Thread: Why did you switch?

I had been shaving with a variety of disposables and cartridges for over 20 years. During that time I also used different brands of canned foam. My shaves were acceptable, but not really enjoyable. Several months ago I switched to a DE razor. I have also jumped into using a brush and a variety of soaps and creams. I still have some cans of foam to use up, but probably won't buy more. My point in telling this is that I have made an assumption. I believe that there are very few people who have ONLY shaved with a straight razor, and haven't ever tried any type of safety razor. Therefore I am assuming that most people here started with a disposable, or a cartridge razor, or even a DE, and probably canned foam.

So, after some rambling, my question is, why did you switch?

I am happy using my DE, and I'm still experimenting with soaps and creams. I am also finding that the cheaper soaps, and even the canfoam still work okay. I am considering trying a straight, mainly because I think it would be fun, not necessarily "better" than my DE. Any opinions appreciated.

Thanks
Don

I have shaved with every type of razor out there
from disposables to electric. I ended up with
the DE and a badger brush and soap, mainly because
I'm into nostalgic things. I found that it gave a
good shave so I stuck with it. I recently stumbled
upon straight shaving, and for the same nostalgic
reasons, gave it a shot. I can say that the
shaves are better and more relaxing and enjoyable.
The routine I have has a calming effect in some
weird way. You definitely have to set some time
aside to do it, but it's well worth it to me.

John

For me, electric razors have always given me the worst performance bar none. The shaves with an electric for me don't last through the day AND I would grow a perennial crop of ingrown hairs on my neck.

Cartridge razors and canned goo were better, but expensive and I would still be prone to razor burn and same crop of ingrowns.

DE was the best of the three and although I use a straight razor exclusively, I'm not entirely adverse to the idea of maybe using a DE when I can't use a straight (if that situation ever arises). Although even with a light touch and the correct blade angle with a DE, it's easy for that crop of neck ingrowns to creep up on me.

Enter.....straight razors. Complete control of the blade and blade angle during the shave. The number of ingrown hairs I've had on my neck since starting with straight razors I could count on one or maybe two hands. Also, my neck, whisker wise, is the cleanest it's ever been. My shaves with WTG and XTG passes (I don't really find a need for ATG) last 12 hours or longer. I liken using a straight razor to driving an auto with a manual transmission (which I do): Complete control. I liken a DE to one of those modified manual transmissions that are really an automatic but you can play with it like it's a manual. Then I liken an electric to an automatic transmission.

Shaving with a straight takes me longer, but if I'm in a hurry and I don't have an important event (appointment/meeting, etc), doing a single WTG pass is not perfectly smooth, but it still looks closer than if you lined me up next to a row of other guys that just shaved with an electric.

Chris L

I've been shaving exclusively with a straight for about a year. Reasons:

1. The ritual. (the adherence to tradition, the skill of the practitioner, the sophistication of the implements, the elevation of the mundane)

2. I got tired of fighting electric razors. They were all expensive junk.

3. To impress my friends with my dangerous, exotic, sexy hobby.

4. After years of being hurried by other responsibilities (wife, job, family) I finally claim this 20 minutes a day for me.

I like the freedom that comes from honing your own blades. I also like to know that I saved almost all of my razors from the rubbish bin and got them ready to go. A little less litter goes a long way .

I have to say that I was drawn to the straight razor due to the environmental benefits which is I suppose a new way of thinking about it. I was sick of paying nearly 20 dollars for 8 M3 blades and wanted to get away from so much waste. I was reading a book on green living and it talked about straight razors. After reading this forum I decided to get one and have been loving it. The shaves are better, more relaxing and I am not throwing away plastic cartridges all the time.

I switched because I was tired of paying Gillette for the privilege of increasing the landfill.
I stick with it because it also provides me with a superior shave.

X

Haven't used an electric for over twenty years, and even then I didn't really enjoy it. Just walked around looking like the unkempt youth that I was - inside and out! I suppose my main reason for change, and this just at the start of the year, is partly to do with an appreciation of taking my time over certain things. Willing to put the effort into learning something that you can't do overnight. A sense of achievement and relaxation in the process. I have also got back into fountain pens and thoroughly enjoy the variety of choice and decisions I can take to suit mood and occasion. Nib sizes, ink etc. etc. I guess that a few people here are the same and maybe there is room for a 'Young Fogey' section to cater for this . This is all about relaxation for me - suffice to say I am thoroughly enjoying it and that's even at the stage where my shave quite often resembles a badgers arse! At least it smells nicer!!

cheers
Stephen

When I switched from Mach III to DE I found the shaving forums and the wonderful world of Badger Brushes and nice soaps and creams. I was finally getting a great shave and new at that point this is how I was going to shave from now on. Well in the forums there were threads about Straight Shaving and I picked up an interest and soon was trying that. I had already perfected the prep so it was a matter of time and experience before I was getting smoother and closer shaves from the Straight than I was getting from the DE. Now I say this is the way I am going to shave from now on. No looking back.

bj

I've got the worst of both worlds beard-wise. My beard hair is thick, hard to shave and prone to ingrowing. My beard concentration is such that if I let it grow for a few months, I get what can best be described as a shaggy five o'clock shadow.

First I tried finding the right shaving cream. This lead me to brush and bowl methods which gave me a closer and better shave than the best aerosol shave cream.

At the time I was using a gillette two-blade razor. When the Mach 3 came out, it worsened my razor burn. Ditto the four blade versions. Razor burn was also a problem (and the one time I tried electric... eugh, no shaving but tons of razor burn, how does that happen?). When shifting from my CVS-bought Burma Shave boar brush to a nicer brush, I discovered places like classic shaving.

First I switched to a double edge, trying the low-end model and eventually shifting to the Merkur Futur. I was getting a much better shave, much lower ingrowns and razor burn. I still wasn't satisfied with my shave (my face was mostly smooth, but I still looked spotty after a shave), but was put off by the start-up cost of straight razing. Plus, I had a habit of giving myself pretty horriffic nicks with my safety razor, and was worried about doing worth with an un-safety razor.

Eventually I decided to take the plunge and have been kicking myself for not doing it sooner. My face looks shaven after a shave (what a concept!), no razor burn, and fewer nicks which heal faster (I may be the exception here, but most of my nicks with the DE were probably from catching the corner of the blade when trying to get the difficult areas of my face shaven, which would bleed through lunch, the straight nicks are long lines, but are so clean-cut they barely bleed).

The lack of waste is also appealing to me, but is secondary or tertiary. I felt pretty comfortable about the relatively low level of waste my DE produced.

Also, I feel more manly and more of an anachronism. Both of these, particularly the latter, are good things.

As for saving money, as a former pipe smoker I pretty much expect that I'll never have enough straight razors. Since buying my first straight razor and strop, I've purchased a second one of each. I've been using a straight razor for less than a month. (But I had to get a razor that wasn't shave ready so I could learn how to hone, and I needed a second strop to travel with, so really, these were necessities.)