Thread: Derby It isn't always the blade

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I've always felt this face prep thing is made more than it is. if you have some lube on your face you get a good shave. if you don't have that no other quality will matter. That's why you can shave using just water and get a good shave. Once you have a basic prep regimen which to me is a clean face and a soap with good lube properties you have the essentials. Everything else is just icing on the cake.

Now I'm not recommending you should shave with water and I certainly appreciate a quality soap or cream but I'm just saying....

I've proven that to mysefl for months now. Using the prep described in the 1906 booklet that I got the cold water shave out of. Lather on your dry face, rub the lather in vigorously, re-lather and shave. I've done this for what seems like forever now and the shaves are as good as when I used to wash my face twice vigorously, with hot water, in the shower. No difference.

On to the Derby blades ....... I hated them. I wrote rants against them on another shaving forum before I came to SRP. I could not fathom other people liking them. So I stuck with my Gillette Swedes and Feathers. Merkur and Wilkinson were also good as well as the red Israeli Personnas. Months later I returned to the Derby blades. I found them to be gentle and forgiving but effective.

I re-posted to that effect. I was getting good shaves out of them. To the point where I bought a large quantity of them on ebay. So what was the difference ? I think it was my technique. I had gotten better at shaving, manipulating the razor. There is no question that one man's favorite blade may be another man's worst, but sometimes returning to a blade that appeared to be useless 6 months ago may offer a surprise. YMMV.

Jimmy

When you say "rub it in" do you mean massage it in with your hands?

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

Jimmy

When you say "rub it in" do you mean massage it in with your hands?

Bob

Yes Bob, with my fingertips to be precise. Seems to work well. When I did the hot water and more traditional prep I did the same in the shower when washing my face twice.

Thanks Jimmy, I thought that is what you mean, just wanted to make sure. Been using cold water and no prep for quite a while now so we just might give that a go and see what happens.

Bob

Some good points above. For myself, the Astra blades always worked the best in my DE razors.

Originally Posted by jjw509

That being said I have other blades that performed better under a bad face prep. Derby still isn't my favorite but it is not in the avoid it like the plague category it once was either.

You may have already, but have you tried using Sharks in your DE? I haven't really had any issues with them at all. Then again, I haven't tested the waters with other blades. Why continue when you've found a keeper? LOL. Thoughts?

Gentlemen:

The problem with Derby blades is inconsistency in the quality. At least that is my experience with these Turkish blades — 10 good blades and then a bomb. Overall, though, they are good blades. I use them in my Edwin Jagger razors. My preferred and regular blades are: Super Iridium and PermaSharp Super (Feather SS D-2 razor), Gillette 7 O'Clock yellows, Astra and Derby (Edwin Jagger and Muhle razors) and Israeli Personna reds (Weber razor).

The Feather blades have been retired for good, because they irritate my skin. I have used different techniques with them, including corking the bloody things, but they still irritate my face. And a Hollywood face that it is.

Regarding Jimmy's lather preparation, yes, it works quite well. I have done it for years and love it: lather, massage the lather in with the fingertips and then re-lather. Voila! It's a good method.