(I meant "razor blade" of course.)
This concerns shaving technique mostly, but primarily applied to DE gear.
As a disclaimer, everything here is as honest and objective as I can make it, but if you don't believe me I won't blame you. It has come as a very big surprise to me as well and I'd be skeptical if reading this too.
My razor blade duration was previously comparable to what I'd been reading for others. Also, my recommended technique was mostly like that of most posters, and Mantic's videos, and other sources.
Like most others, I was initially getting around three, maybe four or five good shaves out of a Feather blade. Nice performance when new but not my "go to" blade.
I spent a while shaving with Gem Micromatics - yep, all three models, the open comb and Clog-Pruf and Bullet Point. I'd seen comments along the lines that "all current shavers agree that the instructions aren't correct, that putting the top of the head flat against the face doesn't work..." and you had to angle it farther out to be effective. But I didn't see those comments until after I'd been using them for awhile. The original instructions appeared to work fine as initially described, but did require pressure.
So later I went back to DE shaving, and apparently carried some of the habits forward without knowing. I started getting 6-7 shaves out of a Feather, and proportionally more out of Astras and Iridiums. Later, yet more. Then I got analytical and wondered what would happen if I shaved with exactly the same technique as I was using with the Micromatics.
That involved breaking paradigms I had believed in and passed along to others. Specifically I started putting the top of the razor head against the face at an angle where it wouldn't cut with very light pressure, and then applying pressure until it started to cut. Not minimal pressure, substantial pressure. Which I thought was all wrong.
The following pictures give some idea of the angle used. Please disregard the lather - it dried while I was setting up the camera, and it also seemed that less visual obstruction would help imaging.
Showing downstroke on cheeks - first pass.
Across the grain strokes.
These images were taken when shaving for the 19th time with a single Feather blade. (No typo.) The previous blade lasted 15 shaves, then I discarded it thinking that it must be dull by now. I suspect it really wasn't - just hadn't saturated the beard hairs.
In both cases, all the preparation and details were the same as before:
(1) Cella alternated with Miller's Wool Fat soap.
(2) About "3.5 pass" shaving, with extra attention to neck and parts of chin.
(3) Blade wiped clean with fingers, razor dried and all re-assembled.
(4) Same storage conditions.
(5) My beard grows fast and is coarse. Skin sensitivity is about average AFAIK.
The only thing that was changed was the angle of attack and pressure. The top of the DE head was placed against the face, with a very low angle between the head and facial surface, and then increasing pressure was applied until it started to bite into the beard.
I would have thought this would lead to razor burn, but in fact it seems to be exactly the opposite. This technique seems to be fairly insensitive to errors with regard to pressure. In other words, if you press a bit too hard, there are *fewer* consequences. I don't have a good explanation, but that's what I've observed. I haven't experienced any razor burn at all.
I understand how easy it is to mislead oneself, and I really wasn't setting out to prove anything or extend blade duration. So I have been checking periodically with a few strokes from a different razor with a "new" Feather blade. I was ready to abandon the test if there was a difference at any point.
Most of the shaving was done with a short-comb Gillette New. The razor shown in these pictures was used for the later shaves with the current blade - it's a Gillette New Britsh-made long comb that has a pretty wide blade gap as shown below. For the record, shaving with the technique described above, I just can't see any difference at all between razors with different gaps. The flatness of the cap seems more important.
The blade gap, commonly regarded as an indicator of "aggressiveness", doesn't appear to enter into the performance. I used this razor for a reason, because I suspected that a wide gap with a very low angle would approximate a razor without any comb or guard, and I think maybe it did!
In every case, the standard was BBS or as close to that as I've ever gotten. No increase of strokes was required to achieve that. At shave #19 on Wednesday, I'm noting a very slight increase in tugging, about like shave No. 4-5 some months ago. But still BBS results.
As far as the mechanism involved, I really don't know. I think the flexibility of the skin is probably crucial. With the blade more nearly parallel to the face and significant pressure applied, the situation is ever less like a flat plane...the skin is rolled upward to meet the blade ahead of the razor. The lower cutting angle appears to extend the blade longevity a great deal.
As always, YMMV and whatever floats your boat.
- Bill
This concerns shaving technique mostly, but primarily applied to DE gear.
As a disclaimer, everything here is as honest and objective as I can make it, but if you don't believe me I won't blame you. It has come as a very big surprise to me as well and I'd be skeptical if reading this too.
My razor blade duration was previously comparable to what I'd been reading for others. Also, my recommended technique was mostly like that of most posters, and Mantic's videos, and other sources.
Like most others, I was initially getting around three, maybe four or five good shaves out of a Feather blade. Nice performance when new but not my "go to" blade.
I spent a while shaving with Gem Micromatics - yep, all three models, the open comb and Clog-Pruf and Bullet Point. I'd seen comments along the lines that "all current shavers agree that the instructions aren't correct, that putting the top of the head flat against the face doesn't work..." and you had to angle it farther out to be effective. But I didn't see those comments until after I'd been using them for awhile. The original instructions appeared to work fine as initially described, but did require pressure.
So later I went back to DE shaving, and apparently carried some of the habits forward without knowing. I started getting 6-7 shaves out of a Feather, and proportionally more out of Astras and Iridiums. Later, yet more. Then I got analytical and wondered what would happen if I shaved with exactly the same technique as I was using with the Micromatics.
That involved breaking paradigms I had believed in and passed along to others. Specifically I started putting the top of the razor head against the face at an angle where it wouldn't cut with very light pressure, and then applying pressure until it started to cut. Not minimal pressure, substantial pressure. Which I thought was all wrong.
The following pictures give some idea of the angle used. Please disregard the lather - it dried while I was setting up the camera, and it also seemed that less visual obstruction would help imaging.
Showing downstroke on cheeks - first pass.
Across the grain strokes.
These images were taken when shaving for the 19th time with a single Feather blade. (No typo.) The previous blade lasted 15 shaves, then I discarded it thinking that it must be dull by now. I suspect it really wasn't - just hadn't saturated the beard hairs.
In both cases, all the preparation and details were the same as before:
(1) Cella alternated with Miller's Wool Fat soap.
(2) About "3.5 pass" shaving, with extra attention to neck and parts of chin.
(3) Blade wiped clean with fingers, razor dried and all re-assembled.
(4) Same storage conditions.
(5) My beard grows fast and is coarse. Skin sensitivity is about average AFAIK.
The only thing that was changed was the angle of attack and pressure. The top of the DE head was placed against the face, with a very low angle between the head and facial surface, and then increasing pressure was applied until it started to bite into the beard.
I would have thought this would lead to razor burn, but in fact it seems to be exactly the opposite. This technique seems to be fairly insensitive to errors with regard to pressure. In other words, if you press a bit too hard, there are *fewer* consequences. I don't have a good explanation, but that's what I've observed. I haven't experienced any razor burn at all.
I understand how easy it is to mislead oneself, and I really wasn't setting out to prove anything or extend blade duration. So I have been checking periodically with a few strokes from a different razor with a "new" Feather blade. I was ready to abandon the test if there was a difference at any point.
Most of the shaving was done with a short-comb Gillette New. The razor shown in these pictures was used for the later shaves with the current blade - it's a Gillette New Britsh-made long comb that has a pretty wide blade gap as shown below. For the record, shaving with the technique described above, I just can't see any difference at all between razors with different gaps. The flatness of the cap seems more important.
The blade gap, commonly regarded as an indicator of "aggressiveness", doesn't appear to enter into the performance. I used this razor for a reason, because I suspected that a wide gap with a very low angle would approximate a razor without any comb or guard, and I think maybe it did!
In every case, the standard was BBS or as close to that as I've ever gotten. No increase of strokes was required to achieve that. At shave #19 on Wednesday, I'm noting a very slight increase in tugging, about like shave No. 4-5 some months ago. But still BBS results.
As far as the mechanism involved, I really don't know. I think the flexibility of the skin is probably crucial. With the blade more nearly parallel to the face and significant pressure applied, the situation is ever less like a flat plane...the skin is rolled upward to meet the blade ahead of the razor. The lower cutting angle appears to extend the blade longevity a great deal.
As always, YMMV and whatever floats your boat.
- Bill
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