didn't really know what he had, set a price of $10 for all. I walked out of there like a fat cat! That Black Beauty cleaned up so nice and it was nearly flawless, plus, the blade angle were perfect. I love shaving with that thing. You have to get out there in you neck of the woods and begin searching.
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My favorites are flare tips, techs, and short comb new Gillettes.
I also recommend a Super Speed. I have three and I think I got two from ebay.
sometimes i get lucky with estate sales. The last one I went into was a very nice score with 2 aristocrats in cases. Mostly I'm finding super speeds and they all have cleaned up good. Have fun with the hunt
- Thread starter
- #7
WOW, I have to tell you, you guys are all extremely helpful. So great that there are so many people out there willing to help one another. Thanks guys!
I'm a geek so clicky things with knobs make me happy, Gillette Adjustables are nice. 
As far as prices, you wil discover that flea markets, and thrift stores are tops, then antique dealers, then eBay. I've had good luck at all three. I even scored a Gillette Ranger Tech at a local antique dealer who is familiar with me for a whopping $12 plus tax. (they didn't know what they had) so ther are many good deals to be had in the wild, you just have to be willing to clean them up. And like our fellow member said, some of them look very nasty, but often times they clean up very well. Good luck in your quest sir, and may the gods of the Traditional Shaving Kingdom smile upon you!
A Gillette Tech or Schick Krona.
I just joined the B&B world. I have been using the mama bear soaps and DE razors for about 6 months now and found most of my info on this site.
Recently I had a friend give me two vintage SE razors. They could use a good clean up though. Any suggestions on cleaning or semi restoring vintage razors before I use em?
Recently I had a friend give me two vintage SE razors. They could use a good clean up though. Any suggestions on cleaning or semi restoring vintage razors before I use em?
Hot water (don't boil the razor!), Toothbrush, scrubbing bubbles, a good gentle polish safe for the appropriate finish, a dip in alcohol, Barbicide if you're phobic, and above all, consult the shave wiki. Ultrasonic cleaners work great too. There's tons of recent threads debating sterilization and phobias.
I've started hunting for DEs as well. As has been said, antique shops and ebay are great places. Antique shops take more footwork, but the prices are much better. In the past few weeks, I've picked up 5 DEs from antique stores, a Flare Tip Super Speed, a Black Handle Super Speed, a Slim Adjustable, a Fatboy adjustable, and a Milady Decollete. All but the Fatboy were $6 and under. A couple of them were very ugly when I bought them, a couple were in great shape, but the ugly ones cleaned up very nicely. If you have antique malls near you that rent booths out to different sellers, those are great places to look since you have a variety of people bringing in stock instead of being stuck with what a couple of people are interested in. Keep family members in mind too. After I became interested in wet shaving I remembered that there's a Super Adjustable sitting in my parents' medicine cabinet. I had always assumed it was my dad's. Come to find out, he had seen it and thought it was mine. All we can figure is that my grandfather accidentally left it behind when he was visiting many years ago. I'll be adding it to my collection next time I see them.
I have had the best luck at flea markets and antique stores
