Razor Recommendations

[dmclone]

I probably have 10 safety razors. My favorite so far has been the Merkur Mk34c but my wife just bought me a Henson AL13 and so far I'm really liking it. I haven't tried it yet with my Feather blades.

Even after using a safety razor for a decade, I'm still learning things. For the first 9 years, I got lather from mixing it in a bowl. About 6 months ago, I started to go straight from the brush to the cream (usually Taylor of Old Bond Street) to my face and skipping the bowl. This has been huge. I also go back and forth between shaving in the shower vs. sink.

I usually start the week with a fresh Feather Blade, use it all week to shave my face 3-4 times. Then on Sunday I move that blade to a Merkur Futur and shave my head. One week out of a blade is good enough for me.

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[JP4CY]

@JP4CY and any other Feather users, how many facial shaves do you get with Feather?

I use Feather and seem to get 2 maybe 3 before it’s time to switch. I do have really course whiskers that need to be shaved every day if I want a clean look. Usually shave every other day and if I skipped two days I need to shave in the shower.

I pitch the blade after every use. I could be a little wasteful with that but I like to rinse/clean out the head.

 

[JP4CY]

Any safety users have a strong opinion on a certain soap or brush?

Taylor of Old Bond makes decently affordable soaps.

 

[CloneFanInKC]

@dmclone thx for the information. Any other head shavers?

I shave my head in the shower 2 or 3x a week. Use DSC 4 blade reluctantly. Any suggestions?

 

[packattack425]

North or south of the equator?

 

[CarolinaCy]

Which one? they range quite a bit.

I'm the kind of guy who uses both a beard trimmer and a mach 3. And a 2nd mach 3 in the shower. And if I'm going swimming, a mangroomer for the back. And my wife has to assist.

When I'm done it's like someone was murdered in a barber shop.

That being said both the beard trimmer and the mach 3s need to be replaced with something better.

Correct on the range of Braun shavers, but I would say a series 7 or higher is best. Switched from a 3 to a 9 last year and it’s a dramatic improvement. Expensive but will last a couple decades probably

 

[BillBrasky4Cy]

Don’t do a Mach 3 anymore. Those blades have gone wayyyyy downhill. I am waiting on a different razor to try it out. I’ll get back to u

I've tried multiple razors but I still go back to the Mach 3. I buy the big pack of blades at Costco when they are on rebate so they end up being pretty reasonable. I guess I haven't noticed a big change in the blades and I've been using the Mach 3 for 20 years.

 

[Drew0311]

I've tried multiple razors but I still go back to the Mach 3. I buy the big pack of blades at Costco when they are on rebate so they end up being pretty reasonable. I guess I haven't noticed a big change in the blades and I've been using the Mach 3 for 20 years.

I have used Mach 3 for 25 years. They did move it to a different maker. The blades don't last near as long.

 

[herbicide]

Thanks everyone, you guys made me go down the safety razor rabbit hole. Just ordered an Edwin Jagger, from this site.

https://maggardrazors.com/

 

[Clonefan94]

Thanks everyone, you guys made me go down the safety razor rabbit hole. Just ordered an Edwin Jagger, from this site.

https://maggardrazors.com/

This shouldn't be surprising to anyone. First reply might as well have said "Safety Razor" or just link to the other threads where most of the replies were for Safety Razors. I'm personally not a fan, but to each their own, who am I to tell someone how to shave or to know what works for them.

I know in my roughly 40 years of shaving, I've tried just about everything available on the market. I even learned how to use a straight razor from a barber friend. I've ended up settling on the cheap Target brand pack of disposable 3-blade razors. Since I work from home, I only shave once or twice a week anyway and a 10 pack will last me well over a year. I find their shave as good as anything else I've tried.

The key for me is a good soap. I usually spring for Castle Forbes and have a bottle of Cremo on hand as well that I use for quick touch up shave. Again, I don't shave that often, so the Castle Forbes is worth it and lasts forever.

 

[Cy Hard]

Y'all don't even know Razors. Get you one of these and save money in the long run...

 

[BCClone]

This shouldn't be surprising to anyone. First reply might as well have said "Safety Razor" or just link to the other threads where most of the replies were for Safety Razors. I'm personally not a fan, but to each their own, who am I to tell someone how to shave or to know what works for them.

I know in my roughly 40 years of shaving, I've tried just about everything available on the market. I even learned how to use a straight razor from a barber friend. I've ended up settling on the cheap Target brand pack of disposable 3-blade razors. Since I work from home, I only shave once or twice a week anyway and a 10 pack will last me well over a year. I find their shave as good as anything else I've tried.

The key for me is a good soap. I usually spring for Castle Forbes and have a bottle of Cremo on hand as well that I use for quick touch up shave. Again, I don't shave that often, so the Castle Forbes is worth it and lasts forever.

My game changer was shaving in the shower. I use a double blade safety razor. Use a gel instead of foam. The shower softens the whiskers up that it’s easy to shave. I use each about 3-4 times and shave every other day.

 

[herbicide]

My game changer was shaving in the shower. I use a double blade safety razor. Use a gel instead of foam. The shower softens the whiskers up that it’s easy to shave. I use each about 3-4 times and shave every other day

I've been doing the shower for years, so much easier, cleaner, etc. It is the way.

Amazon and others have a plethora of shower shave mirrors for those interested.

 

[herbicide]

This shouldn't be surprising to anyone. First reply might as well have said "Safety Razor" or just link to the other threads where most of the replies were for Safety Razors. I'm personally not a fan, but to each their own, who am I to tell someone how to shave or to know what works for them.

I know in my roughly 40 years of shaving, I've tried just about everything available on the market. I even learned how to use a straight razor from a barber friend. I've ended up settling on the cheap Target brand pack of disposable 3-blade razors. Since I work from home, I only shave once or twice a week anyway and a 10 pack will last me well over a year. I find their shave as good as anything else I've tried.

The key for me is a good soap. I usually spring for Castle Forbes and have a bottle of Cremo on hand as well that I use for quick touch up shave. Again, I don't shave that often, so the Castle Forbes is worth it and lasts forever.

I went down the rabbit hole a few times before and came up unscathed. The timing of this thread and a few razor irritations/ingrowns tipped the scale this time to try one.

 

[Clonefan94]

My game changer was shaving in the shower. I use a double blade safety razor. Use a gel instead of foam. The shower softens the whiskers up that it’s easy to shave. I use each about 3-4 times and shave every other day.

Yeah, always shave in the shower.

 

[cyphoon]

Hey Fanatics. Looking for razor recommendations.

I shave my head, and would love to find a razor that works well and can either be rinsed clean easily, or self cleans. All these multi blade quadro, quattro, cinco blades are just poorly conceived marketing nonsense. They instantly clog with hair and are useless after one pass. Surprised no one has come out with an 8 blade razor that they call the ocho.

Anybody make an easy to clean, single blade razor that is flexible? I am currently using a 2 blade gillette sensor, which bends but still clogs too easy.

H

 

[BCClone]

I've been doing the shower for years, so much easier, cleaner, etc. It is the way.

Amazon and others have a plethora of shower shave mirrors for those interested.

I’ve been doing the blind shave for about 20 years. I don’t think I’d know what to do if I could actually see what I’m doing.

 

[Dirt Boy 2]

I switched 10 years ago to a safety razor. I got a Merkur 38D, number is length of handle and I think the letter is weight since there was a recommendation for a 34c. 34c is probably a better recommendation once you get used to using a smaller handle.
I bought and 1940’s Gillette handle a couple years ago at a yard sale and probably use it more than anything. I use feather blades. Gillette is a lesson in marketing. I think the SEC uses the same marketing strategies.
I switched because after running out of gel I used homemade oatmeal soap and my Mach 3 blade lasted longer. So I asked for bowl and brush for my birthday. I got a cheap safety razor with it. I researched how to use it and the recommendations suggested a Merkur handle. I sliced myself and couple times with the cheap safety razor so I bought a Merkur handle that worked much better.

 

[Acylum]

Been using a safety razor for probably 10+ years. I like Wilkinson Sword also, but they’re getting hard to find in brick and mortar stores. I tried an actual straight razor once but that was a bloody disaster.

 

[dmclone]

@dmclone thx for the information. Any other head shavers?

I shave my head in the shower 2 or 3x a week. Use DSC 4 blade reluctantly. Any suggestions?

Since I only shave my head once a week, it gets pretty long, which is why I use the Merkur Future(most conservative setting). It rinses well and doesn't get clogged. I then usually run a disposable razor over it to handle the parts by my ears and anything else I missed. The Futur is nice but it's a little large and not good at getting the tricky areas (around my ear).