Thread: DE vs. Straight observations

Preemptive disclaimer: I'm only recounting facts and not making any assertions regarding the sharpness debate or "can a straight really shave as close as a DE debate".

I have some DE stainless blades I bought at Walgreens within the last six months in case I ever felt the need to shave with an old Gillette DE razor my Dad used to use. I shave daily with a straight. I saw the little metal holding case of the DE blades in the medicine cabinet and thought I'd try an experiment this morning:

I shaved one side of my face with the DE and the other with a DD Dwarf that I had honed on my Shaptons from 2000 grit on up to 8000 grit (yes, as others have said, it's certainly possible to shave off an 8000 grit stone). Both razors gave an irritation free shave with no nicks or cuts. I decided as part of the experiment that I would do a single WTG pass with each razor because I wanted to monitor not only how each side of my face felt after the shave, but I also wanted to see if one side exhibited "shadow" sooner than the other. A WTG shave for me is BBS stroking my skin WTG and a light scratchy feeling that can't be seen when stroking my skin ATG.

Results: After 12 hours now, both sides show an identical amount of light stubble.

Conclusion: I don't have one. I just thought it'd be a fun non-scientific experiment, and it was. And....I can't share information about this short experiment with anyone other than you all since anyone else of course would consider me loony.

Chris L

I'd be interested in a WTG XTG and ATG comparison regarding this.

I definately get much closer with a single WTG pass with a straight razor as opposed to a single WTG pass with a DE. I have a merkur slant and am basing it off a comparison with a feather blade in the DE. I've only shaved a few times with a DE now, but I definately get noticably closer with the straight than I do with the DE on a single pass.

I think a shave with a newly opened DE should always be good. Some DE blades retain there sharpness for longer than others. Some DE blades are oiled to stop dampness eroding the edge, some are wrapped and sealed in waxed paper.

What is little spoken about is the fact that after its first shave, the DE edge starts to erode and if often left sitting on a shelf for a few days, the second shave will be quite poor because the rust erosion will have dulled the edge. Interestingly enough, historically many packets of razors puld come with a warning message that the blade would start to erode once opened.

With a straight however, the edge should always be honed before use. This not only sharpens the edge but it also removes any rust that has formed over night. I think this fact alone can explain a major advantage to the straight razor.

For me, it is not that a DE gives a bad shave. Far from it it can give a really close and comfortable shave. By and large it's a safer way to shave and it's marginally quicker.

There are three things I find significantly better with the straight.

One is the consistency of the shave.
Two, the cut to the hair feels smoother to the touch.
Three, my skin feels generally healthier.

All I can tell you is that after I shave with a DE in the morning by dinner time I already have stubble starting to come through. With a straight my face is just starting to get the slightest stubble the next morning.

I have done a similar experiment using my grandfather's old DE, with personna platinum blades, and my favorite straight.
I did WTG XTG and ATG passes until BBS with both.
The first thing I noticed was the DE left my face more sensitive to my aftershave, and was more likely to cause weepers.
Both blades were able to give a BBS shave, but within 4 Hours I could feel stubble on the DE side, where as it took almost 8 hours before I could feel any on the SR side. Both looked good for over 12 hours which beats the heck out of my best shaves with a mach 3, but the straight razor side was much smoother, and lasted noticably longer with much less irritation.

My findings were that a Mach 3 shave looks presentable for about 8 hours for me, a DE shave will last 12 to 16 hours, and a straight shave looks good for anywhere between 12 and 30 hours depending on how close I choose to go.
I did a 3 pass SR shave yesterday at 5 pm, that's 24 hours ago, and loking closely in the mirror, some of the hairs are visible, not all of them, and the ones that are out and visible are only a few 100ths of an inch long at this time. barely worth the effort to shave off, I'll probably shave again tomorrow morning.

My own experience is that I can get as close a shave as possible with my DE, a Merkur Futur and the Merkur platinum coated blades. I can get as close, but no closer with my straights, both Dovos, one a 6/8 half hollow and the other a 5/8 full hollow. My shave is so close with the DE that I can't really imagine a closer shave with the straights.

My biggest problem with a straight shave is that I can't get the razor angled to go atg and xtg on my lower throat, but the areas I have no problem with angling the straight is as smooth as my DE.

I'm about to order a Dovo 5/8 half hollow, the plain vanilla, no engraving, black plastic scales to shorten to about 2 inches to see if I can get it angled on my throat. I'll let you know if/when I do that as to how successful this experiment is.