How to prevent razor burn when shaving with cartridges?

I like shaving with cartridges. I prefer it over DE. It is faster and more fun for me. However, I usually get razor burn and cuts, which ends up having blood on my shirt after I put it on. I use aftershave, however, it takes time before the blood dries. Any suggestions on how to prevent the cuts and blood? This usually happens only on my neck. I hope that you can help me. Thank you.

P.S Is blood washable in a washing machine, or I have to remove the stain in other way? lol Also, how to prevent blood going on my shirt in the future?

 

Use a wet alum block on your face after shaving. If you're shaving & getting cuts on a regular basis, something is wrong...

How long did you give the DE shave a whirl?

 

I also suggest using witch hazel.

 

You're going to have razor burn from a multi blade cart. That's how it works. The more blades, the badder the burn.

You say it's 'funner' but that doesn't sound very fun at all. You shouldn't be cutting yourself with a cart unless you've used it too long and it's gone dull.

To stop the blood get a styptic pencil or alum block.

 

Don't go ATG on your neck and you will see less or no blood. Razor burn is caused from pressure. Something cartridges are going to force you to do. A 2 blade cart should be less likely to give you razor burn than a 5-blade cartridge.

 

+1. I have bene DE Shaving for less than a year but I am pretty much zeroed in on my technique. It has a learning curve but so does everything else we have to deal with in life. When you start to get your technique down you will be amazed at how quickly you can shave with a DE. Just remember NO PRESSURE!!!!

 

Sure, but when I shave ATG on my face (that's how I shave my face) and WTG on my neck, won't it look too noticeable when I go out, for example?

 

I have trouble going ATG on my neck and I use WTG only there and it isn't noticeable especially with a really aggressive razor such as the Ever Ready 1924. But I don't use cartridges so I don't know if the results would be less close with a cartridge. Why not shave your face with a cartridge and finish up with a traditional safety razor on your neck WTG?

You could also try XTG with a cartridge and see if that gets you close enough without cuts. Only way to know is to try.

 

Well my first answer would be don't use cartridges. My second answer would be don't wear a shirt while shaving.

 

That depends on your skin and hair color. On me, not at all. On some guys, you bet.

What I did when I shaved with a cart was to just go north/south on my neck. A simple up all the way around, and then down all the way around with relathering if I needed to, but often times I didn't. That helped with burn quite a bit for me. Another option that worked for me was getting a Norelco wet razor. If I used cream with it, it worked really good on my neck.

 

Here is the real issue. With any multiblade cartridge when the leading edge (first blade that makes skin contact) gets dull it stays dull. It will start to cut your skin and then you have 2, 3, 4 or even 5 sharp blades following right behind the blade that has plowed your face. So they make matters even worse.

If you want to use cartridges, go get a 2 blade cartridge system (Trac II / Atra) and they will be less expensive per cartridge so when the leading blade goes bad, you will replace it, since you won't feel the need to keep using it because of cost.

As to blood. Hydrogen peroxide will remove (neutralize) blood stains on clothing but some fabrics are more sensitive than others.

As to stopping it ...

http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/stopping-the-flow-of-red.27542/

 

This might sound crazy, but I'm going to throw it out there anyway--try taking your shirt off before shaving.

 

Yep, do this. Also think about getting a couple of dark hand towels to use as shave towels.

This happened to me once: I shaved, did the whole routine, put on a nice balm, looked great, smelled great. Then I went to iron some shirts for the week. I get to the third or fourth shirt, it's a new, freshly laundered never worn yet, Brooks Brothers, one of the high end models. I'm ironing the front of it, and unexpectedly a big red drop falls from my face, lands on the shirt, right in front of my iron and I iron the blood right into the shirt in a big red smear. I pretty much baked it right in.

With blood I usually immediately hit it with water to get what I can out. I tried that, and no, it was baked in. Crap!!! As a last ditch effort I grabbed the Shout!, applied it liberally and scrubbed it in with the scrubby cap. I put it in the laundry pile and got around to washing it the next week. I took it out, expecting to take it straight from the wash to the garbage, but the stain was completely gone. BAM! As if it never happened.

Now I always abide by Shout!.

 

I do take my shirt off before shaving, but what? I have to wait 10 minutes or so and stay shirtless until the blood on my face dries, so I can put the shirt back on? I am considering listening to your advice and buy a dark hand towel to use spesifically for the blood on my face. The other solution I can think off is shave, then apply cold water sever time, then apply aftershave, wait couple of minutes, and finally put on the shirt.

 

It sounds like you're talking about a face that's continually bleeding well after the shave. If that's the case, you need to treat it. You can either use an alum block, a styptic pencil, and if you don't want those either a bandaid or toilet paper.

 

I usually use toilet paper, but it takes ages before the bleeding stops. Anyway, I guess I will have to be patient and wait...

 

Problem solved.

 

Or you could get a styptic pencil or alum block...

 

Please don't take this as sarcasm, because I am honestly not trying to be facetious, but you sound like the perfect candidate for an electric razor...Blades just don't sound like they are your thing---you seem to be overly worried about the cost of cartridges, not too keen on DE's, tearing up your face, etc.

IMHO wet shaving shaving shouldn't be this troublesome, and if it is, well ~you just might need to find an alternative to blades.

 

Regarding blood stains;
1) Rinse as quickly as possible in COLD water.
2) Soak in some hydrogen peroxide & then rinse again.