Good razors

[Trey]

Gentlemen:

How long do you find the blades on safety razors to last you on average?

Trey

[Costi]

I use them no less than 3 times and no more than 4. I use Gilette Platinum - they are inexpensive and make for a good shave while they are sharp, but they don't stay sharp too long.

[storeynicholas]

Do all you chaps really shave yourselves?
NJS

[The Doctor]

I'm in the process of opening a Gentleman’s barber's next door to my Carlisle shop, hopefully at the beginning of July. It will include wet shaves with a cut throat razor etc.

When it’s up & running I'll post some pictures.

[Costi]

Do all you chaps really shave yourselves?
NJS

Do you always have a barber shave you?

[storeynicholas]

Costi, I think that my sense of humour (sometimes tongue-in-cheek and Potteresque)must be just too weird!!
NJS

[Costi]

Oh, I see...
I wondered if barbers were so abundent in Rio that one cannot conceive of shaving oneself...

[storeynicholas]

Costi, absolutely no need for !! Actually, my (completely self-taught) wife cuts my hair as well as T&H or Trumper's could do it (really!!) and I shave myself so I have no idea how much a shave would be in Rio but, you are quite right that, unlike London, it would be perfectly affordable to be shaved every day here. I do know that at the beginning of the last century, it was common to be shaved - the frequency depended upon income and the richest would have had a 'Jeeves'.
NJS

[Sator]

For those interested in straight razors I can strongly recommend Feather disposable straight blades and shavers:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=36617

I have purchased from Telly myself and as you see on this post, he has a good reputation. The reason I recommend them is for two simple reasons:

1. These blades are sharper than any re-usable straight razor
2. There is no steep learning curve for learning how to strop and hone a razor (2 - 6 months)

If all you have ever done in your life is shave with those horrid supermarket blades then you will be in for a shock. I find that it now takes 24 hours to reach the same level of stubble I used to reach by lunchtime. You can shave in the absolute minimum of strokes and the amount of razor rash and irritation is minimum. Watch out though - they are extremely sharp. Please read this review before you use one:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=236

These are also helpful:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=22537

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=25871

For those who find the very thought of a cut throat razor too much, a proper double edge razor (not those horrid double, triple, quadruple, quintuple etc monsters) can provide a fair shaving experience:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=28367

Again, Feather brand double edge razors are the sharpest bar none, and Telly IIRC also sells these for a competitive price.

Finally, make absolutely sure that you have prepared the beard fully before wet shaving:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=9745

The same old barber's text also says you can splash hot water on your face instead of applying a hot towel and this is what I do. I also shave after showering. During the shower I wash my face, splash generously with water and then apply hair conditioner to restore moisture.

More tutorials can be found here:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=42266

They are all good. I find it sad that the traditional barbershop has all but disappeared from most cities - along with bespoke tailors.

In case you were wondering, yes, I do have a collection of traditional reusable straight razors, strops and hones. However, I have a very strong beard and only a minority of blades are good enough to equal the shave I get from a Feather straight razor. Given the amount of time and effort required to get a straight razor properly sharp ('shave ready'), it is really only for enthusiasts. For the vast majority of straight razors are not shave ready when brand new.

[Costi]

... the richest would have had a 'Jeeves'.
NJS

... and those wonderful seven-piece sets of straight razors. They look like surgical instruments on one hand and like jewellry on the other.

Perhaps I could bring myself together to use a straight razor had I not been too young when I first watched Bunuel's "Un Chien Andalou". I would probably need a few sessions of psychotherapy before I could put a straight razor to my face with a steady hand. But, from what I hear, it might be worth it...

[Sator]

I have considered buying a seven day boxed set for myself. However, it takes months and many hours of practice before you are up to honing and stropping these blades. Dovo, for instance still offer boxed sets with the days of the week engraved on them:

http://www.classicshaving.com/catalog/i ... 061148.htm

However, I find their blades unsatisfactory - too mass produced. While these are the finest blades this firm offers, I would hate to be stuck with a mediocre set which I would never use. Don't ever think you can shave with them straight out of the box either. You have to thoroughly hone and strop to get them shave ready. It would take me many, many hours of work to get them anywhere near satisfactory. Then I would almost certainly find that a Feather straight razor was much sharper. It is a rare blade indeed which is sharp enough to match a Feather.

The following store sells hand made straight razors from Heribert Wacker:

http://www.shavingshop.com/index.php?category=74

I find them superb, and sometimes as good as a Feather once you get them shave ready - if you are lucky! Wacker is the last maker of artisanal straight blades working in Soligen, Germany - the traditional centre of blade makers. His blades are unquestionably of heirloom quality.

If you are going to get one, I would suggest avoiding stainless steel as SS is a major pain to get shave ready. Wait until you are more experienced - otherwise expect a very nerve racking and painfully steep learning curve to sharpen them.

You will also need quality strops and hones. You definitely need this:

http://www.classicshaving.com/catalog/i ... 196094.htm

In addition you should get some diamond paste:

http://www.classicshaving.com/page/page/522944.htm

You will need 9 micron, 3 micron, 1 micron and 0.25 micron - and a separate strop for each paste. Stropping is easier to learn than honing. You might want a polishing hone eg Chinese 12000 grit stone or Belgium stone, but stropping with diamond paste is much easier.

This Poliish seller on eBay is also excellent:

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZopen_razor

Wapienca razors are a good way of inexpensively acquiring practice razors but they are not that great as blades go. He doesn't have them listed at the moment but if you e-mail him he will probably relist them for you. But its better to irreparably damage one of these practising your honing and stropping than your expensive Wacker.

You can see how this can become a very expensive and time consuming hobby. It is even more frustrating when you spend hours sharpening a blade only to find that the damned Feather is infinitely sharper after all your effort.

If you don't want the incredible hassle just get a Feather. If you want to be a die hard traditionalist for its own sake, try a re-usable straight razor.

[storeynicholas]

Since Cary Grant will never die and NbyNW seems a favourite film with Loungers - I just thought that I would call to mind that comical scene when, on the run, CG is forced to shave with Eve Marie Saint's lady's safety razor in the lavatories at the railway station - and earns the disdainful look of rather a large gentleman wielding a straight blade.
NJS

[masterfred]

"Little razor, big face."

I thought about the Feather razor at one time, but the constant caveats anent their exceptional sharpness scared me off them completely.

[storeynicholas]

I have a handicap - I am clumsy - and so, bearing in mind the other name for straight-edged razors, is 'cut throat', I have always steered clear. I understand from a woman barber, that they are taught to shave with a straight edge by scraping shaving soap off balloons and, once they burst no more than 1:10, they're qualified.
NJS

[Costi]

It must be true, my haircutter (also a woman) told me the same story. She handles a straight razor superbly, but acquiring the skill allegedly almost wrecked her nerves and deflated a good number of innocent balloons. I don't remember the 1:10 succesfulness ratio, but I am told I am lucky