Thread: My First DE Shave

Tonight I had my first DE shave. I was given a nice Gillette DE razor,Turkish Horse Hair brush & 2 packs of blades. ZeroCool was a nice Gentleman that heard I was interested in DE shaving for my son(about a year away from shaving). He sent me the above nice items. Thank you again, Jon (ZeroCool).

Since the brush was Turkish Horse Hair, I had to use my Nomad shave soap. A good experience and a safe enough razor for my beginner son.

Thanks for looking.

Not pokin' fun at DEs, I love 'em! But it's so smooth and easy it's almost like cheatin', ain't it? smile.

John

Yes,
I was a bit scared , as I was with my first straight. I took it real slow. I did the first stroke down my right cheek & did not feel anything. I had to stop and rub my face; I actually thought that the blade edge was not sticking out enough, the hair was gone. I went ATG, something I never do with my straight.

I love de shaving, I've not yet mastered atg with straights yet, so I usually do a pass with straight, then atg with de.

Nice setup! Your son will love it. Once I have a rugrat, I intend to teach him the ways of being a man.

Glad to hear it went well! It is a bit different at first, more forgiving then the straight.

Now you can start checking out blades I like the Feathers and Gillette green packs.

Enjoy!

I spent most of the day in the Safety/DE side of the forum today.

I tried to find the answer to this question, but did not see it, maybe because it's the dumbest question in DE shaving, but I gotta know;

Do all DE blades that go in through the top, like my Gillette, fit the same? Is this a generic fit or do different razor manufacturers shape they blades different? I would hate to by 3 packs that don't fit my Gillette.

Originally Posted by Hirlau

Do all DE blades that go in through the top, like my Gillette, fit the same? Is this a generic fit or do different razor manufacturers shape they blades different? I would hate to by 3 packs that don't fit my Gillette.

I have a 1963 Gillette Slim Adjustable DE razor that opens its top for blade removal/install--similar to yours. Out of the numerous DE blades that I've tried over the years, I have never found one that didn't fit my DE razor. Merkur, Wilkinson Sword, Derby, Persona, Lord, Bic, Dorco, store brand, etc.--they all fit. The DE blades come in a standard size, and some have different hole sizes, but they'll still fit snug in the DE razor.

I'm into SRs now, so I'm saving my DE razor for my son; he's 6 now, so it'll be a while.

Great info. henry, I have no intention on giving up my straights, I might use a DE once a month.

Originally Posted by Hirlau

Do all DE blades that go in through the top, like my Gillette, fit the same? Is this a generic fit or do different razor manufacturers shape they blades different? I would hate to by 3 packs that don't fit my Gillette.

Welcome aboard, Hirlau!
The DE blades you can buy today -- wherever in the world they are manufactured -- are all the same as the blades you hold in your hand. Gillette's blade became the standard.

That's not to say you won't find an oddball razor in an antique shop that won't take a standard DE blade. But those few manufacturers went out of business decades ago and no one makes blades for them.

So purchase DE blades in a store local to you, buy them on Amazon.com or from one of our vendors here at SRP. They will all fit your razor.
Namaste,
Morty -_-

There are sure a ton of different blades out there for DE. Luckily the only difference in the modern blades are materials and how they perform for the indivigual user. You can get an assortment pack for a very reasonable price from a place I know. I'll PM it to you if you like. I don't know if they are a member here and I don't want to take the chance on getting anyone bent out of shape.

Here's my take on the various blades: there's only one that I and my various shave buddies have tried that all like -- the Astra Super Platinum. All the others seem to be various degrees of love/hate. However, much like an accurate rifle, all the "ammo" still shoots pretty dern well regardless of manufacturer (within reason, of course) from a good quality gun/razor.

For example, the Gillette Slim or Super Adjustable, Edwin Jagger DE89 Etc. all are great razors that do very well and afford one the benefit of a mild shaver that's not too aggressive but still has the capability of giving a great BBS with a little practice and experience.

I'm primarily a str8 shaver myself, but I also like to experiment and find myself going through stages of interest varying from DEs, to injectors, to SEs (Psssst! don't tell anyone about SEs. Prices are still great and the razors are about half way between DEs and straights!) and back around to the str8s again. Then there's honing...grin.

Have a great time. I'm sure your son will hold the memory of his Dad taking time to teach him a skill/art that's he'll use the rest of his life as a very fond memory indeed.

John