Thread: New to shavettes, but experienced with straights. Please help me find smooth blades!

Originally Posted by JBHoren

For me, this is what spells the difference between shaving with a wedge/near-wedge/half-|quarter-hollow ground straight razor and a full-hollow ground. A large part is, certainly, the fear of slicing myself, but an equally-large (if not larger) part is "the tendency [for a thin, "springy" blade] to bite the unwary [ME!]"

As a long-time DE/SE user, one tip: "Corking" the blade before use often helps prevent skin irritation. I've read that "corking" is not unlike stropping, which makes sense.

Personally I'd never heard of this 'Corking' but I found this. I hope it's of some help--

https://www.bruceonshaving.com/2010/...a-razor-blade/

Originally Posted by cudarunner

Personally I'd never heard of this 'Corking' but I found this. I hope it's of some help--

https://www.bruceonshaving.com/2010/...a-razor-blade/

The relevant comment is the final one: https://www.bruceonshaving.com/2010/.../#comment-1970

I first read about "corking" a new DE blade over on that "Bed & Breakfast" site. From personal experience, as well as that of others, it works.

I have shaved with a variety of DE blade shavettes. The worst was the Dovo. The thickness of the insert makes it shave strange for me, almost scraping. I can use it daily but really do not like it. I like the Universal(hard to find), Vanta(ditto) and Parker Push to load. The Parker is cheap as chips but only caveat is once loaded you have to push down on each corner of the blade to make sure it is firmly seated. Easy to do by pressing the blade against the rim of a plastic soap or cream jar. Has the bonus of muting each corner a tad.

I find the Kai mild blades give a very comfortable shave with much less irritation.