I never thought my one cartridge experiment would last so long and I am starting to really miss my straights. Am thinking to alternate shaves between the two to get a better feel for how they compare.
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I never thought my one cartridge experiment would last so long and I am starting to really miss my straights. Am thinking to alternate shaves between the two to get a better feel for how they compare.
Awesome shave today with the Mach. Shave #9, identical to shave #2, BBS literally no irritation and just a memoir of sting in the Alum. Still using proraso pre and proraso for sensitive skin as a base but mixed in a dab of Maca Root cream and whipped it up in my new homemade Groovy Scuttle which I was also suprised did a great job keeping the lather warm.
http://brightsrestaurant.com/mach_shave.jpg
To anyone out there looking for a cheap and impressively simple, easy to make, and well performing scuttle (beats my moss) give this a try. Order this quality double walled stainless mug Amazon.com: Brilliant Double-Walled Stainless Steel Tea Cup and Saucer Set (7 Fl Oz) - Quality StainlessLUX Drinkware for Your Enjoyment: Kitchen & Dining and using the barrel grinder that comes with a dremel tool cut a thumb sized notch in each side across from each other.
http://brightsrestaurant.com/groovy_scuttle.jpg
Fill sink with hot water and let it heat in the sink as you normally would while you shower. Then just take it out and put your thumb over the handle side notch and turn it upside down to empty the water from the bowl, the water will remain between the double walls keeping the lather warm. The space between the walls holds about 4+ ounces of hot water, depending on the temperature of your water enough to keep the lather warm for 3 passes. What allows it to work with such little water is the good thermal conduction of the metal. When you are done simply turn it upside down without closing the notch with your thumb and the water inside drains.
Cheap, very elegant polished stainless, indestructable, and takes all of 5 minutes to make. With this there is no longer a good reason anyone who would like a nice scuttle should be without and feel good about it since they made it themselves. The saucer that comes with it is also a nice touch.
Took today's shave with my new Les Tres Croix bought off a member here, great smooth shave. Lots of fun.
Today is a Mach day, my 10th 3-pass shave using the same fusion-pro-super-glide-whatever 5-blade cartridge. And once again an awesome smooth irritation free shave, DFS with only slight alum sting, very slight if any. I have to hand it to them, the thing is performing way better then I had expected. At least for me arguments of price or quality are getting harder and harder to justify. Even if the cartridge expired now it would factor down to $30 / 8 / 10 = $.38 per shave x 180 = $67 per year for me to get 3-pass DFS or better shaves.
Having said that I think the principle reason it is lasting so long is in the proper wet-shave prep, products, and the added stretching skills learned through straight razor shaving. In fact from a time argument shaving by cartridge in this way takes every bit as long as with a straight, there is no savings there assuming the same prep and passes, as well there is no saving in product. What I have found that is being saved however is (besides the fact that scarring yourself is very unlikely) the excitement factor and feeling of tradition is what is lacking.
Personally I like the fact that with a straight razor is nothing to throwaway which I did for many years with my disposables.... you could call em "eco razors":rock:
But if you wanna try a nice Gillette razor..the Gillette "Guard" s a single edge with bar on it...all plastic..only made in India... very cheap on the bay or WSC
Today was a day for my new TI Grelot bought off a member here, very nice shave with a slight nick directly under my nostril which seems to be a recurring place for me because of the angle of the blade trying to get as close and high up as i can. I have been stretching my upper lip down over my teeth and trying to be careful about the angle, any tricks to make this area easier? It is in the first mm or two under the nose on each side, the middle never seems to cause a problem.
11th shave and one of the best shaves of my life, but I would have to give the cartridge only half the credit for this one. The other half goes to a steaming hot bath loaded with coconut oil, shea butter, and fresh rosemary picked right off the plant. Mixed in a dose of indian chandrika ayurvedic soap carried back from my trip to india some years ago and sublimed into nirvana for a half hour. Hot water rinse with Dr. Bronners citrus soap before stepping out to fill up the Moss scuttle. Proraso pre, skipping the hot towel today since I was pretty sure my bath took care of the prep still steaming off my face and slick with the bath oils. Cracked open a new tube of Proraso Cream and lathered up. 3 passes all irritation free and with absolutely no tug whatsoever. Osmo left not even a touch of sting. Very cold cold rinse... Thayers Original... Nivea Performance Balm (milky jade cream with awesome smell) for sensitive skin to top it all off. A most awesome shave!
Feeling like a billion bucks gentlemen ;)
Groovy, I just realized you were using a Fusion Proglide and not a Mach III lol - since the title of this thread has 'Mach' in it I guess I assumed it was the 3 blade model. Ever consider replicating this experiment with a Mach III and see if the results are repeatable? I have my doubts, but you never know...
I no longer have a mach 3, just the pro glide. From my memory the Mach 3 was my best shave with a cartridge but I had never shaved using the new Pro glide blades and I can see they seem to be beating the Mach 3. They are indeed thinner and coated with something as the ads say. They seem to last forever with the right prep.
I think the couple marginal shaves early on were due to allergic reaction with MWF and Trumpers Sandalwood Skin Food which I have had irritation with before but never gave it so much thought until now. I am allergic to animal fibers like wool and most traditional tallow based shower soaps like ivory and it's thousand variations also cause me to itch and irritate especially in the dry winter.
I have one Fusion 5 blade the model before the Pro Glide which I could also try this using but the Pro Glide does seem better then my previous Fusion shaves; however, I have never done any cartridge shaving with good prep until now so it might make sense to back up and try them all.
NOS Fila 14 day for me... great shave gentlemen!
I really want to start this post saying that I mean no disrespect, but I have to ask,Why are you posting this thread on a place called STRAIGHT RAZOR FOREM ? I'm sure all of the members here know that the cartridge razors work pretty well, but we use straights for various reasons, and I also use a Mach when I'm in a hurry, and it works well,but not as good as a well prepared shave with a straight,and I don't have to buy a cartridge...EVER. I was just wondering,I might be missing something, such as the people who say they have just discovered wet shaving,what exactly did they think we were using before
Electric razors were invented? That one question has me completely baffled, did they think they used sandpaper back then? As I said and I mean NO disrespect,but this is a place for users of straight razors, and also old fashioned DE,or SE razors, so whats the deal and more importantly,whats the point? What am I missing? The cartridge in my mach3 has at least thirty shaves on it and it still works fine,but when it doesn't I'm not going to run out and buy more,Ill just wait for another sample to come in the mail.
thanks
Griz
comparisons of cartridges to straights to de come up all the time on this forum, clearly it is the right place for personal impressions and understandings of the differences. no disrespect taken.
We do appreciate the discussion, but this subforum is specifically about shaving with a straight razor, which is outlined here. Obviously we keep a rather open interpretation of that and usually don't move posts unless we feel they'll get better visibility and responses in another forum (e.g. honing).Quote:
Originally Posted by groovyd
After nearly 100 posts this thread is starting to feel more like a cartridge SOTD than anything else, with a few straight shaves peppered in. Maybe continue with your experiment while posting your prep work in the pre-shave forum or provide your shave details in the weekly SOTD forum. When you've finished your experiment you can start a new thread here detailing how you find your straight shaves to be better, lesser, or equal to your cartridge ones.
What is important in this experiment is what has already shown itself; that the cartridge gives a considerably better shave and for far longer then I (and probably most) would have expected and that apparently some appreciate not really hearing about in between. Nuff said. I will keep the results to myself, anyone curious can ask me directly.
Couldn't it just be moved to the "General Razor/Shaving Related Discussion" instead? :shrug:
That sounds like a better place for it anyway, I agree...
It started as just a thought and this seemed like the appropriate place for it and then became an experiment and I guess I never expected it to continue on to becoming an out of place nuisance for some. For me the experience of straight razor shaving is what lead to the curiosity in the first place and I had figured others might share a similar curiosity getting into straight razor shaving and appreciate the honest review. I thought the thing would be well shot after 4 shaves and I would have some simple conclusions to share but yeah over 10 shaves later and it is still going strong, could be another 20 like grizzley says and I can see how it would get old for people who feel the need to follow every thread posted to this branch of forum. Personally I ignore threads I have no interest in but I can appreciate their position that it no longer belongs.
Is commie an admin who can move it for me as alluded? I have trouble just uploading photos to the site, moving threads is far beyond my pay scale.
Done, and nobody told me that there was a pay scale! Feel free to continue accordingly.Quote:
Originally Posted by groovyd
This threads been very interesting, I've had a similar experience tonight. Airport carry-on only, proper prep and a surprisingly good shave from a Mach 3.
I think the preps been a real lesson for me. I have a course beard, and only get 2 shaves out of a Mach if I'm willing to accept the pulling (grandfather shaved twice a day!). It made me realize I never gave cartridges a proper go (not that I'd go back to it regularly - wish I could find granddads cutthroat). While this is the same thing as a lot of people have said, it's also made me think about the passing of shaving knowledge from one generation to the next.
My father has only ever had an electric shaver, and when I got my first bit of bumfluff I tried to copy. Painful experiences, rash, etc so months later I decided to figure out cartridge shaving. It was a steep learning curve, and I still have bad habits. I don't know if it's just me, but most of my mates have said similar things ie the old man handed a cartridge and said 'go with the grain' and that's it. Are these 'package deals' resulting in knowledge only being kept in these communities? Did you guys get a guiding hand on how to use a cartridge the first time?
groovyd,
I figure since your thread's here in The Parlour, you should continue to post away as you have been. I think your findings on cartridges is every bit as valid as anything I might have to say here, anyway. There is a lot of discussion on reasons why people use a straight razor vs. cartridge and I think, like jdto's thread/blog on "The Straight Road", your information is insightful and useful.
Lynn has always said that whatever works for you is what you should do, and he pushes wet-shaving of all kinds. I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I think Lynn would certainly favor old safety razors over any new cartridge and again straights over safeties. I've seen Lynn's videos, and especially considering the videos out of the recent Chicago meet, it makes me think even more your comments on using wet shaving to improve the utility of an otherwise hated product, the cartridge razor, should be most welcome here, especially now that it has been moved to The Parlour.
In fact, I am ashamed for having made some of the cutting comments I made in the infamous closed thread.
--
Bob, I'm one of those fellas who was never taught how to shave. I suppose my father never saw the need in it. I think any teenaged boy should have guidance from his father in this area even with something as simple as a cartridge razor.
When I started out with the straight a couple months ago, for the first couple days I cleaned up after the straight with my cartridge, but using wet shaving techniques and understanding a little more about how hair direction affects the shave. I did much, much better than I ever had simply because of this.
Even so, after the first couple days I stopped using the cartridge altogether. For a long time there I had some really bad looking shaves, but I refused to clean up with the cartridge. I wanted that extra drive to get good with my straight. Every day, every day, it gets better and better.
-Mark
There's a picture of me with my dad, our faces coated in shaving cream. I think I'm about four years old. That was the extent of my shaving education. It was about twelve years before I had any fuzz to speak of, sixteen before I really needed to shave. By that time, any four year old's memories of "how to shave" were long gone.Quote:
Originally Posted by bob
I have a great relationship with my dad, but this is one area where I plan to make a big deal of teaching my boys to shave as a coming into manhood opportunity, and not leaving them to try and figure it out themselves.
Peace,
Jim
My father passed away of cancer a few years before I was ready to shave, so I can really appreciate sentiments around heritage. Having him there to teach me something like shaving or even drink a beer with are things I will never experience but would give everything I have for. He was a great man and father and I miss him deeply every day. I don't have kids, nor do I suspect I ever will but those of you who do consider this and make sure you are there for them to show them the ropes and drink their first beer.
Not to bring this thread down with unrelated stories I have had 3 more mach shaves and 2 more straight shaves since my last post and the mach continues to perform better then my straight is for me for whatever it is worth. I have learned a successful cartridge shave is very possible and even longer term both enjoyable and durable or economically fiscal with the right prep, product, and technique. I certainly would no longer say that straights or even de gives a 'better' shave then a cartridge across the board. Clearly my experience with straights has years to improve and so relative differences will progress but the bottom line is still that you can get a good number of great shaves from a cartridge with a little attention. It isn't bottom line expensive and the quality is not bad at all.
Mind you this discovery for me has not had any impact whatsoever on my ability to collect more straights and wet shaving gear then is borderline mental institution. I really enjoy shaving with straights, de's, and now even cartridges. No complaints here from any of these methods. YMMV.
I will post again when the original first cartridge resigns from giving me a DFS, and thanks everyone for the feedback and encouragement in keeping it up.
And finally after 23 3-pass shaves with the cartridge and it is time to replace it. About 5 times more shaves then I had imagined I would get and even on the last shave it wasn't any more irritating then a straight I just got tired of using it and the gel comfort strip was entirely worn away. I felt like I got my money's worth. In conclusion, awesome economy ($.15 a shave) and bbs/dfs comfortable shaves across the board. No nicks, cuts, strops, or hones. The prep, technique, and quality products are what makes the difference.