Quick traditional wet shaving. Is it possible?

OK fellows,

Traditional wet shaving with brushes creams, soaps etc has a lot of advantages that we all here know. But has one disadvantage. Needs free time. When you have it, no problem.
But it’s sometimes that everybody does not have more than 5 minutes for the shave. So what are you guys doing when you just need a quick shave? Jump to a goo for this time only? Make just one quick pass? Are you leaving your HD ?
Thanks,

I probably spend 5 minutes or less for my workday shaves, lather with soap or cream depending on my mood. Wtg, Xtg, a little ATG to touch up.

I typically wake up @ 0555, shave, shower, dress, make a french press full of coffee and am sipping same ready to leave for work by 0615 most days.

When I am in a hurry, I smear some cream and water on my face with my hands. Then I do a quick WTG blade buffing pass. This technique yields a very acceptable smooth shave.

When I'm pressed for time I can get a decent shave in about 5 or so mintues.

What I'll do is:

1. Grab my brush
2. Slather some cream on my face
3. Work brush into cream on face
4. WTG
5. ATG
6. Rinse and apply A/S

It took a few tries to get it right but now I can pull off a presentable shave very quickly.

1.shave stick

2. work up lather

3. 1 pass

4. done


marty

All good advice. Remember this is assuming you have solid technique. If anywone is still on the lower side of the learning curve, a quick shave might not yeild the same results.
If your technique is sound, you can shave in 5 mins and get a very good shave. When I'm in a hurry I always grab a TECH with a Feather. This always gives me a close, quick shave. With a TECH you almost have to try to cut yourself. As always YMMV.

Regards,

For the quickest shave I use a Schick injector in the shower with my shower soap. Semi-OK. Not the best by far but gets me out the door.

I use a straight. If I know that I will not have a lot of time in the am I strop night before. I soak the brush and soap while showering and when I get out apply prep and make lather. I only do a N-S pass and am done in a total of about 7 minutes. I still get a pretty good shave and my face feels great!

Have a good one,
R

minorguitarist said:

OK fellows,

Traditional wet shaving with brushes creams, soaps etc has a lot of advantages that we all here know. But has one disadvantage. Needs free time. When you have it, no problem.
But it’s sometimes that everybody does not have more than 5 minutes for the shave. So what are you guys doing when you just need a quick shave? Jump to a goo for this time only? Make just one quick pass? Are you leaving your HD ?
Thanks,

Click to expand...

I use a brushless cream in these instances. Cremo Cream or Musgo (which can be used with or without a brush), then a one pass shave with a few extra strokes on the chin. I have done this in only a couple of minutes when in a hurry.

I find that using a DE slows me down much more than making lather, so if I was under time pressure I would still make proper lather (albeit with a cream, not soap) but replace my DE with a fixed-head disposable.

Of course, one's DE aptitude may greatly vary, and I'm sure that people can have a great DE shave in 5'. I'm just not one of them...

Molton Brown Lemon Leaf Shave Wax - brushless, quick to apply and even lubricates when i only have lukewarm water;

Merkur Futur, Shavette or 5/8 Thiers-Issard 'Swan' (usually kept shave-ready);

One pass with the grain;

Cold water;

Cologne (back of neck).

I learned to shave with a DE. As a teenager and twenty something I could shave using canned foam in a little more than five minutes. It wasn't going to be BBS and I tended to nick myself when I hurried but I could do it. I haven't tried hurrying since I got my new Merkur 23C a week ago but I'm sure with practice I could do it again.

After 20 odd years of shaving and 6 months of DE shaving this is the one thing that tempts me back to a Sensor Excel (my favourite cartridge razor). Trying to get ready for work in the morning with 2 young kids needing attended to can put you under time pressure - especially if you're slow out of the blocks in the morning like I am. I would second what Dave-itt said about Molton Brown Lemon Leaf Shave Wax. It helps give a great shave and goes straight on - no lather building required.

I sometimes go for a careful pass WTG and XTG with the slant. Thats can give me good results. If I'm really under the gun then I'd use a Philips electric (whatever the last top of the line model was). It does a decent job if there's only one days growth and you've had a good wetshave the day before. I use a powdered pre-shave stick with it which certainly helps.

As always, YMMV.

Usual hot towel and lather and then one good pass with my injector (Pal Injecto-Matic) works for me when in a bind for time. Although not as good as a DE it will get me through the day

Hola, minorguitarist!

It really depends upon your beard. There's BBS, and there's presentable.

If I have to hurry... which I really don't like to do... I can be presentable in one pass. We're all different. Just go with what works for you!

Ciao,
chop-chop

My quickest was at police acadamy.

In the Shower, scrubbed proraso all over my face, single pass with the grain.

Was done in about 1 minute (of my 2 minute shower) and had a decently acceptable shave for the day.

minorguitarist said:

OK fellows,

Traditional wet shaving with brushes creams, soaps etc has a lot of advantages that we all here know. But has one disadvantage. Needs free time. When you have it, no problem.
But it’s sometimes that everybody does not have more than 5 minutes for the shave. So what are you guys doing when you just need a quick shave? Jump to a goo for this time only? Make just one quick pass? Are you leaving your HD ?
Thanks,

Click to expand...

Still use your soap or cream and brush and use an M3 for a single pass 'Gillette slide' shave. Best tip however is to get up earlier so you won't have to go through all of this. It's either a quality shave or no shave at all. Be very hard on yourself

In a hurry:

Face lather with some brush and any soap.
Schick L-1 Injector w/a Ted Pella
one pass
WWR
CWS
Thayers Lavender w/h
some aftershave

5-7 minutes

Perfect timing for me -- had to think of what to do this morning as I overslept and there were very time-sensitive things to do at work.

What I did to be presentable, since I've tossed out all evidence I was ever an M3 user (all handles, goo and in-shower mirror):

-Fast shower!
-Fast & quick prep as per usual but--very fast!
-Fast lather, less worried about consistency since I was aiming for only one WTG shave.
-Big deep breath, brought time back to its usual slowwwwness for the shave.
-One WTG pass at usual careful pace.
-Fast post-shave with witch hazel & Nivea Extra Soothing Balm.

(Time: Less than five minutes.)

-Mad dash to dress and get to the office.

For me with a little over a month's experience it's very good to know I can speed things up if really necessary except for the actual shaving.

All in all not as enjoyable as a normal morning but I did accomplish a good beard reduction and didn't have to use my styptic pencil. And I should add that a "simple" shave like this was never possible with an M3.

Cordially,
M. Talleyrand

funny you mention this,.....today i was doing a quick wetshave and nicked my chin,....more like i sliced it because i was trying to move to quickly on a downstroke and ended up as kind've a diagonal down slide. ,...i suppose you could do that with any razor if you tried hard enough. it keep slowly bleeding for at least 15 to 20 minutes and had to keep dabbing a kleenex on it. i tried the styptic pen. was that the right thing to do? oh well,...anyway, if youre in that big of a hurry, IMHO theres no shame in reverting to your old M3.just dont make a habit of it!