I was pretty fortunate. My first DE shave was better than I was getting from Mach 3 cartridges. I am continuing to improve now that I'm a couple of years into this. I'm getting consistently good, close, comfortable shaves. It's getting to be longer and longer between even the smallest of nicks.
Technique
- Thread starter Chadao
- Start date
Agreed. After shaving with a cartridge or disposable razor for half my life, the learning curve was pretty short.
I didn't vote.
I've been DE shaving for four years, most of that with a Merkur 180. I knew that razor well, knew exactly when to use a little pressure to clean up some spots, and felt overall pretty comfortable with it.
In August I dropped it, and it broke. So I replaced it with a Parker 99R, because I didn't want to spend a lot, and I wanted something that was TTO. The quality of my shaves dropped pretty significantly. The Parker is more aggressive, and requires a different angle. It's also heavier, though it carries more weight in the handle that the Merkur did. As as result, the technique required is completely different. It took 3 or 4 shaves before I was able to avoid razor burn, and even still, I need to think about what I'm doing just a little more than I did with the Merkur.
So do I have "pretty darn good" technique? I don't think so. Lots of folks here use different razors every day with success. I'm not sure I could do that.
I've been DE shaving for four years, most of that with a Merkur 180. I knew that razor well, knew exactly when to use a little pressure to clean up some spots, and felt overall pretty comfortable with it.
In August I dropped it, and it broke. So I replaced it with a Parker 99R, because I didn't want to spend a lot, and I wanted something that was TTO. The quality of my shaves dropped pretty significantly. The Parker is more aggressive, and requires a different angle. It's also heavier, though it carries more weight in the handle that the Merkur did. As as result, the technique required is completely different. It took 3 or 4 shaves before I was able to avoid razor burn, and even still, I need to think about what I'm doing just a little more than I did with the Merkur.
So do I have "pretty darn good" technique? I don't think so. Lots of folks here use different razors every day with success. I'm not sure I could do that.
I have had one nick shaving, and that was in my second week. I don't consider weepers (small dot of blood under the lather that usually stops with the cold water rinse) the same a nicks. Sharp things make me nervous and I go slow and careful.
I got a few BBS shaves in the first couple of weeks, but they were more luck than anything else. I took closer to three months to get blade angle consistently correct.
I got a few BBS shaves in the first couple of weeks, but they were more luck than anything else. I took closer to three months to get blade angle consistently correct.
After a month I was pretty good, but still reverted to a Mach III for my head.
After 3 months, I lost the Mach III
After 3 months, I lost the Mach III
My shaves were better in terms of being less irritating right off the bat. But it took close to a year to really get good at making lather and start getting BBS shaves. Granted I had crappy tools and didn't try to learn to use them properly the whole time.
Once I started really reading and researching, and then buying some better quality stuff, my shaves really started to improve within just a couple weeks.
But I'd say I still have a ways to go in terms of figuring it all out.
Once I started really reading and researching, and then buying some better quality stuff, my shaves really started to improve within just a couple weeks.
But I'd say I still have a ways to go in terms of figuring it all out.
I would say that my technique started to show noticeable improvement when I started using and experimenting with different kinds of DE razors (vintage, slants, open combs, adjustables, etc.). That was about 6 months after I started using a DE razor (Edwin Jagger DE89).... so I said 6 months.
I liken it to driving. If you drive only one car your entire life, your driving technique may be good for that one car..... but if you get in another car you may be a terrible driver. It takes time in different vehicles to really get a feel for the road. I had a driving instructor once who tried to teach me in a little Chevy Cavalier how to pass a maneuverability test by so many turns of the steering wheel at certain times (a quarter turn here, a full turn there.... okay, now reverse a full turn and a half.... etc). I got in my dad's huge Oldsmobile (the vehicle I would be taking my driver's exam in) and tried it with my dad in the passenger seat and it didn't work. He was like "What are you doing??" I said, "This is what my instructor told me.... this is how he told me to turn the wheel while I do this." My dad told me that it wouldn't work the same in a little Cavalier like it does in a big Oldsmobile. He said you have to go more by feel and instinct than a step by step method. He was right..... you become a good driver with good technique by experience with different vehicles, good habits, using your peripherial vision, touch, etc. Shaving can be the same way. You can learn a lot about how to shave with one razor, by shaving with another if you pay attention to the differences and similarities between the two. YMMV.
Ben
I liken it to driving. If you drive only one car your entire life, your driving technique may be good for that one car..... but if you get in another car you may be a terrible driver. It takes time in different vehicles to really get a feel for the road. I had a driving instructor once who tried to teach me in a little Chevy Cavalier how to pass a maneuverability test by so many turns of the steering wheel at certain times (a quarter turn here, a full turn there.... okay, now reverse a full turn and a half.... etc). I got in my dad's huge Oldsmobile (the vehicle I would be taking my driver's exam in) and tried it with my dad in the passenger seat and it didn't work. He was like "What are you doing??" I said, "This is what my instructor told me.... this is how he told me to turn the wheel while I do this." My dad told me that it wouldn't work the same in a little Cavalier like it does in a big Oldsmobile. He said you have to go more by feel and instinct than a step by step method. He was right..... you become a good driver with good technique by experience with different vehicles, good habits, using your peripherial vision, touch, etc. Shaving can be the same way. You can learn a lot about how to shave with one razor, by shaving with another if you pay attention to the differences and similarities between the two. YMMV.
Ben
Refining one's shaving technique is a lifelong process. I've been a daily wet shaver since November 1951 (no, that's not a typo) and I still ocassionally learn new things.
It's kinda like marriage. No matter how long one has been married, one still learnes new and exciting things about one's spouse.
It's kinda like marriage. No matter how long one has been married, one still learnes new and exciting things about one's spouse.
+1
At 3 months, I would have voted "3 months." Looking back, that was a big turning point, but the journey was really just beginning. One thing is for sure, even now I'm not nearly as good as I think I am.
it's taken about a year for me to go blood-free in roughly the same time it used to take me with a cart (around 2-3 minutes). pace and efficiency is just as important to me as the notion of BBS. what good does BBS do me if it takes 45 minutes of obsessive foolery?
^^^ Yeah, the lather is the key. Using a DE is easy enough to figure out, but perfecting lather is more of an art and needs a lot of practice and experimentation.
I agree with this to an extent.
- Getting a better shave with a DE than a cart = Day 1
- Getting comfortable with the DE = one month
- Being able to shave well with the DE without a mirror = 3 months
- Getting a better shave from a straight than from a DE = 3 months
- Getting near perfect lather from any soap = 3 years
- Getting perfect shaves every time with any lather under any conditions using any one of a DE, SE, Kamisori, Straight, or Shavette = I'll let you know when I get there...
I had my A-HA! moment at around 1 month. I am still learning but it was at the one month mark that I knew I could shave my face with any razor and blade, aggressive or mild, and have a great shave. I think participating in a "Passaround" box and having the luxury of trying out a bunch of different razors really helped a lot.
- Thread starter
- #33
Maybe I should have asked, "How long after you discovered B&B, did you technique become good?" 
Maybe I should have asked, "How long after you discovered B&B, did you technique become good?"
Ahhh - my answer would still be the same (3 months). I think B&B helped me to hone my razor technique very quickly, BUT I also think that before my lather techniques were good, B&B helped me find products that were easier to lather, helping me to progress quicker.
I'm about going on 2 months.
Getting better every day. Starting to use different razors.
Getting better every day. Starting to use different razors.
Well, thanks for making me feel like a worthless fool.
For me, about six months, or maybe slightly beyond that.
And for the record, I don't feel like I should set limits or boundaries on how long it takes somebody else to do something well.
An excellent question, Pierce.
I voted 3 months, but I could have chosen 1 month. The truth is, I'm still learning and improving 6 months down the road. I expect I will continue to refine the technique. That's my plan, anyway.
I voted 3 months, but I could have chosen 1 month. The truth is, I'm still learning and improving 6 months down the road. I expect I will continue to refine the technique. That's my plan, anyway.
I can't remember that far back.
I felt my technique was pretty good when I was able to put a Feather blade in a Merkur slant and not cut myself (bout almost a year of shaving ). I'm always working on getting better and better though. 
I don't recall just how long it took to get the technique perfected, but I was not really happy with my shaves until I changed razors. My original razor was a blue tip SuperSpeed. I think that, even though I only had typical teen age peach fuzz at that time, I wasn't really getting a very close shave.
I bought a new Schick Injector and it didn't take long until I was getting noticeably better and closer shaves. That was likely about sixty years or so ago. I don't recall ever really having any problem with lather. As a kid, I guess I watched my dad quite a lot and when I started shaving, I seemed to have had no real problem making a lather with cheap soap; either Williams or Colgate.
In recent years, since I started collecting safety razors, I did a lot of trying out many types of razors, including the multi-blade cartridge models. I found the shave from the cartridge razors to be inferior to most any except the disposables and the band razors. I finally ended up preferring the single edge razors, especially the older models. I like the Gem 1912 and even more, the Gem Junior Bar razor from the early part of the last century.
Again, although I never really had a problem with making lather, I have tried many creams and soaps and have pretty much settled on some soaps that I like better than the old Williams. My son did get me to try a couple of kinds of canned foam . . . That was garbage.
So again, although my technique is pretty much unchanged, I do get better shaves than I used to due to finding different razors, and better soaps. I do also use better brushes than I used to, although I can still make a decent lather with an old Ever-Ready brush and Williams soap.
Regards,
Tom
I bought a new Schick Injector and it didn't take long until I was getting noticeably better and closer shaves. That was likely about sixty years or so ago. I don't recall ever really having any problem with lather. As a kid, I guess I watched my dad quite a lot and when I started shaving, I seemed to have had no real problem making a lather with cheap soap; either Williams or Colgate.
In recent years, since I started collecting safety razors, I did a lot of trying out many types of razors, including the multi-blade cartridge models. I found the shave from the cartridge razors to be inferior to most any except the disposables and the band razors. I finally ended up preferring the single edge razors, especially the older models. I like the Gem 1912 and even more, the Gem Junior Bar razor from the early part of the last century.
Again, although I never really had a problem with making lather, I have tried many creams and soaps and have pretty much settled on some soaps that I like better than the old Williams. My son did get me to try a couple of kinds of canned foam . . . That was garbage.
So again, although my technique is pretty much unchanged, I do get better shaves than I used to due to finding different razors, and better soaps. I do also use better brushes than I used to, although I can still make a decent lather with an old Ever-Ready brush and Williams soap.
Regards,
Tom
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