Switching to wet shaving...All at once or piece at a time?

I learned to shave in my teens using a double edge razor owned by my dad. In later years I went from that to disposable razors and then electric shavers. Disposable and electric are horrible in my opinion. About six months ago I went back to good old fashioned DE razor with good soap and brush and remembered just how good a good shave can be.

Go ahead and make the change complete, I think you will not regret it.
 
Thanks for all the replies.

I've decided to do it all at once, but I have one more question.

Is it worth it to spring for an adjustable or should I start with a fixed?

I'm looking at the Merkur Futur and the 34c if that helps.
 
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I'm looking at the Merkur Futur and the 34c if that helps.

The Futur need be the only razor you ever buy.

That's not to say you won't want to try something different sooner or later, but you'll never need another razor.
 
Hi,

I have an old Gillette Adjustable I've had since I started shaving way back in the day. Just started using it again. I don't really think I would be interested in a fixed razor. Being able to dial in your blade is so nice.

dalee
 
I went with the Futur because I saw several posts on other forums saying, essentially, "The Futur is not good for comparative blade evaluations because everything shaves well in a Futur." Well, since I'm looking for a razor to give me a great shave, not a tool for doing blade evaluations, that seemed perfect for me. And it has been. I'm a big fan of the Futur. I also have and am very pleased with the matching brush. A little expensive? Yes. But the set paid for itself about two years ago and expect a lifetime of shaves from them.
 
Oh.. and I was concerned about the polished chrome finish. Would it be slippery? I almost went matte, but all of the other fixtures in my bathroom are high-polished and so it would have looked out-of-place. My conclusion is that if your hands are soapy, this can be a problem, but not otherwise.
 
I highly recommend the Art of Shaving badger hair brush, soap, and lubricating oil. The oil before the soap does a great job of softening everything up.
 
I am from the "You can never have too many razors camp" so I would say get the 34C, only because you don't know if DE shaving is for you yet. Once you have a razor and decide whether or not DE shaving is for you, you can spring for the more expensive razor(s), or you can just head right to the head if the modern class razors. I don't think you can go wrong either way.

BTW I have a 1960s Gillette Slim adjustable, and even though it is one of my favorite razors I more often than not use a fixed gap razor.
 
Thanks for the help guys!!! About to pull the trigger on a Merkur Futur three piece set, then I see that West Coast Shaving is out of stock!!! :dejection: Oh well, good things come to those who wait.


Oh.. and I was concerned about the polished chrome finish. Would it be slippery? I almost went matte, but all of the other fixtures in my bathroom are high-polished and so it would have looked out-of-place. My conclusion is that if your hands are soapy, this can be a problem, but not otherwise.

I was worried about this as well since most razors had some sort of knurling on the handle, thanks for the reassurance.:thumbup:
 
You might try bestgroomingtools.com

I wanted to order an Edwin Jagger razor last week and West Coast Shaving was out of stock on the models I was interested in.
BestGroomingTools had the DE89L for the same price, threw in 15 three blades (five packs of Rainbow, Silver Star and Racer) and it arrived in three days.

I have shaved four times with it (my first DE razor) with no cuts or irritation yet! Don't know about the Merkur - but I like the EJ.


Cat
 
I would recommend going with a Schick Injector, finest shaving implement ever devised by mankind. For soap, use whatever you want. There are guys who spend 45 minutes or more on their shave every day, going through their collection of 15-50 DE's and 4-10 SE's, selecting a particular blade (Wearing a white shirt today... better not use a new Feather), one of their many brushes, bowls, mugs, oils, glycerine soaps, lathering creams, and every other combination of gear you can imagine. Plus a custom made rack for their 2nd and 3rd tier vintage razors they haven't gotten around to refinishing yet.... all made in their own birth year.

If I had that kind of time to commit to shaving I probably wouldn't need a job.

The biggest key is to take the hottest shower you can and work the water from the shower into your beard for a couple minutes. That will soften up the bristles enough that you don't have to worry about much else.

About a year ago, one of the girly makeup shops was having a 3 for 2 sale on all kinds of stuff, and I found tubes of green Prorasso shaving cream there. Stacked that with a $10 off $30 coupon and bought enough green Prorasso that I doubt I'll be worrying about soap/cream for quite some time.

Pick up a styptic pencil until you figure out your angles and then it's all downhill from there.

I have a Futur, it sits in the same mug that has my Injector, the brush I never use anymore, and a thing of dental floss I use religiously.

Do whatever you want, just get away from the stupid $2 cartridges that last three days and the cans of spray goo and you can't go wrong.
 
FWIW I have all three currently available adjustable DE razors (Progress, Futur, Vision) and I have a vintage Gillette adjustable as well. Of the three Merkur's I like the Futur the least, precisely because of its smooth handle. Even the matte finish version is slippery. The Vision gets around it's smooth handle by giving it a nice grippy shape. The Progress, even though it has a textured handle, can still be slippery but because the handle is short you can steady it with your pinky finger resting on the bottom of the razor.

The vintage Gillette has a well-textured handle. I just don't care for the shave it gives me (compared to the others).

Its no secret that I love the Progress: its my every day razor and you'll have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands. But YMMV.

--Mark
 
I have an Edwin Jagger and a couple of Merkurs (not sure which models). While the Merkurs are really nice, the Jagger is phenomenal. Somehow the angle, the weight, the smooth glide all work perfectly for me.

...of course, I don't use it that often. Haven't used it for a few weeks now. I use my straight razor on a daily basis. Don't get a straight razor...they are far too addictive.
 
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