Daily Learning curve of having Great shaves!

Discussion in 'Shave School' started by Ron R, Mar 10, 2018.

  1. Ron R

    Ron R Well-Known Member

    Are there advantages with DE or SE blade systems that are available to a person thinking about getting into traditional shaving and there is strengths and weaknesses of any blade system. I started out with DE razors and still use them with my ever growing razor collection. Of the blade systems that are available to a Newbie or seasoned shaver are DE , injectors, Gem blades and AC (Feather,Kai,Schick proline SE.) blade systems. DE offers a huge assortment of blade coatings & pricing while SE blade coatings are limited but are still MFG today in various Country's around the globe. SE blades tend to last 30% to 50% longer for decent shaves IMO and are generally more expensive and Gem blades being the best $ per shave value if your buy 100 pcs(bulk). DE blades per shave run around $.02-$.04 cents per shave and Gem Personna blades are about $.02-$.04 cents per shave and the other blade systems are a little pricier IMO. Personna injector blades can bring the price per shave for $.02-$.05 when buying 100 pcs(bulk) and that is awesome for a injector system. Blades for DE are more available and the bulk of shavers world wide use the least expensive systems it seems.
    I find in winter months when it's drier and beards are tougher the SE works the best for my daily shaving needs because of thickness and sharpness of blades. There are still modern MFG's making SE razors and lots of DE MFG's of razors so it's not a problem finding blades for the systems mentioned. I personally have DE & SE razors and just loving it with a lot of vintage razors of both blade systems also.
    blade_angle-se-de.gif
    Have some great shaves!
     
    brit and BlueShaver like this.
  2. Ron R

    Ron R Well-Known Member

    I have mentioned about lather bowls earlier on this thread , but when winter comes you can heat up a ceramic bowl for warm lather if you want.

    I like to make a different bowl up every once in a while(3rd one) and I believe ceramic is a great choice to use or maybe stainless, copper metals (ceramic retains a lot of heat longer than metals). Every once in a while my wife goes to a thrift store and this time I was with her, I was looking at this bowl and was thinking is it a Fondo or cereal bowl? No it is going to be a new lather bowl so I purchased it back a few months ago for $1.00 Can.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
    I used Marine JB weld and this stuff is amazing for strength, it takes thermal shock well from -40 degrees Fahrenheit to + 180 degrees Fahrenheit with no coins coming loose. (tested my other similar bowl for over a year.)
    [​IMG] This is all the soap you need to bring on a rich lather in 1- 2 minutes easily at most.
    [​IMG] These are my results almost all the time with these bowls I re-purposed.
    [​IMG] Bonus with a handled ceramic bowl. I pour hot water from the tap with the lather inside over the outside to heat up the lather for those cold winter months. The lather is still warm on the last pass if your curious how long it lasts.(Update- place soap in bowl and then warm up bowl and then create the lather for better results of warm lather, you can reheat when ever also.)
    Just started doing this recently and in about 20-30 seconds of hot tap water over the ceramic creating it nice and warm and so I started to spoil my self in the morning shaves. The lather does not see any of the water it seems and it works very well.(it doesn't get much better with warm lather in winter months IMO.)

    Have some great shaves!
     
    Last edited: Jan 5, 2020
  3. Ron R

    Ron R Well-Known Member

    Proper Brush care for natural hair and boar bristle brushes had come up recently about hair shedding. I have bought some new 2band (finest badger) and a couple of new boar 6 months ago, natural hair shave brushes I know there are good ways of looking after them and might save a person getting frustrated with them & a few hard earned money. Natural hair brushes are very good at lathering & just a few simple steps will give a person many years of enjoyment. The price of a nice badger have come down a lot and they do give a nice face feel for a wet shaver if he wants to change things up a little. Boar brushes are just as good as most brushes out there and are inexpensive and I really enjoy a good broke in boar brush myself.
    These simple routines will keep your brush healthier and lose less hair or natural bristles and only take under a minute to do.

    - Pre soak any natural hair shaving brush in warm water for 2> minutes prior to shaving helps make the whiskers more pliable.

    -don't mash the hair bristles into the soap, face or bowl because it will over time put a donut hole in your brush and break bristles.

    -don't leave any damp brush regardless natural or synthetic in a enclosed area until fully dry, leave it in the open air to dry.

    -when cleaning a brush rinse and gently squeeze until you see no soap and then for good measure one more quick rinse. Some soaps have detergents that might harm whiskers over time.

    -when drying off a brush just a few light flicks in sink and when toweling try not to use circular motions with brush with no violent slaps at the end. I'm Guilty of that because of using synthetics for many years.

    -Every once in a while a brush should be shampooed to remove soap scum that accumulates on any brush, if a brush is not performing it might need a cleaning, hair moisturizers can be applied to a brush after a shampooing also with natural hair.

    -try not to store brushes to tightly together or up against or a object because I have seen some that have been damaged that way (natural of synthetic)

    - when drying it really does not matter if the brush is standing upright or hanging downward for drying as long as most water is drawn out. I will show a chart I added and for more information on drying that surprized my self.

    -Brushes can be stored upright of in stand with hairs downward and dry times are not much different from tests done. I like mine stored down ward but not necessary.
    Experimenting with brush drying times. (2).jpg
    A few ideas on brush storage that helps a person keep them nice for many years of pleasure. Guitar wall hangers are adjustable and work very well, or salt & pepper holder.
    Brush collage of new brush and razor holder..jpg
    Have some great shaves!
     
    IAmTheJody likes this.
  4. Ron R

    Ron R Well-Known Member

    TRY using a water mister to make some lather!
    I have been making a reasonable lather for years just by dipping the tips in water and stirring brush in a bowl.
    I was watching IAMCDB on Youtube videos and Chris can crank out a nice hydrated lather. So I had a small 50 ml sprayer and it pushes out a fine mist and thought why not and I like to bowl lather.
    I was curious and tried the mister and I can tell you it will knock your lather up a notch. The mist smaller droplets hits a larger area of the soap and seems to keep a little less air out of the lather (foam). He is the first person I seen using the mister on his face and he is open about using it with his lather making.
    He has around 3 different tutorials on this subject for those lather keeners.
    Any ways why not pass it along for folks who have a minute or two to create a nicer rich creamy lather.
    All I do is press some soap in my bowl, pour some warm water in the bowl and dump. With a damp brush all I do is what I usally do is stir and as the lather gets a little pasty I just mist instead of dip the tips and repeat about 6-8 times and Walla just nice hydrated lather.
    It will take a few 1-2 minutes more time but it is worth the effort I believe if time allows.
    I picked Cyril R Salter Indian cream with a Yaqi 2 band badger just for demonstration purposes that any brush will work. This morning used a boar brush with Razorock Don Marco croap and lather was excellent using this little mister. Creams are one of the hardest to mix in a bowl and it was just easier to get a nice lather with it.
    I recommend to at least try making lather this way a few times, you can use distilled water if your water is very hard.
    Lather collage 2 Razorock Don Marco.jpg
    Have some great shaves!
     
    Last edited: Oct 25, 2021
  5. Tedolph

    Tedolph Well-Known Member

    The drying time of the synthetic is impressive.
     
    Ron R likes this.

Share This Page