Wanted: Your Thoughts On Electric Razors

[Featherweight]

Maybe I'm not looking in the right place, but I haven't seen much on this site about electrical razors . . .

Back when I was in high school I used a Remington Washable Micro-Screen 3. I had pretty thick growth even back then, and one of the things that always annoyed me about the electric was its inability to handle anything more than a five o'clock shadow. If I allowed a two-day growth, the "long-hair" trimming feature would actually have to do its job, and would chug through my beard like a lawnmower, leaving nothing but unevenly cut hairs, and irritated skin.

On those rare occasions when I actually got a really clean, close shave with it, my skin would look really great for the first twelve hours or so, and then suddenly break out, redden, and transform in a myriad of other unsightly and unpleasant ways. After a while I realized that there was a bacterial issue here . . . even after washing the screen and the blade out with water and rubbing alcohol, oils and skin bacteria seemed to love the little meshed environment of the micro screen, and would wait for the next shave to ambush my face.

Truth be told, I generally disliked electric shaving, and of course that's the reason I switched to wet.

Any comments/anecdotes/horror stories, and/or rants/raves to share?

 

[TheSweep]

I tried using electric razors before, because I have bad skin and because I am lazy. But they were rougher on my skin then DE.

 

[shamus]

The only use that I have for an electic razor for today..... is to trim the hair that grows on the outside of my ears, on the back of my neck and in any other place I would not dare put a DE blade on.

IMO....they are a thing of the past.

Cheers!

 

[BladeDE40]

I've tried a few different models ( norlecos and brauns) over the years and have never been statisfied w/ their performance...they were a waste of a few hundred $$$ in my opinion. I actually got more irritation from the electrics than I did from my old Gillette Fusion 5 blader...

 

[akokandy]

While I had more success using my braun than my remington, I never had much success at all. The remington was one of the 3-spinner kind and it really just tore hair out of my face. Thank god for wet-shaving!

 

[Slivovitz]

The only use that I have for an electic razor for today..... is to trim the hair that grows on the outside of my ears . . .

Me too. The Norelco is still there, may as well get some use out of it, and it's not like you need a BBS on your earlobes.

No real horror stories with electrics, they just didn't work all that well for me, and I wasn't willing to keep on buying new kinds in the hope that the next one would be the solution. They may be okay for certain beard types, a friend of mine swears by his.

 

[StylinLA]

My dad always used electric. It worked for him. His beard was consistently pretty light.

My beard is thicker in some places than others. I have used electric in the past and found it irritating, and no where near as close or long lasting as any wet shave.

What has always struck me about electrics is that there may well be some that would work well, or at least pretty well for me. But who wants to buy 10 different electrics to find "the one." A bit pricier than buying a blade sampler pack isn't it?

 

[Featherweight]

What has always struck me about electrics is that there may well be some that would work well, or at least pretty well for me. But who wants to buy 10 different electrics to find "the one." A bit pricier than buying a blade sampler pack isn't it?

Some of the newer electrics - and if you really dig around, even some of the older ones have interchangeable meshes, blade types, and "kits" . . . kind of a way to play around with the functionality of your electric without having to actually buy a whole new shaver. But even here, you're right: by the time you're done trying to customize your electric, you've spent waaaay more than you would have if you'd just started with some soap and a regular DE blade in the first place.

 

[JdB]

Electrics do not shave smooth.

 

[falkor27]

I had a similar experience when I was in high school. My grandfather taught me how to shave and he was an electric man. I actually tried holding the razor off my face a little to do progressive mowings because I knew the rotors would get stuck if my beard was too long (I have red hair that goes wavy/curly, which I understand are two correlations to particularly tough-as-wire stubble). This, of course, was not an improvement and led to redness ingrowns, infections, etc. It was not uncommon for the hair to get caught and ripped out.

I was so happy when the nice people at Gillette sent me a free Mach3 on my eighteenth birthday. I actually was not unhappy with my multiblade shaves; what led to my DE/straight conversion was an appreciation for a better-engineered solution and the fact that Mach3 carts in Switzerland were running ~$7.50 each when I lived there.

 

[Uncle Erik]

I had a Remington back in the day. It might still be under the sink even. Maybe I'll drag it out and give it a try.

Though it's been years, I think the reason I shelved it was because I never got a close shave with it. I remember cartridges and cans of goo giving a better shave, which is why I switched back.

It'll be interesting to find out what the electric is like compared to an Iridium in a DE89L.

 

[brianw]

electric razor?????...i hear they make good paperweights....

Yup thats a good use for them... I use a SE or injector on the ole earlobes

 

[bigstick]

I've had Shavex, Norelco, Braun, Remington and Phillips. Take my advice: wrap them all up securely in detcord and press the ***. Then go home and shave with your Gillette.

 

[DougK]

Now, normally I try not to belittle any particular razor type. After all, I even found a few things to like about the Fusion during my little experiment with it, so I'm pretty open-minded about blades and razors. Electrics, however, are the one razor type where if a good bash session gets going I will grab my torch and pitchfork and wade in gleefully.

My parents bought me a Remington many years ago for Christmas and kept doing so every couple of years (the models and brands changed occasionally) until I begged them to stop because I wasn't using them. I still have two of them in my bathroom from my pre-wetshaving days (a Norelco and a Braun) and the only thing I ever use them for is the hair trimmer attachment. I've never been able to get anything resembling a decent shave with an electric and I really don't care for their tendency to rip hair out of your face. Mine are also a pain to clean, noisy, and replacement blades and foils are ridiculously priced.

I think that about covers it.

 

[dbconlin]

1. inconsistent - gets smooth in some areas, leaves long hairs in others
2. messy - little hairs get everywhere, not contained in the water
3. need to shave every day or it pulls - only usedful on short growth

 

[Topgumby]

I used to be an electric guy, because a quick shave with no water made sense in a lot of situations that I found myself in.

They never did give a great shave, but delivered a presentable shave with zero prep or effort, if the stubble was short.

Any attempt to get a truly close shave led to irritation.

It was kind of the ultimate expression of the shave as an inconvenient thing to be dealt with as little effort and time as possible...sad, really.

 

[DFrancis]

My brother had a Remington when he was in the Navy, it's still on the bottom of the Pacific if anybody wants it.

 

[TyJayden]

I started with an electric, its what my dad had always used, so naturally I followed suit. It worked well enough for early teenage fuzz but as soon as it started to fill in I was getting tons of ingrown hairs and all kinds of other unsightly red stuff. I switched to the M3, then the Fusion and I'm not particularly satisfied with those either. I'm saving every spare penny I can and within the next few weeks intend to get a straight blade set up.

Story made short, as someone else so aptly put on another thread they are "lawn mowers" for your face.

 

[mmack66]

Electric Razor Rap

"Electric Razor Rap Was Established on May 10, 2002

Just shave. Don't think."

 

[mwhals]

I can't stand electric razors. I just don't think they shave that smooth for me. Even though I haven't got my DE technique nailed yet, I still get better results than with an electric razor.

Besides, my wife would kill me if I spend a bunch of money on an electric razor after getting my wet shaving equipment.