So, I'm currently living in Cairo, and this is presenting a few low-grade challenges to my shaving pleasure. I didn't see a thread specifically addressing any of these, so I've just lumped them all together, in hopes that another forum member will have some idea where I should start.
CLEANING THE RAZOR
The only DE razor I have ever used is my trusty little Vincent butterfly, a cheapie that I picked up for $19.99 at my erstwhile barber shop. Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done.
I have no access to the usual cleaners recommended for DE razors (Scrubbing Bubbles, CLR, etc.) here. On the advice of the same barber who sold me the Vincent, I've been using white vinegar to clean off the razor when rust from the blades starts to accumulate. Because I'm a lazy SOB, my method has been to pour a few ounces of vinegar into a glass, put the razor head-first into the vinegar bath, and let it sit overnight. In the morning, I scrub it clean with a Q-tip and rinse it off with water.
I noticed this morning that there was an oddly large amount of rust and some white film or plaque on the underside of the razor, even though I could swear that I swabbed that off with everything else. I just cleaned the razor a few days ago, and when I noticed the rust and film, I had only used that particular blade one time. I worry that perhaps I should be making some kind of solution with the vinegar (maybe with salt?), rather than using it straight. Is the pure vinegar bath actually damaging the plating of the razor, or was I just careless in how thoroughly I swabbed down the thing? How should I go about cleaning my razor when I have to concoct a cleaning solution myself?
BLADES
The only blades I have found for sale here are Lord (not a surprise, given tariffs on imported products). On the plus side, they are super-cheap: I picked up two packs of 10 for a total charge of about $0.90. On the downside, I find that they wear dull relatively fast for DE blades. My habit has traditionally been to shave every other day like I said, I'm a lazy SOB. But my two days' worth of stubble seems to grind down the blades really quickly: as in, I find that a blade edge is shot after three such shaves. I'm used to getting four or five comfortable shaves per edge. In other people's experience, is Lord really so much less durable than other blades, or am I cultivating a bad habit by not shaving every day?
I must admit, for the last few days, I've tried shaving every day to avoid the problem, and it's certainly a more comfortable shave, and the blade doesn't feel like it's being scraped over a sidewalk. Hmmm. Would a high-quality shaving soap ameliorate the problem, or is it more a matter of shaving daily to keep down excessive stubble?
FINDING THE #$(*&! RAZORS!
All right, check this out: I can buy packs of Lord DE blades in any corner grocery store around here. Like I said above, they're exceptionally inexpensive, which leads me to believe that this is what most Egyptian men shave themselves with. I have yet to lay eyes on an actual DE razor, though! I ran a dragnet through my entire neighborhood, every store, from cheapie corner store to the fanciest bourgeois-expat heaven, and NO ONE carries them. I asked a grocer who stocks the blades but not the razors where I was supposed to buy one, and he just said "A cutler." A little more snooping around, and the best advice I could get was to go over to one of the poorer neighborhoods and look around for someone, anyone, selling DE razors. (At the moment in Egypt, rich people simply do not seem to use DEs; the lust for all things hip and modern leads them to Mach Fusions and whatnot.)
I had hoped to stock up on a few back-up razors at good prices here, and it's something of a disappointment to find that doing that may require devoting an entire day to stumbling around a big expanse of territory, calling in at every last shop that sells anything resembling hardware or cutlery. (I do have a day job, after all!) I mean, sooner or later I'll be curious enough to do it on some weekend, but it's rather a lot of effort, since I have a working razor already.
Can anyone offer a personal testimonial for a shop anywhere in Cairo (or, what the heck, Alexandria) that sells DE razors? I'm not aware of any specialty shaving-goods stores anywhere, but I wonder if there isn't some shop that caters to the ambassadorial crowd in one of the neighborhoods stuffed with embassies. Wealthy Egyptians don't seem interested in DEs, but maybe expatriates still support a tiny market for them.
Gentlemen, start your advisory engines!
CLEANING THE RAZOR
The only DE razor I have ever used is my trusty little Vincent butterfly, a cheapie that I picked up for $19.99 at my erstwhile barber shop. Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done.
I have no access to the usual cleaners recommended for DE razors (Scrubbing Bubbles, CLR, etc.) here. On the advice of the same barber who sold me the Vincent, I've been using white vinegar to clean off the razor when rust from the blades starts to accumulate. Because I'm a lazy SOB, my method has been to pour a few ounces of vinegar into a glass, put the razor head-first into the vinegar bath, and let it sit overnight. In the morning, I scrub it clean with a Q-tip and rinse it off with water.
I noticed this morning that there was an oddly large amount of rust and some white film or plaque on the underside of the razor, even though I could swear that I swabbed that off with everything else. I just cleaned the razor a few days ago, and when I noticed the rust and film, I had only used that particular blade one time. I worry that perhaps I should be making some kind of solution with the vinegar (maybe with salt?), rather than using it straight. Is the pure vinegar bath actually damaging the plating of the razor, or was I just careless in how thoroughly I swabbed down the thing? How should I go about cleaning my razor when I have to concoct a cleaning solution myself?
BLADES
The only blades I have found for sale here are Lord (not a surprise, given tariffs on imported products). On the plus side, they are super-cheap: I picked up two packs of 10 for a total charge of about $0.90. On the downside, I find that they wear dull relatively fast for DE blades. My habit has traditionally been to shave every other day like I said, I'm a lazy SOB. But my two days' worth of stubble seems to grind down the blades really quickly: as in, I find that a blade edge is shot after three such shaves. I'm used to getting four or five comfortable shaves per edge. In other people's experience, is Lord really so much less durable than other blades, or am I cultivating a bad habit by not shaving every day?
I must admit, for the last few days, I've tried shaving every day to avoid the problem, and it's certainly a more comfortable shave, and the blade doesn't feel like it's being scraped over a sidewalk. Hmmm. Would a high-quality shaving soap ameliorate the problem, or is it more a matter of shaving daily to keep down excessive stubble?
FINDING THE #$(*&! RAZORS!
All right, check this out: I can buy packs of Lord DE blades in any corner grocery store around here. Like I said above, they're exceptionally inexpensive, which leads me to believe that this is what most Egyptian men shave themselves with. I have yet to lay eyes on an actual DE razor, though! I ran a dragnet through my entire neighborhood, every store, from cheapie corner store to the fanciest bourgeois-expat heaven, and NO ONE carries them. I asked a grocer who stocks the blades but not the razors where I was supposed to buy one, and he just said "A cutler." A little more snooping around, and the best advice I could get was to go over to one of the poorer neighborhoods and look around for someone, anyone, selling DE razors. (At the moment in Egypt, rich people simply do not seem to use DEs; the lust for all things hip and modern leads them to Mach Fusions and whatnot.)
I had hoped to stock up on a few back-up razors at good prices here, and it's something of a disappointment to find that doing that may require devoting an entire day to stumbling around a big expanse of territory, calling in at every last shop that sells anything resembling hardware or cutlery. (I do have a day job, after all!) I mean, sooner or later I'll be curious enough to do it on some weekend, but it's rather a lot of effort, since I have a working razor already.
Can anyone offer a personal testimonial for a shop anywhere in Cairo (or, what the heck, Alexandria) that sells DE razors? I'm not aware of any specialty shaving-goods stores anywhere, but I wonder if there isn't some shop that caters to the ambassadorial crowd in one of the neighborhoods stuffed with embassies. Wealthy Egyptians don't seem interested in DEs, but maybe expatriates still support a tiny market for them.
Gentlemen, start your advisory engines!
I'll give it a shot, though.
