Thread: Stupid Question about DE blades.

We had to watch a cheesy 70s educational movie about statistics in one of my research classes.
The movie premise was the president of a manufacturing company invented a 4 blade cartridge razor and wanted to rush into sales. In sped (Lone Ranger-like) the statistician in his yellow sports car. He conducted a consumer survey and ran the numbers. The conclusion was that two blades were enough and nobody would buy a four blade cartridge razor. True story!

But the question still is - does a 5 blade shave better than a 2 blade? Is there any truth to advertising? All I know for sure is a 3 blade is incredibly efficient at giving me in-growing hairs. That and not a particularly good shave.

BTW - My last good twin blade was a Schick FX diamond - but they stopped making those years ago.

Originally Posted by ian452

But the question still is - does a 5 blade shave better than a 2 blade? Is there any truth to advertising? All I know for sure is a 3 blade is incredibly efficient at giving me in-growing hairs. That and not a particularly good shave.

BTW - My last good twin blade was a Schick FX diamond - but they stopped making those years ago.

I think that answers the question.

Bob

Originally Posted by ian452

Is there any truth to advertising?

"Truth in advertising"?
What a novel idea.

Especially from the likes of Gillette, who claimed 2012 in a thirty second television spot that their blades last up to five weeks.
( http://fortune.com/2012/06/07/how-lo...e-comes-clean/ )

I couldn't help remembering John Steinbeck's: "It is in the things not mentioned that the untruth lies."

Looking up the definition of "advertising", I found not a single word about "truth" in it but a lot about manipulating the public to respond in a certain way.


Consumer beware.



B.

Has anyone seen footage of 5 blades cutting hairs? The footage of the twin blade sold razors. So I guess it's easy to draw a conclusion from the lack of 5 blade footage.

I can only think that as the leading blades dull the hair travels further back until it meets a sharp blade. So eventually blades 4 and 5 act like blades 1 and 2. So you don't get a better shave than a twin blade, EVER! You just change cartridges less often.

So what does running blunt leading blades over your face do to your skin?

Originally Posted by ian452

I also noticed the last time I shaved that the lather had dried a bit by the time I got to the top lip.

I would suggest shaving under your nose first, should solve the lather drying out problem (breathing through your nose can cause this / or length of time before you're getting to your upper lip probably a combination of the two)

Originally Posted by ian452

Hi,

I've just bought my first straight razors, 2 from Larry and Whipped Dog (can't say enough good things about that experience), and I've asked my sister to send me our father's old DE razors from England. I think they are Gillette slims and a Gillette with a dull blue plastic handle. I'm getting the DEs because of the scar tissue I'm currently amassing on my top lip. I plan to use the DE until I become a little better at close combat shaving with the straights.

Anyway, the stupid question - Why do different makes of DE blades make such a difference to the shave? Aren't they all made with the same tolerances and, if placed in the same razor, held at the same orientation? I haven't used a DE for decades but can't remember the blades being that much of an issue back then... I just bought whatever was sold at the local Chemist.

I've bought a sampler pack with Gillette, Feather (2 kinds) and Derby in it. And was just wondering if I should be aware of some DE shaving black magic secret.

Good question. I was wondering the same thing. Good answers.
red

Originally Posted by GaryG

The sampler is often the way to start out, but with a caveat. A beginner's skill and tastes will change, so that The Blade selected from the sampler while a greenhorn may not be The Blade six months later. Try and avoid bulk blade purchases at first, or end up like the unnamed dummy with 180+ Derbies languishing under the sink ..

I just figured this out myself, actually. From my sampler I settled on Crystal blades as feeling the best. I just recently found the remnants of my sampler pack and decided to try some again. Some of the blades that used to feel super harsh now perform wonderfully! (Gillette 7 o'clock yellow, specifically) I think this is because as your skill develops and you develop a better touch, you become better able to handle sharper blades more effectively.

I think it is hard to describe what makes different brands so different though, possibly because all we have to "measure" them by is our own individual face feel and subjectivity. I have not really come across any concrete ways of measuring blade performance, sharpness smoothness, etc... I think this leads to some general consensus, such as Feathers being ultra sharp and Merkurs being so-so at best, but also the lack of definitive rankings of blades.

Just my experience and 2 cents. Enjoy the journey!

P.S. Ian, how are you enjoying the Slim? I got one about two months ago and am really liking it

Just a thought, why not grow mustache? No top lip shaving

Hi Guitarguy118 - what guitar BTW?
When I got the slim it hadn't been used for decades, probably since the 70's and the adjuster was seized. So I tore it down, cleaned out years of soap gunk and it works great now. I got lots of useful tips from the guys here. My DE problems came down to 3 things - 1) after using a crappy 3 blade razor I was pressing WAY TOO hard with the DE. 2) I was doing 3 passes and my skin was just not ready for that. I cut back to one for a while and now do two, WTG and ATG and everything's fine. And finally 3) Proraso Green Pre-shave. I was using it as a post shave and it made me rash up. I can use it as a pre-shave fine but it's too "strong" post.
Obviously my skin is getting better at taking the blade so I'm loving the slim and having a decent shave after years of 3 blade rubbish ones. I backed off on the aggressiveness for a while and slowly built up to using it on 5 now.

I've loved slims since I was a kid - they are icons- I actually bought this one for my dad in 1967. I don't know about you but there's something about the slim... I mean James Bond used one in Goldfinger so they must be good! He got his little homing device out of a slim ( I believe) when he was in Pussy Galore's jet's bathroom. Now there's a sentence!

I've bought a couple of other straights - a Boker King Cutter and an Ern 465 but I'm waiting for a new waterstone and strop to arrive before I can use them. I very effectively destroyed the strop I got from Larry at "Whipped Dog" learning how to strop. He said that may happen. So I plan to Use the straights when I've got time and the DE when I haven't.