Thread: Might be blasphemy but......

Originally Posted by BobH

So why do so many claim they can't get a good shave from a disposable multiblade razor? That is what puzzles me more than why I use a straight. The only thing I can think of is incorrect technique and not much else.

Bob

1. Disposables will give you fits if you have facial hair to trim but not remove.
2. Disposables will cut up my face no matter how used with only one brand exception.
3. I need to do ATG and only a straight will allow me to place the blade angle flat against my skin to get close without slicing into my face.
4. I often have to overshave the same area with a disposable to get the last of the whiskers and it results in razor burn.

I just can't get the end result I seek with disposables.

An acceptably close disposable shave always leaves weepers and usually burn.

Cangooner

I can understand all of what you are saying but the plastic thingy that I used cost 1 dollar. It came with a total of 6 heads, 1 mounted and 5 spares. That should do me for a month so $12.00 for the year is not too expensive. Those plastic thingys need not be expensive to do a good job. I don't see cost or end result as being a factor, for me at least. If you insist on using the expensive plastic thingys then yes certainly cost could well be a factor. Not being argumentative here just saying.

Bob

Originally Posted by jaswarb

1. Disposables will give you fits if you have facial hair to trim but not remove.
2. Disposables will cut up my face no matter how used with only one brand exception.
3. I need to do ATG and only a straight will allow me to place the blade angle flat against my skin to get close without slicing into my face.
4. I often have to overshave the same area with a disposable to get the last of the whiskers and it results in razor burn.

I just can't get the end result I seek with disposables.

An acceptably close disposable shave always leaves weepers and usually burn.

Yea, I guess it is an individual thing. I don't have those problems with the disposable that I used today. I guess it is a case of if it does not happen to you then you have difficulty understanding that someone else has a difficulty.

Bob

I thought that the first woman in my life was the greatest, until other women came along and educated me otherwise.

I believe that straights are the true instruments of shave. I feel cheated that it took me 50 years to find them. I just don't know who to blame other than myself. I guess that I can put some blame on myself, my father and a society that has focused on the expedient and disposable path through life. i definitely got caught up in it.

I don't think that its blasphemy, I just think that you slipped a little. Go out & buy your straight a new shave cream. She will get over it.

Stay true my friend.

Originally Posted by BobH

Cangooner

I can understand all of what you are saying but the plastic thingy that I used cost 1 dollar. It came with a total of 6 heads, 1 mounted and 5 spares. That should do me for a month so $12.00 for the year is not too expensive. Those plastic thingys need not be expensive to do a good job. I don't see cost or end result as being a factor, for me at least. If you insist on using the expensive plastic thingys then yes certainly cost could well be a factor. Not being argumentative here just saying.

Bob

Oh I hear you! It was my fault entirely for buying into the marketing hype.

I think I also have an instinctive reaction against most anything labelled disposable.

When you get good with the straight you will understand why use it instead of cartridge or disposable.

I was forced to go back to a doubled edged cartridge for a weekend travel event. The shave was not nearly as close and the ATG pass irritated my skin something fierce. Maybe your beard is not that rough or is it possible that you're not getting everything out of your straight that the end product is the same?

Physically, the multi blade razors always caused irritation and ingrown hairs. I gave up on them a few decades ago.
Otherwise, straight razors are my hobby. Maintaining and shaving with them are part of that hobby. It gives me pleasure to restore, hone, and shave with them. I just dig looking at them too! Some guys collect Hot Wheels cars. They just sit there. Even knife collectors would not dream of cutting a rope with their prized pieces.
A razor seems to appreciate bing used as well, IMO!

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Physically, the multi blade razors always caused irritation and ingrown hairs. !

When my left hand was in a cast this summer I dusted off an old Fusion and put in a new cart. I did the usual prep just as I would for a straight blade. I got a pretty decent shave and used the same cart the next day and also got good results.

On the third day the ingrown hairs arose. It was a blood bath especially around the corners of the mouth.

On the fourth day I wet back to the st8. I had to do some creative one-handed shaving until the ingrowns healed.

Sharptonn and I must share the same facial hair growth type that leads to ingrown hair.

Never again. If I can't use one of my blades then let the beard begin!

Originally Posted by BobH

Seems like so far everyone has similar reasons and they don't seem to have much to do with the end result. So why do so many claim they can't get a good shave from a disposable multiblade razor? That is what puzzles me more than why I use a straight. The only thing I can think of is incorrect technique and not much else.

Bob

For shame! I have some very acutely slanted hairs and though I can adjust the angle somewhat on a disposable and a DE I can't really get very close, if I do try for very close it is possible with some of the skin-stretching possible that a pulled blade on a handle can achieve, for the directions and stretchability of certain regions, over a straight. But ultimately it is the straight that wins because of the adjustability of the angle, how I can sneak underneath the slanted ones. Also the edge itself can be honed into something kinder than most DE blades and disposables. I existed for many years with generic, store-brand plastic disposables and got plenty of acceptable shaves (my Jewishness only allowed me to buy them when they were on sale and I always comforted myself by calculating the exact price of an individual razor (after taxes!) and estimated how many shaves each one lasted). I don't even remember what happened to my first cartridge razor, the Gillette Sensor Excel. I think I disposed of it. I have used a Mach3 and a Mock3 (CVS brand, they changed their Mock3 so now I have a "vintage" Mock3 and the only cartridges I can use for it are what I've got (25)). They don't give a better shave than the disposable or DE. Just faster and a feeling of less control. They have now been relegated to the unspeakable areas that cannot be shown to the Sun God, Ra (Get it? Where the sun don't shine!). It's not a bad thing, really. They have a very specific purpose, used exactly for their strengths, just like a str8.

I get good shaves with fixed-head blade-on-a-stick razors. But I get better shaving action, results and skin benefits from a str8.

But not to worry, Bob. I get good shaves with a swivelling head disposable cartridge razor, too. I just can't talk about it here!