DE shavers: what is in your inventory

[WellOiled]

Originally Posted By: DBMaster
I'm not a collector. I have a Merkur 34C ("Heavy Duty") that I purchased in the mid 1990's. My current blade of choice is the Personna Medical Prep blade. I had tried several others over the years but I like these the best. Instead of shaving soap or cream I use WalMart (Equate) brand oil free face wash. It has a high glycerin content and makes a very good shaving lube. I've been using that for several years. It tends to make the razor easy to keep clean by not gunking it up.


That is a good razor, if you can get one in tolerance and with good plating. I like the way it shaves. In later years, Merkur's QC is low. I think there may be a practical limit with what can be achieved with chrome over Zamak construction. If Merkur made this in machined stainless, I would be checking it out.

 

[DBMaster]

Originally Posted By: WellOiled
Originally Posted By: DBMaster
I'm not a collector. I have a Merkur 34C ("Heavy Duty") that I purchased in the mid 1990's. My current blade of choice is the Personna Medical Prep blade. I had tried several others over the years but I like these the best. Instead of shaving soap or cream I use WalMart (Equate) brand oil free face wash. It has a high glycerin content and makes a very good shaving lube. I've been using that for several years. It tends to make the razor easy to keep clean by not gunking it up.


That is a good razor, if you can get one in tolerance and with good plating. I like the way it shaves. In later years, Merkur's QC is low. I think there may be a practical limit with what can be achieved with chrome over Zamak construction. If Merkur made this in machined stainless, I would be checking it out.


I purchased mine new at a mall knife shop. Back then, it was $20. The plating on the top plate did start to show some very slight chipping at the edges a few years ago. I emailed Merkur (or, whatever the parent company was) and they sent me a new part.

 

[WellOiled]

I am not sure Merkur offers this kind of support today. I have purchased quite a few things from the retailer and they warrantied my first Merkur HD 34C. Best of luck to you.

 

[Benzadmiral]

I've received my new stuff. Apparently I didn't do the lathering thing right this morning. The shaving cream either went on too thinly, or it dried too fast and thus gummed up the razor blade, so that I had to continually rinse it instead of just swirling it through the shave water in the sink. At last I simply scooped a little cream in my left hand, lathered it by rubbing my hands together, and spread a decent wet lather across my face. What am I doing wrong? How much cream needs to go on the brush?

 

[DBMaster]

Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
I've received my new stuff. Apparently I didn't do the lathering thing right this morning. The shaving cream either went on too thinly, or it dried too fast and thus gummed up the razor blade, so that I had to continually rinse it instead of just swirling it through the shave water in the sink. At last I simply scooped a little cream in my left hand, lathered it by rubbing my hands together, and spread a decent wet lather across my face. What am I doing wrong? How much cream needs to go on the brush?


That's just something you will learn with experience. It's more of a water/soap ratio issue. That's why I like the face wash; it has glycerin in it. Some of the shaving creams in tubes use that ingredient, too. I had similar issues when using a brush. I decided that I didn't necessarily have to have the "full" wet shaving experience and experimented. I found out that the Nutrogena acne wash I bought wasn't a great face wash, but it made a great shaving lubricant. Don't get too caught up in the full ritual. Adopt what you like and do what works for you.

 

[285south]

Merkur Model 180 Long Handled Safety Razor

 

[Al]

Has anyone here who routinely is very serious about shaving with a DE razor and has the badger brushes/cup/multiple razors etc, etc, etc compared the shave with say the disposable Wilkerson double blade. Its hard for me to believe that the DE can do better than that.

Don't get me wrong..I like the idea of retro and I can shave with a regular straight razor. Haven't done it in a number of years though. Is it more hobby of the DE vs anything else? Like I said..I completely understand hobbies....I have a few lol.

If I use an electric (wet shave) and follow it up with the Wilkerson my face is as smooth as a baby's butt (literally) Its not really possible to do better IMHO.

 

[DBMaster]

I think the retro thing is more of a backlash against the price of the newer multi-blade cartridges. They started getting quite expensive after the Sensor Excel was superseded. Maybe it's because DE shaving introduces that element of "danger" that we men missed? I have cut myself pretty good a few times over the years.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Originally Posted By: DBMaster
Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
I've received my new stuff. Apparently I didn't do the lathering thing right this morning. The shaving cream either went on too thinly, or it dried too fast and thus gummed up the razor blade, so that I had to continually rinse it instead of just swirling it through the shave water in the sink. At last I simply scooped a little cream in my left hand, lathered it by rubbing my hands together, and spread a decent wet lather across my face. What am I doing wrong? How much cream needs to go on the brush?


That's just something you will learn with experience. It's more of a water/soap ratio issue. That's why I like the face wash; it has glycerin in it. Some of the shaving creams in tubes use that ingredient, too. I had similar issues when using a brush. I decided that I didn't necessarily have to have the "full" wet shaving experience and experimented. I found out that the Nutrogena acne wash I bought wasn't a great face wash, but it made a great shaving lubricant. Don't get too caught up in the full ritual. Adopt what you like and do what works for you.

Things went better today -- I added more water and really "smooshed" the wetted brush up and into my face instead of just brushing with the outer tips. Very slick, very smooth.

I'm not so much worried about a full ritual as in getting the value from what I've purchased. I would have hated to buy a brush, even an inexpensive one (which I did), and find it didn't work for me.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Originally Posted By: DBMaster
I think the retro thing is more of a backlash against the price of the newer multi-blade cartridges. They started getting quite expensive after the Sensor Excel was superseded. Maybe it's because DE shaving introduces that element of "danger" that we men missed? I have cut myself pretty good a few times over the years.

Yes. I used the multi-blade cartridge razors for a while, but when I ran out and went to the store, it seemed the model I had and wanted cartridges for had been superseded, or the price of the cartridges had gone up a lot.

 

[GiveMeAVowel]

Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
Originally Posted By: DBMaster
I think the retro thing is more of a backlash against the price of the newer multi-blade cartridges. They started getting quite expensive after the Sensor Excel was superseded. Maybe it's because DE shaving introduces that element of "danger" that we men missed? I have cut myself pretty good a few times over the years.

Yes. I used the multi-blade cartridge razors for a while, but when I ran out and went to the store, it seemed the model I had and wanted cartridges for had been superseded, or the price of the cartridges had gone up a lot.


I also found that with my sensitive skin that the pulling action of the multiblade razors (even the trak II) seemed to cause a lot more irritation than the DE style does. The closeness might not be quite as good, but it is very similar quality, and of course the much lower cost of the DE method is always a big plus.

 

[DBMaster]

I started using a DE when I was still suffering from that teenage affliction - acne. I was in my late 20's. At the beginning I only did WTG passes to prevent cutting whiskers too short and ending up with ingrown hairs. Now I can usually do a WTG and ATG pass and come out with good results.

 

[deoxy4]

Originally Posted By: Al
Has anyone here who routinely is very serious about shaving with a DE razor and has the badger brushes/cup/multiple razors etc, etc, etc compared the shave with say the disposable Wilkerson double blade. Its hard for me to believe that the DE can do better than that.

Don't get me wrong..I like the idea of retro and I can shave with a regular straight razor. Haven't done it in a number of years though. Is it more hobby of the DE vs anything else? Like I said..I completely understand hobbies....I have a few lol.

If I use an electric (wet shave) and follow it up with the Wilkerson my face is as smooth as a baby's butt (literally) Its not really possible to do better IMHO.


I have been wet shaving for about 10 years or so and it has become a somewhat serious hobby. I don't buy expensive razors or brushes but I have tried probably fifty or so double edge blades. Some of the vintage blades from the 70's are excellent blades that give a great shave.

I have not tried Wilkerson's double edge blades but I have tried their single edge Bonded Blade cartridges from the 70's and they are excellent and as good as any blades produced in my opinion.