How did you do it prior to straights?

I thought I would try and satisfy curiosity here, and I apologise if it's been done before.
Personally I started off with a Gillette twin blade that was a high school graduation gift from the Gillette company. I don't know if that is still a marketing ploy by that company, but it's effective. I stuck with that plastic handle for years, only needing to buy new cartridges on a regular basis. I never went for those crappy plastic disposable razors, guess yellow just isn't my colour.
Bought a mach 3, because three blades were supposed to be better, never noticed the difference my self. Mostly stuck with the twin blade (yes I still have it today too, sentimental fool I am). Bought an electric razor, just because I'm a James Bond fan and it was the electric razor that J.B chose to use and it was Duty Free. Totally dis-satisfyied with that. Went back to the twin blade. Short answer Gillette twin blade cartridge.
Now I have corrected my errant ways and have gone straight.


Mick

My first razor back when all I had was peach fuzz was actually a straight. My dad did all the maintenance, I just whacked the fuzz off. Before long, he switched to a Gillette DE of some kind, and so I followed suit. At some point I started using cartridge razors, then disposables...I always hated shaving. Couldn't get a close shave, got the bumps.

Several times I tried to go back to the straight, but I didn't know (a) you can't get a good, shave-ready straight for $15 and (b) you have to maintain the razor. So every attempt on the straight was a failure and abortive.

Until about 3 months ago, when somehow i stumbled on a discussion among students at the school where I teach--they had a group they called "man shavers" and were re-discovering traditional shaving, mainly the safety razor. But as I read their discussions and began to go to the websites they were visiting, I realized that straight was what i wanted and that I needed to get quality razors and learn to maintain them well.

I'm still learning something every day. Had a nasty cut a couple days ago, and today discovered that somehow that razor (a round point) had been dinged a little and had a nasty but nearly invisible turned-up edge on the tip. So it wasn't my technique, it was carelessness in inspecting the blade. I've gently worked that snag out and smoothed the point, so hopefully now I know something new.

I have to say also that half the fun for me is a good shave soap. Even if I dropped the straight and went to the DE razor, I'd never go back to canned shave cream. I love a good soap lather!

I used a Gilette Sensor for over 20 years. I still have the original handle, maybe it's now "vintage"?:) I always felt like I got good shaves that way (still do, in fact) but nowhere near as good as I'm now getting with str8s. By the way, I dabbled with a Braun electric for a few years, never liked it-a lousy shave and too much irritation.

I was kind of in flux here. I used the Mach/fusion style for a long time, then switched to electric for about 3 years, back to mach/fusion for about 2 months then straight razor for about 6 months now. I have a total of 5 razors. Mostly my face seems to like the hollow grinds over full wedge, but that may be cuz I think the full wedge i've been experimenting with may need a professional hone. I've tried to hone it my self but the blas has a smile to it. Maybe more practice honing a blade with a curve.

- Mike

I just starting using a Bic disposable because I was just plain sick of the multi-bladed extruded junk. Shaving was something that I just did in a hurry with pathetic results.


later,
Richard

It's good to see a poll, they seem to be less common these days...

I started with a twin blade Gillette Sensor Excel. I reluctantly switched to a Mach 3 sometime in my early 20's, thinking "why would a guy need a 3-bladed razor," :rofl2: clueless as to what would be coming in the future (this was before 4 or 5 bladed razors). Compared to the Sensor the shaves seemed wonderful, but I was still getting irritation.

It wasn't until late 2008 that I learned to use a SR, along with proper shaving techniques, and the irritation all but disappeared. It's amazing what happens when you do something the right way ;)

I didn't shave. I used the same clippers I used to cut my hair, with our without guards depending on how short I wanted it.

I had tried an electric, a Bic-like disposable, and a Mach3, but I never used any one more than a handful of times cause they were all terrible.

In the mid '60s when I began shaving I used Gillette DEs. By the early '70s Schick injectors. When the Gillette 'Good News' twin blade disposables came out in '76 I began shaving with those for 30 years. I had a brief fling of a couple of months with straight razors in the mid '80s and then back to the Gillette disposables. In '06 I began using various DEs with the Merkur Slant being my weapon of choice. I went to the straight razors exclusively in early '08. I've used a shaving brush to lather with since '73 so I was doing one thing right. :)

I switched around. When I was maybe 17 I bought a Persona injector razor for my first and used that. Bought a rechargeable Norelco triple header and swapped back and forth for awhile. Then I started trying different injector razors to see if one of them could give me a comfortable close shave (like the TV commercial promised). Wilkinson Sword, Shick, I even tried one oddball razor that had a sharpened ribbon of metal inside the cartridge that you advanced by rotating a lever. Gave me the worst shave I ever had in my life! I think the only one I didn't try was the single edge with the blades they use in paint scrapers (my older brother actually used one of them in high school).

Moved up to a Gillette double edge (the one with the 0-13 adjustment). Gave me the closest shave ever but cut myself every shave and awful razor burn. When they came out with the Track II, I tried that. Not as close a shave, but less hazardous to my face so I stuck with it.

Eventually Gillette added advancements like a pivoting cartridge, the lube strip, changed the name and so forth. I stayed with Gillette and didn't bother trying other brands.

Somewhere along the line I tried one of Victor Kiam's "As close as a blade or your money back!" electrics. It wasn't as close as my old Gillette DE, but neither did it cut me. I used it on and off until I moved one time and forgot to pack it.

I bought one other electric a couple of years later just for the novelty. It was a Braun waterproof rechargeable. You could shave dry as you would with any other electric. You could also put shaving cream on your face or use it to shave in the shower. The novelty wore off and I went back to my Gillette twin blade cartridge.

When Gillette came out with the Mach 3, I rushed out to buy one. There was less razor burn than with the Atra/Sensor twin blade, but I could never get used to that darn pivoting head. I tossed it after a year and went back to my Sensor.

When Gillette added a third blade to their Sensor razor, I thought I'd found Nirvana. Huge improvement in comfort without that darn floppy head.

Eventually Gillette added a couple of more blades to their floppy headed line (one on the back of the cartridge to make mustache/sideburn trimming easier -- huh?). They actually sent me one free in the mail. No thanks, floppy head. I tossed it without ever bothering to try it.

So there I was with the Gillette Sensor 3, thinking I'd be using that for the rest of my life.

And then I found SRP. :beer1:

My Sensor 3 sits gathering dust. I suppose eventually I'll toss that one, too.
Namaste,
Morty -_-

I went back andforth with the Mach 3 or hair clippers without the guard.

I used to rock the stubble lots back in the day.

I was using a shavette for the past couple of years because I never knew enough about what kind of real straight I wanted to buy.

I found this site just after I took the plunge and bought a friodur from henckels.


Now I enjoy great shaves and am loving it.

i started with the sensor excel and had bad shaves.. then when the mach3 was released i started getting good shaves.. i've always used a brush and never had a problem.. gillette sent me a fusion when it came out and i hated it.. mainly due to the blades being so close and clogging up.. i'd be fine with a mach3 if i had to.. but now i'm shaving with an artist club and it's as good as good is going to get.. i don't see them ever being able to improve on it.

First shaves were with an ancient electric foil razor then on to disposable twin blades and canned foam.
Bearded from the time I left school.
Someone brought me a Mach3 as a joke and it sat in the cupboard for years.
Haircuts done with clippers and no comb, beard normally about a No.2 or 3.

Last year I changed to a goatee and out came the Mach3 again.

Now I've seen the light the lather is built with care and the blades only number 1 at a time.

I spent a couple of years using disposables and electrics, then moved to a gillette multi bladed thing when I was about 18 I think, then bought a wilkinson sword DE and used that right through till i discovered straightness in shaving 2 years or so ago, then I went shavette and now straight :)

Geek

I had a variety of multi blade junk and an electric.

And I also had a sore face a lot of the time..! :D

Generally used the 2nd cheapest twin blade disposables I could find with lubricating strip

and canned foam... until I discovered I could use hand soap instead.

Used the disposable basically untill I couldn't clean it or the strip had crumbled away.

It was only a few short steps from hand soap...
to $2 shaving stick and $2 brush (still used happily)...
to DE (for 2 or 3 weeks)...
to the straight razor (with shaving cream / soap)!

All the best,
Michael

Started with DE as a young man. Moved to electric for a while 1982-1991. Went back to wet shaving in 1991 but still maintained an electric due to the nature of my job.
Keep an electric in the car and continue to use multi-blade when traveling on business.

Started with DE. Sticked with it + yellow Bics and cheap disposables until straight razors. Years ago i shaved few years with electric but as that buzzing electric device broke down i didn't mind to buy another. Never had these Gillette multiblades, as i always saw them too expensive and nothing that DE or cheap disposables couldn't do as well. I still use DE occasionally, at least when traveling.

I used a Mach III for a long time, then I switched to the cheaper disposable three blade razors. I switched to straights as a means to not be reliant on getting razors from the store to be able to shave.
I continue to use straights because of the quality of the shave, and they are just plain fun!

I used TracII exclusively from my first shave until I began using straights - about 15 years. They began getting hard to find, and I ended up with some knock-offs on my last bulk purchase which drove me to straights

There were a handful of occasions where I used Bic disposables in a pinch, and also a one-shave experiment with a DE and a shavette fairly recently after being introduced to straight razors

I've been using whatever was the latest and "greatest" from Gillette.
Don't remember all the names anymore, the last one was a fusion with a battery in it.
Tried electric many years ago, but that did not get close at all.
The Main reason I picked up straight razor shaving was simply that shaving my head really ate blades. Got sick of running out of fresh blades, and ending up with a sore scalp and a lousy shave.
The straights fixed that, and also my Feather artist club.

Where I come from you use some lighter fluid and burn the whiskers off.

Actually I used an electric for many many years before going to a DE then a straight.

I started with a fatboy that my father gave me and have used it solidly over the past 30+ years , yeah Ive had periods of using disposables and never thought any more of shaving other than it being a chore ..hehe till I discovered straits what a pleasure I wish my father had introduced me to , as I have fading memorys of watching my father shave with a straight when I was a young fella , he's passed now but my mother told me that he always shaved with a straight in his younger days .aleast I do have a strop that was my fathers , great post Mick

I started with the gunk in the can and a Gillette sensor.

My wetshaving started with a Merkur.

I never thought I would try a straight until a guy at work talked to me and the rest, they say, is history...

I voted DE, but it's not the entire story. Prior to picking up a straight, I shaved with a DE for about 6 months quite happily. Before the DE, I had been using a Gilette Sensor Excel (twin blade) since I started shaving, just picking up new (and ever more expensive) cartridges for it.

Of the three, I probably still get the best shave from two passes with a DE, but the straight is catching up (I'm about 6 months in with the straight).

I have used in order of their sequence, my father's DE, my own techmatic, injector blades, disposables, a Norelco electric, back to disposables, Mach 3 and finally, the straight. I've never tried the battery powred, pulsating things or the ones with enough blades to look like a window shutter. Those came along after I discovered the glorious way of the straight razor!

Shards of flint.

I used mostly the bic disposables, and tried an electric, that gave me a super crappy shave with a side order of hamburger-y face from all of the irritation, also tried the multi bladed crap for a little while until I had to sell one of my kidneys to get a package of blade cartridges

Started with DEs, went to electric to disposables to multi blades of all variations. Hated all of them and finally rested on cheapest multis I could find (mystery brands) on the basis that I might as well spend as little on a boring and painful chore as possible. In 25 years of shaving I never once enjoyed it. Switched to straights, moved up the learning curve and now I enjoy every shave and rarely miss a day. This site was instrumental in the process.

I used this one:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/membe...aristocrat.jpg
Gillette Aristocrat. Still do, once in a while..

Started with a Schick injector, then inherited a straight. When I dropped it and knocked a chunk out of the middle of the blade I could no longer find injector blades locally, so I went back and forth between twin-blades and electrics. I, too, have worn a full beard (shaved cheeks and neck) almost all my life, but I could never get a nice, sharp edge on it with an electric.

Now I shave with a Fatboy, and neaten the edges with a straight when I'm done. Occasionally I'll use a straight for the whole shave but I have arthritic hands and some days it would be a bloodbath to do so.

Prior to shaving with a straight,I used a D.E Gillette black beauty that I got for my 16th birthday. I still have it and still use it when I need to shave quick. Although for some reason I allways seem to nick myself with it.

I was lucky enough to score a new old stock Black Beauty for my sons 16th. That was 10 years ago. He is in the army and is still amazed at the looks and questions he gets when he pulls out the brush,soap stick and D.E.

I started with a Gillete double edged razor, then used a Gillete twin blade with Rapid Shave foam for a few years, Joined the Army Reserve and found stick shaving soap then went back to the double edged Gillete, collected straights for some years and an antique strop, tried them out but could not ever get them to work. A mate sent me a instruction manual on how to use straights and a link to this forum, now only use straights and the Gillette double edge here at work as we have a clean shaven policy re gas masks. Being now a shift supervisor I have to set a proper example for the blokes and shave every day. I find a straight works best for me with 3 days growth so now:beer2: use straights exclusively at home. {I work fly in fly out 2weeks on 2 weeks off.}

Cheers

I actually started with a straight razor, I got a Worcester 6/8 half hollow ground from a very nice man here and I got the Filly strop ( I will soon need to get a new one my starter is very nicked) I still have and use this stuff today.

I started with a clam shell

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nessmuck

I started with a clam shell

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Is that shaving or plucking !! Reckon a bit of knapped obsidian would be a good thing??

Cheers:beer2:

my very first shave to remove my peach fuzz was with a gillette two blade cartridge. The following day, mind you I was 13 at the time, I went and bought a shavette and used that for 7 years, i just recently got my first actual straight.
I just felt like shavings been around for thousands of years... if straights have been working for the past few centuries... why not just stick to that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by heelerau

Is that shaving or plucking !! Reckon a bit of knapped obsidian would be a good thing??

Cheers:beer2:

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Shaving of course. but yes the clam shell needed to be Knapped to bring the edge back.HeHeHEHe

It's been so long ago that I can't remember if I first used a safety razor or an electric razor. I just remember that anything other than an electric gave me horrible razor burn. For long years, I settled for poor results and the uncomfortable tug of electric razors, mostly a triple-head Norelco. Then, about 10-15 years ago I discovered that most of the razor burn was not the safety razor but was the worthless shave cream in a can. Once I switched to C&E's almond oil shave soap and a brush I was able to shave with a safety without getting major razor burn. I first was using a double blade system (don't remember what manufacturer), then switched to Gillette Fusion when it came out.

I switched to str8's for multiple reasons, but at the top of the list is outrage over Gillette's absurd prices on blades. I guess you could say I switched to save money. However, I need to come up with another story - SWMBO "bought" the "save $" story at first. I don't even want to tally up how much I've spent on str8's so far (and I'm just getting started:))

Being well, something on an ancient historian by virtue of being a professor of Old Testament, I have encountered references to razors in archaeological literature.

In keeping with the thread topic of "how it was done before" (granted, this is WAAAAAY Before) I offer you a plate depicting the evolution of the razor in the Bronze Age, which is about 3500-1000 BC, give or take a couple centuries depending on the continent. A couple pages of discussion from the book is included for your entertainment.

We are part of a tradition of millenia!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LawsonStone

Being well, something on an ancient historian by virtue of being a professor of Old Testament, I have encountered references to razors in archaeological literature.

In keeping with the thread topic of "how it was done before" (granted, this is WAAAAAY Before) I offer you a plate depicting the evolution of the razor in the Bronze Age, which is about 3500-1000 BC, give or take a couple centuries depending on the continent. A couple pages of discussion from the book is included for your entertainment.

We are part of a tradition of millenia!

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I like the the #1 sway back!! thanks for the history lesson:)