Weird cartridge razor experiment

Fourth day of the cartridge experiment, with three newsworthy things:

- I switched to another soap: Palmolive EU stick
- I managed to nick myself, for the first time in months!
- I wonder whether my experiment is flawed

Fourth day of the experiment, and I felt it was time for another soap. Three days of ARKO was enough, so for today's shave I lathered up the Palmolive stick. Good lather, less interesting smell

Again, I shaved the left side of my face with the Atra razor, containing a Wilkinson Sword Profile cartridge. For the right side, I used the Schick Krona DE again, with a generic "Made in Israel" blade. I made one WTG pass with the Atra, and no touch-ups. To compensate for the two blades of the Atra cartridge, I did two WTG passes with the Krona.

The blades of the Atra cartridge definitely have dulled somewhat now. No tugging, but there is a noticable drag. And what's more, to my surprise, I nicked myself in my neck area. That has not happened in months to me, and I wasn't even really careless! Apart from that, the Atra cartridge did what it should do; remove enough stubble for a SAS shave.

I used the Krona for the right side of my face, and I immediately noticed how much smoother it felt. The blade also dulled somewhat, but it does not drag like the cartridge. No nicking either. Two WTG passes also gave me a very good SAS shave. No touch-ups, so not enough for DFS. Which is being noticed by my wife and daughters, because they commented on my evening stubble last night.

In all fairness, not much difference between the two sides in terms of results. Same post shave feel, and about the same amount of stubble on both sides. If I didn't know, I would not be able to tell which side was shaved with which razor. No difference in (lack of) sting with the Vitos "After Shaving" splash either. An Italian splash by the Susan Darnell company that I can recommend heartily, by the way!

But ... I am beginning to wonder if I started with the proper conditions to have each razor give its best. The DE blade came freshly from the paper wrapper, admittedly from a package that was stored in the bathroom for a few weeks now. The Atra cartridge was the last one in the plastic strip, and came from my travel pack. It must have been there for months, and I suspect that the non-wrapped cartridge blades are more suspectible to trapped moisture than the paper wrapped DE blades. Which you might call a flaw in the packaging for the cartridge blades, of course.

Anyway, I am continuing the experiment with the same setup as the past days. With the remark that I may be doing the Atra a disservice. Because I know that I should be able to get a week of good shaves from a single cartridge.

Thanks for sticking through the experiment and the updates.

How far do you plan to take it?

Guru17 said:

Thanks for sticking through the experiment and the updates.

How far do you plan to take it?

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Seven days, because I usually switch DE blades after a week (depending on the blade brand).

I did a quick one pass WTG shave with my MT1 Saturday and noticed I'm pretty fast with it now. Other threads suggested the big selling point of the cartridge razors and disposables in the 70s and 80s was their speed of use. Hmm...I wonder. With two days of growth, which type actually would be faster in an "OMG! I overslept and have time for only one pass!" scenario.

I think the cart or disposable should have a new blade, but should be tested in conjunction with its usual partner, the aerosol can of goo.

The DE should have a new blade and be used with either cream or soap.

Start the stopwatch, lather up, and one pass WTG. Rinse off, aftershave, stop the timer.

I may try this sometime. My experience is that with 2 day growth a DE will probably be faster from the ability to rinse the cut stubble right off the blade easily. For me, a cart rapidly gets clogged with stubble when I try one of those TV commercial "earlobe to chin" high speed swipes. And that stubble doesn't simply sluice off under running water. I have to bang the cart against the sink to dislodge enough for the next swipe. That simple difference would be enough to give the DE the edge in speed of use.

Citizen C said:

I think the cart or disposable should have a new blade, but should be tested in conjunction with its usual partner, the aerosol can of goo.

The DE should have a new blade and be used with either cream or soap.

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Canned foam was not really popular around here before the end of the 80's. Most people used either an electric (Philips!) or soap and brush.

I started shaving in the early 1980's and I don't think that I really saw anyone using canned products around that time. And when I look at old newspaper ads from the Netherlands, shaving soaps (puck and stick) were actively marketed at least until the end of the 1980's.

The early rise of canned foam was very much an American (convenience?) thing, I guess.

Edit: what is significant, and possibly unique for the Netherlands situation, is that Philips did heavy advertising for their electric shavers in the 1960's and 1970's. I don't know about other European countries, but as a Dutch company, they had a strong influence in the Netherlands at that time. So, many man were electric shavers, and many of them used a Philishave razor.

Edit2: I just saw an ad from 1994 where Gillette "concentrated shaving gel" was promoted as a novelty, and as a replacement for traditional shaving soaps. That reflects my memory that those shaving gels replaced shaving soaps from the supermarket shelves, contrary to earlier canned products.

Is your normal shaving routine only WTG? Do you go over the same spot more than once in a pass?

I always do two passes (1 modified WTG, 1 modified ATG), whatever razor I use but am not afraid to repeat strokes and sometimes change the angle when doing so. I would do more strokes with my Krona than I would with my Trac because I can get away with it.

What I do for prep and after, is where I save my time. I can grab a Tech, Rocket, Good News, TracII or Sensor, and for the most part I tend to shave in somewhere between 5 or 7 minutes. I see no real benefit in choosing a razor for 'speed', so if I REALLY needed to be in a hurry I'd have to shake a can of something and be on my way.

JDTTO said:

Is your normal shaving routine only WTG? Do you go over the same spot more than once in a pass?

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No, my normal routine is one WTG pass, one XTG pass, and sometimes an ATG or just some touch-ups.

However, I want a fair comparison, which is why I stick to one / two WTG passes only. And actually, I also could get away with that, unless I have an occasion in the evening.

Fifth day into the experiment, and interestingly the cartridge razor makes a comeback!

Same setup as yesterday, but again with a different soap. For this shave, I used TFS Zagara e Gelsomino Dure, an Italian hard soap.

I did one WTG pass with the Gillette Atra again, and it went much better than yesterday. No nicks, and a good shave. The blade has dulled somewhat, but there is no more dragging than yesterday, and certainly no tugging (yet). The pivoting head does not catch on the whiskers yet, so the blades still go through my stubble smoothly enough. As subjectively as it can be, I call it a SAS+. Sticking to the rules, no touch-ups, otherwise it would have been DFS. No irritation on that side of the face after five days of cartridge shaving either.

On the right side of my face, I did the usual two WTG passes with the Schick Krona. The "Made in Israel" (HEMA, for the Benelux members) blade has also dulled somewhat. And interestingly, even two WTG passes were not enough to remove enough stubble for a SAS shave. I had to cheat, and do some XTG touch-ups on my chin and below the jaw line. Otherwise I would have looked like a fool in the office.

This is not what I had expected, and it may be a "one day thing". It looks like the DE blade has lost its cutting power today, and normally I would replace it now. However, let's see what happens tomorrow. After all, I regularly do a week with a DE blade. Granted, that is with my usual WTG/XTG routine, which should be more effective than just two WTG passes.

No, my usual is two passes, then sometimes a third. But only with DEs.

Sixth day into the experiment, and the cartridge razor finally starts to tug, showing the weakness of the Atra design.

Usual setup, half of my face with a cartridge razor (one WTG pass), and half of my face with a DE razor (two passes). I did adjust the DE routine, and made that one WTG, and one XTG pass. My soap today was TFS Tobacco Verte Dure, an Italian soap that provides superior glide and protection.

After my usual prep, I lathered up with the TFS soap, and started shaving the left half of my face with the Gillette Atra. The cartridge razor finally started tugging on my chin, showing the main problem of the Atra design; the pivot head. Once the blades start dulling, the razor starts skipping over the stubble, instead of shaving through them. Despite that, I did get a SAS shave in a single pass. But I miss the "glide" of a good DE blade.

After my problems with the two WTG passes yesterday, I went for a WTG and an XTG pass with the Schick Krona razor. That is a change of the experiment indeed, but it keeps the razor in the race. No tugging here, and the XTG pass mows down enough stubble to make it a comfortable SAS shave. I think this shows why passes in different directions are the key to having a good DE shave.

While the cartridge razor may deliver the same shave quality, in a shorter time, the DE shave is more pleasurable. I get to lather my face twice (always a good thing with a nice soap ), and XTG plus ATG passes are more gentle on my skin with a DE blade. The main advantage of the cartridge razor is that it is faster, delivering the same result in a single pass.

No skin irritation on either side of my face, and no nicks. A good shave.

You always shaved with the cartridge first, letting the beard soak soap on the other side longer. This could have some effect on the result also.

engblom said:

You always shaved with the cartridge first, letting the beard soak soap on the other side longer. This could have some effect on the result also.

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I didn't even think of that!

OTOH, given that my prep already involves a shower, and washing my face with soap to remove the remaining oils, I am not sure if it really makes a difference.

Seventh, and final, day into the experiment. I returned to the soap I started this week with; Arko.

The cartridge has reached the end of its useful life; it tugs on my chin and neck.

I lathered up with Arko again, after my shower, and I started shaving the left side of my face with the Atra cartridge. From the drag, and the tugging on my chin, it is clear that the blades have dulled. A hamfisted person might get another two shaves out of the cartridge, but for me it's end of life. Resulting shave, a SAS-, because of the remaining stubble under my chin.

Like yesterday, I switched to a WTG and XTG pass for the DE razor, to compensate for the dulling blade. The WTG pass does not cut much stubble, results mainly come from the XTG pass. In a normal situation, I had discarded this blade already two days ago. Resulting shave a SAS-? Since it is the last day anyway, I decided to do some touch-ups on my skin, to make it at least a SAS shave.

No nicks or irritation on both sides of my face. From this week, I would be unable to say what is better for my skin, cartridge or DE razor.

However, I do know what is more fun. With the Atra, the shave is over after one pass. Boring. The Schick Krona requires at least two passes, which means that I get to lather my face two times And one big advantage, of course, with the DE razor I have an almost endless possibility of blades to use. So the DE razor is much more customizable than the cartridge razor.

Conclusion? The Atra wins on efficiency, but the Krona wins on fun factor. Tomorrow I am going back to full DE shaves. In fact, since I have a meeting tonight, I'll do a single pass shave with a fresh blade in the late afternoon.

I think just in cost, DE is the winner, but too, if after less than a week the cartridge tugs, well DE gets it again. After all, if you're pressed for a budget, or just low on blades, a DE blade can be made to go further than a cartridge a lot easier.

Cash_Stronomer said:

I think just in cost, DE is the winner, but too, if after less than a week the cartridge tugs, well DE gets it again. After all, if you're pressed for a budget, or just low on blades, a DE blade can be made to go further than a cartridge a lot easier.

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Not really in case of the Atra, since cartridges are 25 to 30 cents each. That is somewhat more expensive than a DE blade, but if you would want, you could also make a cartridge last somewhat longer.

I think the main difference is the fun factor. And of course time, if that is of concern to you.

It's the one thing I can do Monday - Friday that is peaceful, relaxing, and let's my mind wander aimlessly, so, DE wins for me! On that note, after experimenting with my new favorite blade and a couple other's I like, apparently the Rocket is just not for me. Funny how that works, my favorite razor and it's the one I rarely and probably shouldn't shave with.
Anyway, glad you sorted you're endeavor. It's always nice to figure things out the old fashioned way, trial and error.

Cash_Stronomer said:

Interesting. After a few TracII shaves lately, I've realized there's no issues with my shave as well, though it may be down to better products and execution due to the knowledge learned from all here. I've been on the lookout (hint hint people ) for a decent Atra handle lately to see if the swivel makes a difference with exact same blades I'm using now as they are compatible. I'll check back to see what happens with you tomorrow.

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All metal Atra/Contour handles are a bit thin on the ground. I bought mine from a US eBay vendor for $50.

Any razor over 20$ is not for me. I am that cheap! And besides, it is only a razor

After a few days of Schick Krona only shaving (the proper way, two or three passes in different directions) I conclude that DE shaving is more fun

What must have attracted users to the Trac II, in the seventies, is the efficiency. A razor that can accomplish the same in a single pass as your DE razor did in two passes was a feat of technology, of course!