Men: Have you considered going back to double-edged safety razors?

Montmorencymon

Men: Have you considered going back to double-edged safety razors?


I've always wet-shaved and probably always will. When I started shaving (late 60s, although I didn't really need to shave until the early 70s (that's 1970s - I wasn't 70 years old ...), I used the same sort of razor and blades my Father did, i.e. Wilkinson Sword-Edged in a safety razor. Dull and boring, but it seemed to work.


I can't remember when I stopped using that sort, but for as long as I can remember now, I've been using various sorts of fancy multi-bladed efforts, that soon were deliberately obsoleted by their makers to force us to upgrade. Although it went against my moderately eco-minded grain, in recent years I've standardised on disposables, rather than try to keep up with the high-tech permanent razor rat-race.


After doing a bit of research on the web, I've now realised (or at least been persuaded), that if used correctly, the boring old double-edged safety razor will give at least as good a shave as the modern razors, for a much cheaper price (at least in the long run).


I'll leave you to do your own research, but it looks like you can get good quality razors for around £20-£30, and a cheap blade is "Derby Extra" at around £8 per hundred, although many people say good old Wilkinson Sword-edged blades are sharper and more consistent, although they are around twice the price.

But talking of Wilkinson, you can get a Wilkinson Sword Safety razor in Amazon, for a little over £4, or apparently for a bit more at Boots. These have plastic heads, but the handle has a metal base with a plastic cover, giving it some weight, which you need for this kind of razor, apparently. You use the weight of the razor to apply the force, and don't apply any additional force - just move it across your well-lathered face at the right angle, about 30 degrees, apparently.

I couldn't find this razor in my local Waitrose, but I was able to find 10 Wilkinson Sword Classic blades today for £3.39, which is surprisingly cheaper than on Amazon.

I'm coming to the end of a packet of disposables, but by then hope to have a proper double-edged safety razor to go with my blades. I'll have a look around the other supermarkets tomorrow, or try Boots on Monday, or failing that, I guess it's Amazon.

I found an American Youtuber reviewing this razor: he said it was ok as an entry-level DE safety-razor, but didn't think it would last much longer than a year, due to the plastic screw in the head. He also thought it might encourage bad habits (I think because it gives a very mild shave).

When one is ready to upgrade to a "quality" razor, the two names people seem to come up with are Edwin Jagger and Merkur.


I'll be interested to hear what other men think.

Honeythief

I'm not a man and don't use razors of any description, but I wondered if you'd seen this forum. There is a lot of very useful shaving-related information (I found it when I was researching shaving soap for reasons now forgotten). Some of these guys are very passionate about their old-style shaving tools!

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/forumdisplay.php/1-General-Shaving-Talk

System

my OH "proper" blades [wilkinson sword] i usually buy the blades from weldricks chemist for about £2-50

-taff

I'm waiting for the day when the razor because a food disposal unit, because if one or two or three or four or five blades are good, why not just stick your face in a massive origami razor blade and have done......

Meadows

Montmorencymon wrote: »

Men: Have you considered going back to double-edged safety razors?

Try a Razor Sharp (or whatever name/brand you can find at the best price!). Around £11 upwards, really does work and you don't need to throw your blade away anywhere near as much with this so it pays for itself really quickly, you use a small amount of you shaving cream on the rubber and push the blade forward over it a few times and then rinse and leave to dry.


Cleans and maintains the blade and bring back that 'new blade feel'
Removes residue of hair, skin and dry soap that makes the blade dull.
Extends the life of all razor blades and will provide up to 150 shaves with one razor blade.

[Deleted User]

MY late Dad had a old fashioned cut throat one that he kept in a wooden box.as children we were taught on almost pain of death never ever to touch either the box or its contents.He had a coiled leather 'strop' in side the box that he used to sharpen it on.He had used this since at the age of 17 in 1907 until his death in 1984.The razor and box with stop inside had been with him through two world wars and various moves.It was as sharp when he died as I ever remembered.My late OH tried to use it only once and nearly took his chin off!!!its was that lethal.I think he got rid of it after that as he didn't want the girls to go anywhere near it.
I bet it would be worth a few bob today though.OH used Gillette double edged ones as a rule and a shaving bowl with soap and an old badger brush to shave with.My son-in-laws both used electric razors.

1jim

Meadows wrote: »

Try a Razor Sharp (or whatever name/brand you can find at the best price!). Around £11 upwards, really does work and you don't need to throw your blade away anywhere near as much with this so it pays for itself really quickly, you use a small amount of you shaving cream on the rubber and push the blade forward over it a few times and then rinse and leave to dry.


Cleans and maintains the blade and bring back that 'new blade feel'
Removes residue of hair, skin and dry soap that makes the blade dull.
Extends the life of all razor blades and will provide up to 150 shaves with one razor blade.

+1 for this

Bought about 4 months ago now and still on the same blade, I use the gilette turbo (something or other) blades and shave every work day so 5 out if 7 days on average. Was a bit of a sceptic but it does seem to work, was changing blades after 2weeks of use so starting to save a fair bit of cash now :-)

Austin_Allegro

When I first started shaving in the 1980s I used the traditional double edged blades. I didn't like them much as they seemed to leave a lot of cuts and I ended up having to use the styptic pencil (owww!) or stick bits of bog paper on my face.

For years I used a Mach 3 razor, but I kept a blade going for between six months to two years simply by hand-stropping it (rubbing it forwards on your palm for about 20 strokes before using). I'm a bit sceptical about that £11 strop as I suspect one's hand works in the same way.

However now I've gone back to a sort of G2 imitation razor; I live abroad and blades for it are cheaper than Mach 3 which are expensive. The razor and 20 blades cost me about £4. Each blade, with hand stropping, lasts 2-3 months so I shouldn't need to buy any more for a while!

martinthebandit

I have one of these http://www.amazon.co.uk/Merkur-Futur-Brushed-Steel-Razor/dp/B000G0JZYQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371659748&sr=8-1&keywords=merkur+futur and it is the beset razor I have ever owned.

I can strongly recommend it.

eyeopener2

Ahhh, a thread I can really relate to. I use a 1959 Gillette double edged razor, the delightfully named fat boy, and I will never go back to using the cartridge type. The fat boy teamed with Japanese 'feather' blades is perfect and really cheap.

I use a good quality shaving cream that lasts ages and the blades are fantastic, but very, very sharp so beware..

Everybody should use double edge, better shave, better for your skin (once you gone past the learner stage where you 're learn how to shave properly), and saves a fortune compared to the latest money making design from Gillette and Wilkinson sword.


* I would love to use a single blade cut throat but I have a small child in the house.....
E2

martinthebandit

Shaving cream? Try a decent soap and a brush, you will never go back to cream.

...... and it's cheaper too