How long, on average does it take...

[Dutch101st]

...for your face to adjust to DE shaving?

Using a Merkur with a Merkur blade (came with the razor)...will be going to Danby here next...

[CharlieFoxtrot]

It took mine about two weeks. I started with a Merkur 180 with Merkur blades. I found my biggest problem to be those blades. Get a sampler pack when you get a chance. I found the Merkur blades to be some of the dullest available. I ended up having to use more pressure and thus gained some irritation/razor burn for my efforts.

[Walter Sobchak]

A week or two, but your face will not feel 'adjusted' until you get solid with your technique. When I first switched to a DE I thought that I had made a mistake; that the blades were too rough on my skin. Turned out that my technique wasn't great (I was getting close shaves, but I had sorry skin). So I mostly shaved every other day for a long time. Now that I have couple of good blade/razor combos that I know work well, I can actually shave daily without trouble. Still, I often take a day off just to let the skin recover.

[vinny1957]

A little. Just a tip, what made it longer for me was pushing to hard on the razor to shave. Let the razor do the work, just guide the razor.

[normbal]

I sent my 180 back. I can get a Futur opened up to "nine" anytime, the 180 was just too harsh, came from the factory set to "11". Mostly I use a Feather AS DE with feather (or gillette 7 o'clock russians), sometimes a Gillette fatboy or slim for variety, only been doing this again myself for about 2 months and loving it. Then I just started with straight razors this week. Should be interesting. Keep us posted.

[KM-instructor]

Been so long I can't remember how long it took to be honest.

[ackvil]

Every person is different. Some a matter of days and some up to a few months.

[Mad Man]

No time at all.

Practiced over a month with the brush/soaps and a cartridge system doing "passes" with minimal pressure (harder than it sounds!).

Only loaded the DE once I felt confident on technique. Which of course with a DE is kinda diffo than a cart.

[MeanGene]

For me, about two weeks to get used to it and about another two weeks to get a good lather and real good technique with my Futur.

[lourendo]

My face never really got used to modern shavers. always with the irritation and annoying garbage etc. My first DE shave was the best I have ever had at that point and my face got used to it instantly. now getting used to a 9 setting on a slim.. took about 5 days. lol

[OkieStubble]

Might not never adjust with those Merkur blades. You should get some Israeli Red Personnas and a sampler pack. The IRP imo should be the official DE blade for beginners to stick with until they have their technique down. The IRP is sharp but not too sharp. It is very smooth and probably the most forgiving blade of newbie technique mistakes made.

Then once your confident with your technique, branch out into the sampler pack and explore the wonderful world of old school wetshaving! :)

[DDH]

For me it was instant. I had been using electrics for years and last month started wet shaving with a fusion. I did not the cost. The Merkur was also my first razor....I thaught it was too mild after two weeks. I am kind of stuck choosing my favorite. It's a toss up between the Futur w/Gillette yellows and the Mergress w/Feathers.

[YetiDave]

It's not so much as your face adjusting to DE shaving as it is you adjusting to the technique of shaving

[Clutch Cargo]

It takes a different amount of time for everyone, depending on a many factors (your choice of razor and blade combination; your prep; your lather mix; and your shaving style, which is completely different from cartridges and/or electrics). In addition, wet shaving with a double edge is going to give you a much closer shave than you're probably used to, so your face has to get accustomed to the new exfoliating effect of that closeness. I completely agree with those who recommend the blade sampler packs, but would recommend changing as few variables as possible while you're trying different blades in order to know that it's the blade that made the difference for better or worse and not a change in your prep, shave cream/soap, etc. Take it slow, use a sharp blade with little to no added pressure other than the weight of the head of the razor. Good luck.

[Oblique Human]

Took me about 4 months before I got the angle right.

[neverender2113]

+1 to technique, took me months to finally get my ingrowns to go away because I was using too much pressure.

[Dutch101st]

Awesome advice...thanks!

I was talking with a buddy of mine and he suggested changing the blade...so now I have a derby in my Merkur...will try that. My face is still all achy from the other night. I think I have the angle right, but I think I was pushing a bit too hard. Will be trial and error for a while I suppose.