Thinking of jumping in.

I recently decided to find a cheaper way to shave as I hate spending $3.50 or more on a cartridge for my fusion. I found Harry's and ordered one of their sets. It is much cheaper than the fusion, but during my search for cheaper options came across wet shaving, and I am intrigued.

My situation, however, is that my beard must be fairly thin as I have been able to shave with the same fusion cartridge for a month or more shaving 5-6 per week. I also never or rarely get razor burn or feel irritation. I do, however, get an early shadow, which I would like to push back.

After reading about the multiple passes involved for wet shaving, I thought I would try it today with my Harry's disposable blades. Lather, WTG, warm rinse, lather, across the grain, rinse, lather, ATG. The results were a significantly closer shave than I have had before, though I did have some slight irritation afterwards.

I am left wondering if the reason shaving with a DE safety razor gets closer than a cartridge is simply due to the multiple passes? Given how long I can keep my cartridges and and how little irritation I experience (I don't even bother with aftershave), is there a good reason for me to switch to wetshaving? Or am I simply intrigued by the novelty?

I am reluctant to invest the upfront costs, the time, and the potential nicks/cuts only to learn that I personally get little if any benefit from switching, so I appreciate the advice now.

I won't say that wet shaving gives you a closer shave than a cartridge, but for me it provides relief from constant irritation on the neck caused by cartridges. Also wet shaving "can" be cheaper than any cartridge you can buy, but I say it lightly. A lot of us switched to save money, myself included, but I have spent more wetshaving than using carts. To save money, you could only have one razor, one brush, and one soap; a feat few of us can do. However, most of us here enjoy wetshaving with a passion, and every penny spent is worth it.

If you want to try DE shaving with little upfront costs, I recommend the starter set which includes a vintage shave-ready Gillette razor at "garrys sample shop" website. It's worth a look; The set is complete, high quality and VERY reasonably priced. Garry is also a member of B&B.

I too started to save money.. got a much closer shave with waaaay less irritation and found the shave went from a headache and hassle to something I enjoyed.. and like many other members...RAD BAD now SRAD and SAD are starting to kick in... but to start I invested less total then a new Mach 3Turbo and a pack of cartridges you can save Money..... If you keep it simple and don't let acquisition orders kick in

dakotajfarley said:

I won't say that wet shaving gives you a closer shave than a cartridge, but for me it provides relief from constant irritation on the neck caused by cartridges. Also wet shaving "can" be cheaper than any cartridge you can buy, but I say it lightly. A lot of us switched to save money, myself included, but I have spent more wetshaving than using carts. To save money, you could only have one razor, one brush, and one soap; a feat few of us can do. However, most of us here enjoy wetshaving with a passion, and every penny spent is worth it.

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But its a proven fact that it does....

alex2363 said:

But its a proven fact that it does....

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Exactly Alex!

PMT said:

Exactly Alex!

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Well you heard them! Closer shaves too![emoji106]

mswofford said:

If you want to try DE shaving with little upfront costs, I recommend the starter set which includes a vintage shave-ready Gillette razor at "garrys sample shop" website. It's worth a look; The set is complete, high quality and VERY reasonably priced. Garry is also a member of B&B.

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I agree with this...and not just for samples. Garry sells some some Italian Almond Scented soap that is amazing (I have two containers with two more on the way).

The difference between a DE razor and the cartridges is the amount of blades. On a DE razor, you have one blade. On a cartridge shave you have two or three or more that are closely spaced together which can lead to more irritation/ingrown hairs.

Hello! Welcome to B&B. Good to have you aboard.

There is no doubt that one of the reasons folks find closer shaves right off the bat with traditional wet shaving, rather than the ol' 1-pass cartridge shaving is the additional passes. However, I've also found it more precise and more enjoyable.

The upfront costs that concern you really are not all that bad. I also would recommend the starter kit from Garry's. You aren't going to find a vintage Gillette that is a bad shaver, and you can switch out if you want to try a different one. The amount of time spent learning and getting better also is pretty low. Within a week, you ought to be much improved from your first shave.

If you are worried about how much time it may take on a given day, well, just go ahead and pull out your Fusion that day. It's not like you're swearing an allegiance. Just go with what works for you that day, and save the DE razor for days when you are comfortable spending the time.

The nicks and cuts really are no big deal, either. We like to exaggerate for the sake of humor, but the reality is that I've not given myself a nick or weeper that wasn't virtually invisible after a few minutes, and any irritation I've felt also is gone fairly quickly (unless I really push things farther than I know I should).

The novelty, history, equipment, and all that is intriguing, but it also is part of the joy. I really do relish shaving with a razor that is 4, 50, 60, or even 100 years old that shaves as well as it did on Day 1 (probably better, considering the quality of today's blades). That is not going to get old.

I have taken the same path as you. Traded my Fusion for Harry's, which was a step up; however, I was still underwhelmed. My next step was to purchase an inexpensive boar hair brush and some Cella shaving cream thinking the shave would improve. It did, but only marginally. Getting a DE razor was one of my better decisions! Everything about the shave improves, not just the closeness. But mostly, I like the fact that the shaving products I'm using contain few, if any, chemicals.

If you follow the advice earlier about getting a starter set, I don't think you will be disappointed.

Best of luck.

You can definitely save money! I did for about a year. I bought a $20 Merkur 45, 100 shark blades ($9), and a van der hagen kit for $ 25. It has been a year and I still have tons of blades left and soap is the only investment I had made. So for the year I invested just under $60. Not to mention, my wife started using my razor which saved me even more money on the cartridges she was buying.

The shave is so much better and if you are using cartridges up to 6 times you will be able to use a good blade like shark, astra, or feather at least 4 or 5 times. I just recently started shaving every day because wet shaving as turned into a daily ritual for me. I LOVE IT! Let me finish that RAD is a real thing though.

When I first started I couldn't understand why everyone needed so many razors. Now I know. In the past month I have acquired three more. Now I have the Merkur 45, a Weber, a Edwin Jagger (wifes but I like it), and I have a RazoRock stainless Slant Stealth on the way. They all shave and feel different . It really does become a passion.

Welcome here and that is good that you are asking these questions. I started with a razor and canned goo to limit my $$ risk. Once I tried DE, I never looked back. It is a throw-back craft instead of a mundane routine. Cool to use vintage equipment. One of my razors is a 104 year old Gillette.

Mike is right on track. Get the sampler from Garry. If you don't like DE shaving (believe me, you will), you can PIF it or sell if and recover your cost.

Good luck!!

mswofford said:

If you want to try DE shaving with little upfront costs, I recommend the starter set which includes a vintage shave-ready Gillette razor at "garrys sample shop" website. It's worth a look; The set is complete, high quality and VERY reasonably priced. Garry is also a member of B&B.

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I don't think the advantage of a DE comes from multiple passes. Nor do I think carts are evil, although they seem to be getting there. I bounced back and forth between the Sensor and Mach 3 for about 20 years, until the cost of an 8 pack of Mach 3 carts at the store was going to run me $32, and they didn't have any Sensor carts.

I used to do 2 passes with a cart, going WTG and then ATG. It took me about 5 minutes. There was nothing horrible about the shave, but I did get some irritation - nothing hideous, though. It was just seeing more and more blades added, and balls, and electric vibrators and more and more BS that had nothing to do with shaving until I wanted to give Gillette the middle finger salute.

Which I did, and bought an EJ89 and 100 Derby blades. 3 years later, I've got a $175 razor on my bathroom counter, and 7-8 in the medicine cabinet. I've recently resupplied, and have close to 200 Derby blades, along with 70-80 Personna and some uncounted Feathers. My shaving time is up...around 6-7 minutes for the cheaper razors, and more like 8 for the Feather...I'm debating if the Feather isn't nice enough to DESERVE an extra couple of minutes!

No, I'm not saving money. I do have a new hobby, and take pleasure in shaving. My AS-D2 is built to last 100 years or more. 9 hours after shaving this morning, I'm easily still at DFS levels - something I thought wasn't possible. I don't use brushes. I don't use 'real shaving soaps' - often Ivory for the first pass, then canned goo for the next two. But I enjoy the shave.

It is like the difference between jogging in street shoes and real running shoes, or wearing quality boots instead of some *** cheap thing from Wal-mart. Or the difference between a Miata and a family van. It isn't about price. I'm falling in love with the Feather, but the $23 Merkur 15c is a joy to use as well. As is my late 40s Gillette Tech. It isn't the price, but using a well designed instrument instead of a *** plastic marketing wet dream like Gillette sells now.

Welcome to the forum!

If you are happy with your carts, then just keep using them with a good soap and brush.

For me, I have never enjoyed carts for a variety of reasons. If you get an inexpensive DE starter kit and you don't like it, you can either PIF it or sell it.
Good luck.

If you are disciplined, you will most likely be able to get decent to good shaves in the short run and excellent shaves in the long run for a minimal amount of money (another vote for Gary's Sample Shop).

I tried shaving with safety razors to save money. I stayed because it has transformed what was once a tiresome chore into something that I look forward to every morning. It isn't exciting per se, but it is definitely rewarding and quite pleasurable.

I have a beginner guide in my signature, if you like.

Regardless of which route you choose to go, welcome and enjoy!

Welcome.

Greetings. I'm a newbie who's been slowly sliding into wet shaving over the last few months, and my trajectory might be similar to yours.

For years I shaved with an electric razor (it was a gift, and that thing is a workhorse; my shaves were essentially free). The shaves were not great, but good enough for my life, so I didn't give them a second though. Then I ran into the Dollar Shave Club (the other newfangled source of cheap cartridge razors), and somehow I decided to give them a try and get back into shaving with a razor. In the course of Googling about the Dollar Shave Club, I discovered the wild and wacky world of wet shaving, and started reading about creams, brushes, DE razors, etc. etc.

My curiosity piqued, I ordered a tube of Proraso shaving cream and a bought me an Omega boar brush. They cost me all of about $10 each. I started whipping up lathers, and found that I liked the shaves, and liked the process. I like you tried three pass shaves with the cartridge. Shaves took a bit more time, and there was a bit of a learning curve, but it was fun, not a chore. I bought a couple more creams and soaps to try out.

I just graduated to shaving with my first DE razor. That was more of a learning curve, but after a couple of weeks, i started to get consistent, comfortable shaves, that are better than the ones I got from an electric razor or cartridges. Shaving takes longer, but it went from a quick chore that I barely gave any notice, and often forgot to do, to a process that I actually enjoy and look forward to. I didn't dive into wet shaving whole hog, but have been dipping my toes in one by one. I guess I'm up to my ankles now, and I'll stay here for a while as I learn to use what I've got, try different blades etc. Then I'll probably keep wading in deeper step by step.

Was it all worthwhile? From a utilitarian point of view, perhaps not. Shaving takes longer, there was a learning curve, and I've spent some money. But then, I've found better shaves and something new to enjoy. You say you're intrigued, so you could give it a shot and drop a few bucks on a cheap but decent cream and brush, and that alone might improve your shaves and your enjoyment of them. You can stop there, or if your interest is still piqued you might decide you want to continue and expand and try more things. You don't have to commit to any more than you want to at any given point, and you might discover much better shaves and a whole new pleasure in life.

Welcome to B&B !!

As someone who's shaved with a DE for years, I really do think I get better results with it, but part of the difference is that I'm always a little more aware of what I'm doing when I'm using a DE. (Not in the sense of worry, more in the sense of enjoying a conscious skill.) Standard DE shaving is definitely cheaper than cartridge shaving, I think, as long as it doesn't turn into a hobby ... and of course any hobby can be a money pit.

A good way to ease into this is by replacing the canned shaving stuff with a brush and shaving soap. That's a way to tell if you find the ritual to be satisfying, and the lather from a good shaving soap can really improve a shave, whether it's with a cartridge or a DE.