CANNOT figure out Safety Razors- HELP!!!

Well I doubt the hospital, but the face would most likely be very tender and raw due to the layer of skin shaved off with the hair as well. Makes me just shudder thinking about that...

 

I'm not sure but here goes. It may not be the blade as much as maybe the razor itself isn't aggressive enough for your coarse beard. My brother had very coarse hair and on the sides it looks lie hurricanes. I gave him a Feather and he used it in a Red Tip SS and he said it tugs less but still tugs. And he isn't new to this game. You could also try using something like Proraso pre/post cream, it does soften the beard and prevents the tugging allowing the blade to slice through the hair.

 

I'm one of those people with relatively light beard growth. With some razors it still took three good passes to get a smooth face. Additional passes just led to skin irritation, so rather than keep abusing my oh-so-sensitive face, I opted to use MORE efficient (i.e. aggressive) razors. This resulted in fewer passes, less irritation, and a smooth face. Now guys with a HEAVY beard, it seems to me, would be the ideal candidates for these more aggressive, more efficient razors. I read on forums where some men, who purportedly sprout something akin to 'barbed wire' out of their faces, have had good, effective comfortable shaves with an aggressive DE razor.

 

I would also suggest that you try Van der Hagen deluxe soap, which you can find at Walmart and most drug stores, for me it has a better cushion than Williams and lathers bettter. And quite frankly Williams didn't lather well for me and I doubt I'll try it again, however we have members here who love it. As for your blades I have an average beard and had the same results from the Feathers, I might try them again if they came with something else but I sure wouldn't buy them. The above is a good example of YMMV (your mileage may vary) which if you stick around you'll see alot. Just because it works for one person doesn't mean it will work for you.

As far as the angle the best advice I sa we when I started was to hold the razor at a 90 deg. angle and slowly rotate it down as you pull it across your face until you feel it cutting whiskers.

Above all don't get so fustrated that you do something rash (no pun intended) we'd rather you kept using carts than hurt yourself. Try to relax and not over think it the next you try (if there is one).

 

Nobody starts out in this game with OMG, whizbang, awesome shaves. It takes time, trial and error and above all else patience to get this wet shaving thing sorted out. I don't care how coarse and tough anyone says their beard is, I can guarantee it's not stronger than a steel DE razor blade. If you've loaded a Feather in that EJ, it will cut your beard, but it will take multiple passes. As the beginning wikis state, this is about beard reduction, not beard removal. Chances are you were losing the angle and just wiping the lather off with the safety bar. I would suggest switching to night shaves while your learning so you have more time to work on your technique, as well as lathering and prep skills, since you won't be rushed for time like in the a.m.

 

I have to agree with Keith. After more than two decades of shaving with cartridges it took me a good six months to fully transition and begin to get consistently good shaves. Now I'm playing around with straight razors and I expect that to take at least a year to get my technique down. Lots of trial and error and mostly having to hone a new skill after being so good at cartridge shaving I could do it in my sleep. I got close shaves with the Fusion and Mach 3's and I get close shaves now but the shaves I get now feel lots better and I go to bed wanting to get up and shave.

 

I have to admit I had a big grin on my face while reading this thread. I've been wet shaving with a DE for 3 months now and still make a bloody mess of my face from time to time. The funniest part is that I still enjoy it so much more than shaving with a cartridge or electric. Just keep at it and good results will follow. Also, I've found that Pre de Provence shave soap works wonders on my face. The Shea butter in it seems to promote healing much better than the other soaps I've tried. After I shave with it I like to squeeze out the remaining lather from the brush and apply that to my face and let it soak in while I clean my supplies. After washing that off with cold water I follow with Nivea Sensitive Skin aftershave balm. This combo leaves my face feeling great even after some pretty bad shaves.

 

My thoughts are beard prep and angle...
Do you use any kind of preshave oil or lotion?
I use Corn Huskers Lotion, it's cheap and locally available...
I can make lather with Williams shave soap, but it's not necessarily considered the easiest or best soap for lather(it likes alot of water). Have you considered trying another soap? I'd recomend Arko, but if you'd like to try something that lathers easily, protects well, is inexpensive and sold locally, you may want to try VDH(Van der Hagen) Delux or C.O. Bigelow cream......
As for razor angle, use an angle that both feels comfortable and works for your face..

Time,Technique,Practice and Patience are key to a successful "traditional" shave!!

I really hope "traditional" shaving works out for you...When it works correctly its the "BEST thing in the world....

 

I'm a little perplexed. I shaved with a Fusion for a long time and I didn't know it then but the blades were really dull in those Fusion carts. I had to pull them through my whiskers so hard that I think they pulled more whiskers out than they cut. That was one of the reasons I really liked the safety razor from the first time I tried it. Using a blade that was actually sharp was like a revelation to me. Sure I got a little razor burn once in a while but it was gone in a few hours and it was way better than the aching face I had all day every day I shaved with a Fusion.

So my take on this is that if you're getting comfortable shaves from a Fusion, Feathers should cut like a hot knife through butter. I think it's probably something to do with technique. But it's really about the shave so if you're getting great shaves with a Fusion, go with it.

 

Good lather, light pressure, and patience always served me well when learning to shave with a de. Hope it works out for you, but if you can't get the hang of it and the Fusion works, you can just stick with it. They have some cool metal handles for Fusions that can give you some of the aesthetic of de shaving. Good luck!

 

One thing I did to find the right angle was listen to the razor. I don't mean figuratively. I mean literally listen to the sound of the blade. When it is cutting hair you will hear it then you know you are close to the right angle. After that it just takes practice to dial in the absolute perfect angle. Hope this helps.

 

Reading your posts it sounds to me like you've already made up your mind that a DE shaver isn't going to work for you. Nothing wrong with sticking with what you already know either, but if you're really interested in DE shaving then you may well have to bring some patience to the exercise - and a bit of stubbornness can be most useful too.

Perhaps the whole experience with DE shaving was a bit "front -loaded" as well - it can be very helpful having all this information available at a keystoke, but it's devilishly easy to get the balance wrong between reading or watching what works for someone else and filtering that through the matrix of your own experience to find what works for you. There's just no substitute for personal experience when it comes to learning something new IMO, and reading about a thing or watching a video of someone else doing that thing is not the same as getting in there yourself.

For starters I'de recommend a good pre-shave routine to soften up the stubble. I like a nice 2 or 3 minute soak with a hot towel myself, followed up with a bit of Noxzema. But experiment a bit and you'll likely find a routine that does the job for you. The Williams your using can actually make a great dense lather in my experience, but it can also make a rather weak and watery one, and again there's just no substitute for your own experience here. Sttck with it and you may very well wind up with a favourite (it's one of mine for sure), but in the meantime you might also want to try other options for lather. I'm sure that others here can suggest a cream that will yield a fairly predictable lather, but in my own experience I've found that face lathering with an Arko stick is almost foolproof. And maybe a blade sampler...but above all patience.

 

It could be your razor. My EJ89's blade exposure was slightly skewed causing me to get some awful shaves with it. I ended up tossing it.

 

It is not about the blade, it is about the razor + blade combination. That is because a given blade will often yield very different shaves in different razors. For me, the Derby blades in a Merkur 34C razor give outstanding shaves. The Derby blades give rather poor shaves in an Edwin Jagger DE89L. Feathers give rough, irritating and not all that close shaves in either razor. But that is just for me.

Which brings us to another important point: Your Mileage May Vary (YMMV). A razor and blade combination that works well for me might or might not work well for you. I would not really call Feathers or any other blades "top of the line". Each blade has certain characteristics, so each which will suit some guys well and others not so much. Given that, "top of the line" means blades that work well for you rather than a particular blade.

I have had some truly awful shaves from my DE89, but with the right blades some outstanding shaves as well. Blades really can make that much of a difference in a razor. Two blades is not that many at all, so why not try a few more? The Polsilvers and Gillette 7 O'clock Super Platinums might do well with a tough beard. There are also plenty of other blades to try.

There is no maybe about it, prep and technique are both important. Try comparing gel in a can to high-quality soaps and creams and it will be come apparent. It is surprising what a difference the prep makes. In my opinion, Williams Mug Soap is reasonably good.

Part of the problem could be in trying to get a baby bottom smooth shave. It is more important to get a comfortable shave first. Once that is accomplished, then one can fine tune the shave process to also get a close shave. If you are getting close, comfortable shaves with a cartridge razor, then that is a good thing. Perahaps just use it as a baseline and a fallback while experimenting with a safety razor and double edge blades? If a safety razor shave starts to suck, then set the safety razor aside and finish with the cartridge razor.

When first starting out with a safety razor, I read that absolutely no pressure should be used. That resulted in rough shaves with lots of tugging. What worked for me was *very* light pressure rather than absolutely zero pressure. Anything more than that would result in some pretty bad shaves.

 

If the DE doesn't work for you then try a single edge or injector razor, some of us prefer them over pretty much all DE razors. Or, stick with the cartridge razors. There are much cheaper systems than the Fusion and Mach3 available, such as the Trac II and Sensor.

Cartridge razor are safety razors, so you've already figured them out.

 

Thank you all so very much for the help and advice. It means a lot to me.

For right now I will continue using my cartridge razors HOWEVER I will be giving it another go with the safety razor next week, perhaps for the last time. I’m going to do the most ultimate prep I’ve ever done, and maybe I’ll even use a different soap or cream. I think that Williams Mug is a very underrated soap and while it looks watery, its actually very nice. Now I am actually allergic to certain luxury creams like Proraso Green and Taylor of Old Bond Street Sandalwood. Another awful and upsetting thing about my shaving life. These creams were AMAZING and smelt great. It was such a tease because it took a few shaves before I started breaking out.

I thought it was maybe the fragrances so I then tried Unscented No Parabens Taylor of Old Bond Street and Art of Shaving Unscented and STILL had a breakout on my face!!! Must be the chemicals or whatever else is used in these luxury creams. So I guess as a quick side topic here, can anyone suggest a very nice cream or even soap that is almost guaranteed to be safe to try for my one final go around with the DE?? I’ve read that Jeremyn St Taylor of Old Bond is a very good one for guys with sensitive skin but I’m almost afraid to go back to any TOBS. Someone earlier mentioned Arko.

 

While I haven't tried as many soaps and creams as some of the guys and gals here my suggestion would be first Van der Hagen deluxe which can be found at Walmart and most drug stores for the soap and either Real Shaving Co. cream which can be found Rite Aid drug stores and Kiss My Face shaving cream. You can can check KMF's web site for stores that carry it near you. Both Real Shaving and KMF have unscented creams so that might help with the allergic reaction.

 

I have a tough beard too. Insufficient prep was probably my biggest factor at the beginning, and that distorted all my other factors. Early on I found that a 5 minute castor oil prep with multi-day growth softened my tough beard much more than Williams alone could. Now I find face lathering with superior soaps is sufficient. A good soap stick like Arko or Palmolive and applying and lathering directly on the face conquers many issues for me, and makes just about any razor and blade combo workable.