Why did you start wet-shaving?

[Xezmer]

I started "shaving" in 1975 with a GII cartridge and a can of Foamy.

35 years later I really started shaving with a Bulldog handle, New head, DE blade, badger brush and TOBS cream.

Can't believe it took me 35 years to learn how to shave!!

My son will learn how to shave a lot sooner than I!!

Cheers

I wish I could meet with some of yall with these cartridge stories. I only used cartridges for 2 years of my shave life and after it was all single edge blade razor types (now 15 years) old. I can hardly remember my two years of shick cartridge days because it was so short lived.

[mretzloff]

I was trying to find out how to get the closest shave. Google pointed me here.

[pdmcadams]

I have been a wet shaver for years. I think early on I recognized that shaving after a shower when the beard was softer was a lot easier on the face. OTOH, I frequently made a mess splashing water, etc. to get the residual shaving cream off of my face. Then I decided to shave in the shower for the best of both worlds -- moist humid environment and softened beard and easy clean up. Bought a shower mirror and have been doing the same ever since. I upgraded from canned shaving cream to a brush and soap about 20 years ago. Most recently made the switch to a DE razor from Gillette Sensor Excel to reduce cost and cartridges to the landfill... I'm sure that my Dad had a Fat Boy on the sink when I was young and must have always wanted something similar... Now, with 10 or so old Gillettes from B&B, new soaps, aftershave and making three passes in the shower to get a BBS smooth shave, I have completely undone any benefit to the environment I might have gotten from tossing a lifetime of cartridges. But have gained a BBS shave, a relatively inexpensive hobby and new friends on B&B!

[apino]

Only just begun DE shaving but here are the main reasons (in no particular order):
- Economical reasons
- Irritation from cartridge razors (Mach3 worked ok at times)
- Ecological reasons: trying to minimize my role in an ever-growing throwaway culture where more and more things are made of cheap plastic and deliberately made not to last in order to maximize profit
- Sentimental, hedonistic & esthetic reasons: gives me a strange sense of nostalgia and feels cool to keep a near-extinct tradition alive; DE safety razors are a joy to behold and you just gotta love those ancient looking blade pack designs! Badger hair feels good against the face.
- Individuality: my friends (and wife) think I'm nuts which makes me proud somehow (feels almost like when I started kickbiking ). I doubt there is any "DE shaving community" in Finland to speak of.

[wolfmanxiii]

I'm 23 now so...I would say I've technically been wet shaving for about 12 years:

Around the summer I had turned 10 or 11 I received a Remington electric shaver as a gift because I had started to grow that shadow/peach fuzz mustache. Tried it for a while, but it pulled my hair and irritated me so I eventually asked for some foam and a cartridge and taught myself to wet shave around the age of 11 or 12.
Fast-forward to 2008 and I was at Wal Mart and noticed the VDH brush, bowl, and soap set so I bought it since I was trying to be more environmentally friendly. Then sometime in November 2009 I decided I wanted to try a straight razor because that would be even less wasteful, so I bought a Fromm Hair Shaper (kind of like a Shavette) from Sally's and went with that for a little bit to get used to it. Then I discovered SRD and bought a couple of real straights...this lead to joining SRP and eventually B&B. Then my straights got dull and so I bought a DE to hold me over while I sent them out to get honed. From there I kept using the DE when I was short on time, which these days I usually am...so I mostly use a DE nowadays.

SHORT VERSION HERE:
To be less wasteful and more environmentally friendly. Then, eventually for the nostalgia.

[Chisanga]

To save money... really I did... what a fool I am :)

[AussieBadger]

Wetshaving - started when I was 13 (am 25 now), I had a bit of a 'Gomez Addams' thing going on across the top lip, which the teachers started questioning at school (strict uniform code). Started off with a Gillette Mach3 and canned foam goop.

DE Wetshaving - started about a year ago I think? Roughly the same time I joined up here. I had used a Panasonic electric shaver for a year, but had issue after issue with ingrown hairs.

Why did I start DE wetshaving? I started after reading through a thread on another forum (Overclockers Australia) that another user had made, where they had ingrown hair issues that had resolved after changing shaving techniques. I decided to take the jump myself, and have significantly reduced the number of ingrown hairs, and razor burn. Very very happy with the decision.

[Xezmer]

Dead thread bump? I'm enjoying the stories, gents!

[troy1979]

at the time to save money...ha ha

[jmg]

I was in search of a DFS and I sure found it in wetshaving.

[SlowRain]

Back in high school, my dad gave me a Remington electric razor, but it gave me razor burn, especially under my chin and on my neck, and it didn't shave close enough for me. I tried his Phillips, but didn't like it either. There were some disposable blades in the bathroom. I tried those, they worked, and I have basically alternated between Gillette (Sensor Excel and Mach 3) and Schick for the past 15 years.

I'm getting into straight-razor shaving because I think, in the long run, it should be cheaper, and it'll cut down on the waste of always throwing a blade in the garbage after using it only three times.

[gixxer]

I am gonna try to save money, and I was tired of the irritation with M3's. My neck was always red and ingrown hairs were always a problem. I had the weekend to let things calm down, and then started using the DE on a Monday, things cleared up for good.

[jansob]

Been shaving with water and canned foam for decades...started shaving with a DE and a decent lather because of
1) the increasing cost of blades
2) frequent irritation from millions of passes with a lubestripped cartridge
3) the retro-cool factor
4) the wonderful fanatics like Mantic and the posters on this and the forums across the street who give me great advice and keep me from killing myself with a sharp piece of metal.

[Muscles]

To get a better shave, which I have

[skembomatt]

I got sick of burning through the M3 blades and started searching the internet to see if there was a way to make them last longer.
I saw an article in a men’s mag about different shaving styles
Then I thought "hey I can get a Tech off eBay for $7 and the blades at the store are only $2 I'll save a ton.
Then I started into the brushes and creams....
Smooth shaves,
Matt

[Zephyr]

My grandfather used to let me borrow one of his old Gillette DE razors to "shave" with when I was a kid. And since all the men in my family always have been wet shaving it was natural to me when I started to grow beard. I actually started with my grandfathers DE when I was about 13-14, but bought a Gillette M3 after a little while.
After working my way trough every new Gillette on the marked since 1994, ending with the Fusion power, where the blades only kept one shave, I got myself a Wilkinson sword cartridge razor(don't rememember the name, but it's a steel handle four blade razor) witch I think is guite good.
About a year ago I found one of my grandfathers old brushes, and got a Erasmic cream, and since then I've wanted a DE, but didn't find a place to buy it untill a few months ago.

And here we are.

Unfortunatly, all my grandfathers razors were thrown away when he died ten years ago, would have loved to have them now!

[aimsport]

to save money... Really i did... What a fool i am :)

+11

[Carlo A]

Xezmer,
Initially, I decided to str8 rzr shave to save some dollars, but then realized how nostalgic it is to shave the way my grandpa did!

I recently started str8/wet shaving and its phenominal!

[pauls51]

To save money ... (What a joke!)

I wasn't really fussed about the quality of shave, I just wanted it to be cheaper..
But soon I realised that DE Wetshaving was all about a quality shave..

[blood_type_O]

I've always wet shaved. Years ago, before the internet, and all these great forum, it was a way to shave inexpensively. Now, there are just too many things to try, after hearing from all you guys.

It's a lot of fun, though. And a good way to get a high quality shave.