What is the method to your rotation?

I myself have absolutely no sort of rotation. I am accumulating enough gear that I could probably start one if I so desired.

My question is, what is the method to your rotation and how strictly do you stick to it?

 

I really have been trying to stick to a soap / cream / soap rotation...but I am liking soaps more these days. I try to use the soap or cream and then not use it until I have gone through every other soap / cream in the Den...

BUT, I also tend to just pick out whatever blows my hair back that day, whether it is a specific razor, blade, or brush. Same goes for aftershaves.

 

:sihns011 None whatsoever. I may choose a soap or cream just from having read about in the forum, or maybe just on a whim. I may have software picked out to use before I take my shower, and change my mind right before shaving.

Razors are much the same, the only rule is I will use a razor till the blade is no longer good before switching to another one, usually.

 

I am in total agreement with Dridecker, that the fun part for me and it makes tracking the blade easy

 

I'm also with Bill on this. I have enough things in life that require effort or self-control. Why add that stress to my shave?

 

Its a lot easier when most soaps/creams cause skin rashes/burns. So that part of the rotation is easy to work out. I always have a mug of something safe like TSD Iced SBZ ready to go. I also keep some Arko moist cream or other safe choices in case I am bored that day. But most days, the SBZ gets the nod. For a razor, I don't start a new one until the last blade is dead. I try to pick my new razor/blade on Sunday afternoon so that I don't have to mess with it at 4 AM on Monday-Friday morning. As a result of that decision, I mostly stick to razor/blade combos that can get 5 days. On the weekend, I either finish off the blade, use a Rolls, or just don't shave. In regards to a brush - I just use the same brush until I am sick of it and need a change. For AS... I stick between 2-3 options for simplicity.

So, all in all - there is no longer any rotation. This works for me.

 

Most of the time I have no clear path chosen. I normally just grab whatever seems appealing for the day. Just for fun, I'm celebrating OCtoberfest and only using open combs for the month.

 

Really no method to my madness. With my DE razors I have them hung on the wall in an order that allows me to use my 9 favorites on a regular basis and the other 18 on a less regular basis.

My SE & Injectors are all figured in my rotation, again I use them all in a regular basis.

How it works is that I actually use my top 18 or so SE, DE & Injectors at least once per month. The other 12 razors, mostly DEs get into the rotation maybe ever other month or so.

As for my creams, I have them all listed on a chart on my medicine cabinet making care that I do not use a soap or cream from the same brand two day in a row it takes me about a month to go through them.

How did I figure out where to put these items on my lists and wall racks. No rhyme or reason just picked them out of a hat so to say and developed the list.

 

With razors, I am gradually cycling in the ones that I've bought but haven't used yet, in between the ones I'm familiar with. When using injectors, I typically have blades in two or three at once, and switch between those. With DE and SE razors, since the blades don't last as long, I'll just use them for consecutive shaves until the blade is used up.

With brushes, I usually don't use the same one two days in a row, so it has a little more time to dry. Typically I use boar with soaps and badger with creams, but that's not written in stone.

Soaps and creams, I usually just pick up whatever I feel like that morning. I do have a habit, though, of always using Proraso or Musgo cream when using a new razor for the first time.

I took a SOS photograph today of the gear I plan to use tomorrow. I rarely take these photos any more, because I usually would rather just decide when I shave. Planned spontaneity.

 

Except for my brushes, I have a general rotation, but nothing particularly rigid. I have four brushes, and I'm particular about rotating them just to make sure that each gets ample drying time before being used again.

 

Honestly I think a lot of people refer to a "rotation" when in fact they just have a bunch of razors...and like me, use one for a while and then another when that blade of done. I'm sure some people have a regular plan, but I can't be bothered with that sort of planning.

 

Brushes: "hmmm...what one haven't I used in a while?"

Razors: one of my five Merkurs on Monday, then a different DE every day Tue - Fri. The weekends are for SEs. "hmmm...what one haven't I used in a while?"

Blades:
DE - Fresh DE in every Monday, rotate it to the next razor for Tue, and so on. Toss it after Friday's shave. I have only about three different brands I use. I almost never use the same brand two weeks in a row.
SE - Fresh SE in the first Sunday of the month, only on Sundays. Toss it after the last shave on the final Sunday. Only one brand.
Str8s - Saturdays only, "hmmm...what one haven't I used in a while?"

Soaps: I have about five stacks of five soaps each. I work down the stack using the top soap on the stack first, then the next, and so on, a different soap every day. Once I'm done the stack, it goes to the end of the line and I start on the next stack.

Creams: Usually grab one of the four I have and use it after I finish a stack of soap.

 

I don't have any set rotation but decide on a brush before I take a shower. This gives me time to give my boar brushes a good long soak if I choose one of them. For razors I keep two out at a time so I can have a place to put the extra when my stupid blade dispenser spits out two at a time. As for soap, cream and aftershave I just pick one when the time comes.

 

None. I stick to one soap. I have a few DE's but stick with my favorite. I have a Semogue that randomly gets rotated in on a whim.

 

My razors rotate, everything else is up for discussion. My rotation strategies vary. Having spent a good 6 months as exclusively a straight razor shaver, it was simple, 5 straight razors start at one go to five then start over. Currently I shave with safety razors three days a week as I do face and dome shaves on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday remain straight razor days.

 

My rotation is all about increasing my knowledge. And often for providing content for articles

Of the 4 main elements of a shave I only change one at a time. So when my Shea Moisture brush arrived it got a week of use to get to understand it. During that week the rest of my kit remained stable and well proven. Eventually this brush will find itself in an article comparing it to other cheap badger brushes.

With razors I have 24 in my bathroom and pick what hasn't seen much use recently, for instance last week it was a '40s Super Speed. But beyond this there are other razors that also need to be tried, I have a Flying Eagle from China and a Leader from Russia that are waiting their turn ans last week experimented with a Lion from South Africa.

With blades I just stick with Iridium because they are a benchmark, only occasionally straying for a bit of variety. So yesterday I used a Kai.

Creams and soaps it is whatever whim dictates. MWF gets used most for obvious reasons.

It is all good fun and the huge variety is part of the richness and enjoyment of traditional shaving. It is exactly the opposite of what Gillette provide these days with their patent protected walled garden.

 

"CHEAP" - I know it's semantics, but I associate cheap with poorly made regardless of the cost. I've found the Shea Moisture brush, aka The Dridecker, to be well made. It lost a hair or three the first shave, and hasn't lost one since. For me the brush is not cheap, but rather "inexpensive"

 

I have two straight razors which I use, the C-MON for three days, the Dubl Duck for four days. I have over 20 brushes, but I only use about 10 of them regularly. For soaps and creams, I use Mitchell's Wool Fat, Valobra stick, D.R. Harris soaps, and Trumper's soaps once a week each. There are others like Musgo Real, Speick stick and cream, Wilkinson Sword stick, Cella, Ogallala, Palmolive stick, and J.M Fraser's cream which I try to use at least once every two weeks. Sometimes I'll go use a soap or cream that I haven't used in months (like Proraso, L'Occitane, Williams, Trumper's creams, Kiss My Face creams, Arko stick, and glycerine soaps). For aftershaves, I mostly use Proraso splash, Musgo Real splash, Speick splas, Aqua Velva, various Booster aftershaves, and Pinaud Clubman.

 

I, too, am a total anarchist. Some items change every day, and some will be used 20 days in a row. Techniques, and consequently results, also change daily.

I try not to chase the perfect shave, just an enjoyable one.

 

So there I was, a couple days ago, I posted a simple and honest response to a simple and honest question. My AD's had for the most part gone into remission and my rotation (razors, brushes, soaps, AS, cologne) was minimalist at best. Then the "USS Don't $#%^ Obsess" was capsized by what amounts to the perfect storm. Not long ago, I stumbled on a 1960 Gillette Fatboy. Although I had been almost exclusively a straight razor shaver for just about a year, on Sundays I pulled out a safety razor for the once a week dome shave. Once the dome was well shorn, I stropped up a straight razor for the Sunday face shave. Well, that all changed with shave #1 with the new Fatboy. It wowed me so thoroughly that I decided Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday would be safety razor days and I'd shave my face and dome with the same safety razor.

Then, this morning, reaching for my lather catcher, a came across a couple other friends I haven't seen in a while, the shavettes. And so Shavette Saturday was born. Then at work today, I began doodling lists of lineups and wish lists (i.e. stuff I "need to buy") for my new ROTATION STRATEGY. It goes something like this: 3 weeks each consisting of 3 safety razor days, 3 straight razor days, and a shavette day on Saturday. In order for each week to have different razors, I "need" 2 more shavettes, 1 more lather catcher and 4 more straights. Then I tumbled down the slippery slope and added to my list of "esssential equipment" 3 shaving creams and 3 brushes. When I set about assembling "stacks" which is basically razor, soap, brush, AS and cologne that are married and always used together, I stopped myself. I'm not that OCD (not yet anyway) thanks just the same for enabling me I'll gradually pick this stuff up as bills and/or SWMBO will tolerate. The razors shouldn't be terribly expensive though as I tend to pick them up on the cheap and clean them up and hone them on my own. For some reason, I just feel like a reformed alcoholic who spends most of his time at the neighborhood tavern and figured that just one beer won't hurt OK, screw it! I'm worthless and weak :happy102 :happy102