I'm getting into wet shaving next week!

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Peak_Oil

Joined
Nov 6, 2005
Messages
554
I have a Merkur DE safety razor on its way to me right now, along with a badger brush, some cakes of soap, aftershave, all that stuff. I bet some of you guys use that old school stuff, right?

What kind of a setup do you use?

There's a great series of videos on YouTube from a guy who posts to badgerandblade.com (wet shaving forum) who goes over all the techniques and equipment/supplies you need.
 
I have a lot of wet shaving stuff, but my favorite setup is probably:

Brush: Simpson Tulip 3 super
Cream: Castle Forbes Lime
Razor: Merkur HD with Derby blade
Aftershave: Good old Aqua Velva

For those who haven't seen them, those videos are from Mantic59 and they are the best thing since sliced bread for people who want to learn all about traditional wet shaving.

So what stuff did you order?
 
# 1 of: Proraso Eucalyptus & Menthol Shaving Cream-made in Italy-150 Ml.
Sold by: Perfect Beauty (seller profile)
# 1 of: Merkur HD Classic "Barber Pole" Long Safety Razor-#38C- Made in Germany
Sold by: Perfect Beauty (seller profile)
# 1 of: Omega Stripey Badger Hair Shaving Brush with Stand - #63171
Sold by: Perfect Beauty (seller profile)
Shipping estimate: May 12, 2008

* 1 of: 100 "Derby Extra" Stainless Double Edge Razor Blades
Sold by: Derby International, LLC (seller profile)

and I picked up a cake of Williams soap at the Ralph's last week.

Sorry, very tired, working night shift, back to bed, ty for your reply, see you at 4AM
 
Pre-Shave: Neutrogena Skin Clearing Shave Cream
Brush: Shavemac Silver Tip XL Imitation Tortoise 26mm knot
Soap: The Gentleman's Quarter Sandalwood with Vanilla Shaving Soap
Scuttle: Georgetown Pottery Handthrown Scuttle
Razor: 1 of 8 - today was a Puma 88 5/8 Straight Razor (I also have shave ready Torrey, Filarmonica #13, Rasoir Garanti, Real Red Point, Wapienca, Maher & Grosh, Joseph Elliot straight razors in a rotation)
After-Shave: Alum Block, followed up by Nivea Extra Soothing After Shave Balm

I love the feeling of a good straight shave...
 
I started about a month ago, I like it much better so far. I did have to take it easy at first to allow my face time to adapt, but I'm getting better. I use a Gillette Super Speed razor, Williams mug soap and blades from my local drug store. They're the same ones in mantic59's video (see T.J.'s link above, I also recommend you watch them), the first pack he picks up. No straight razor yet, don't think I'll ever make that step, but who knows?

A lot of info here:
Shavemyface
 
hi guys,

i'm new to this forum and i just wanted to tell u that boker.de has very nice razor blades. unfortunately they r not listed in the U.S.-version of boker.

u can check out the razors at: http://www.boker.de/index.php?c=115

really nice is the one with the damascus blade. it's very expensive (695 EUROS) but limited to only 500 pieces worldwide.

the one that is called silver steel contains real silver for a better cut.

all made in germany
 
by the way, i forgot my razor in a hotel in barcelona 8 years ago and i really miss it to this day!!! there's nothing like WET SHAVING!!! IT WAS THE ONLY TIME THAT I ACTUALLY FELT SHAVED!!! it's tricky in the beginning and there's no way to get around cutting yrself every now and then, but it's the real thing!!!
 
Will be starting the wet shaving thing when I get home also. Did some research and ordered a Weishi,as a lot of what I saw on the web said it was a mild and non-aggressive shave. And the price was right $21 delivered so if I find wet shaving not my liking it's no big loss.
 
Well, I managed to wear a white t-shirt to work last night after my first shave so it couldn't have been that bad. Frankly, I enjoyed it. I liked the stink of the hot wet badger hair, the cool menthol, everything. And following it up with a handful of some kind of Nivea snake oil aftershave. I just liked the whole process.

16 hours later and no 1700 shadow. I like it.

And, my old lady had framed a couple magazine ads from the 40s and hung them up in the bathroom years ago. One was for an ejector razor that featured "stropped and honed... they're STRONED!" as the jingle. Lo and behold, while digging around in deepest darkest CVS, I found a pack of ejector blades. She had picked up the razor featured in the ad off eBay a year or two ago, so my next project is to clean up the old ejector razor and shave with that thing too!

This is fun. I never thought shaving would be something to look forward to but it is!
 
citizensoldierNY said:
Will be starting the wet shaving thing when I get home also. Did some research and ordered a Weishi,as a lot of what I saw on the web said it was a mild and non-aggressive shave. And the price was right $21 delivered so if I find wet shaving not my liking it's no big loss.
Click to expand...
The Weishi is not bad, but I feel that it's just a little too mild. For a few dollars more, I think the Merkur HD is leaps and bounds ahead of the Weishi. The HD is "just right", very controllable and mild enough to go easy on your face, but just aggressive enough to really slice those whiskers in a satisfying way.

If the Weishi works for you, great - but if you feel it could be better, check out the various Merkur models.
 
TorzJohnson,
I figured I'd use the weishi as "training wheels", then work my way up to a vintage razor or something else as I got accutomed to actually putting some thought in my shaving routine and can do it safely.
 
I dont make a science out of shaving, but I cant stane tha cartridge gillettes and wilkinsons. ( I dont even think about a electric razor)
So I usually shave with a Gillette fatboy adjustable('59 I think) and Derby Extra blades from the turkish store downtown. A boar brush is enough for me with gillette shaving cream(not the stuff in the can) and Old Spice. I know a badger brush would probably be better, but this set-up works fine for me, so I'll stick with it.

Peter
 
brush- Edwin-Jagger badger hair
soap- Edwin-Jagger aloe cake or Kiss My Face cream if I'm in a hurry
blade- antique Wade & Butcher bow razor (sheffield, england)
Nothing compares to a real shave with a real sharp straight razor. enjoy!
 
finally got home yesterday and opened up weishi, and so far so good, felt a lot closer than the disposable I have been using . And I haven't managed to knick myself so all is good in my shave world. Definitely won't be going back to mach 3's and paying an arm and a leg for blades.
 
i just started doing it since sunday! :)
here is my setup:
1904Shave.jpg

its a Mühle classic
and here is a vid of me fixing the blade on the razor
http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=3Al6NmZbTr4

i shave my face and my head with it
it (still) takes waaay longer time to do it then with modern cardridge knives, being all carefull and all, but since i only been doing it 4 days i'm sure that'll improve.

my brush loses hairs all the timetho, i must get me a better one.
 
Mike L. said:
Byron, how about pics of a couple of those razors?

--Mike L.
Click to expand...

How about a picture of my latest? I got this one Monday: a custom razor by Joe Chandler - a member here and on StraightRazorPlace.com.

This is his picture:

DSCF23.jpg


The only bad thing about this razor was that it was my first Spanish Point, and I didn't realize that I had gotten into the *bad* habit of knowing where the tip of the razor was by watching the end of the blade (instead of the end of the cutting edge). With this Spanish Point, it meant that my right earlobe paid the price in a quick slice!
 
My hands shake too much to use an open cut-throat razor....but all my life I've wet shaved.Like far too many I've been bamboozled into using disposable or cartridge razors.But, I've had enough! I want to get back to the type of shaving I started with 35 years ago,traditional safety razor blades.Why? Well I think they probably work better,even if this type of razor has albeit disappeared from the shops(Mr Gillette and the like want to push their overpriced so called modern methods)It's expensive and very wasteful of resources which create yet more junk.

But how can I get re-started please? I know HOW to shave but with WHAT is my question. I use a brush and cream or soap, but what about razors and blades?Where to obtain new ones? Which brand of razor? I've heard Merkur mentioned and Weishi(presumably a cheap but not inevitably bad Chinese razor?) anything else? What is this open comb set-up? I should shave every day but leave it 2 days, I don't mind the rough look and it shaves better but my beard is tough and coarse. How about blades please?

Gentlemen, I appreciate your help and suggestions.
 
There are several places on the internet that are only about wet-shaving, with forums for all aspects of the wet-shaving experience - from pre-shave treatment to lathering to shaving and then to after shave.

ShaveMyFace.com
BadgerAndBlade.com
StraightRazorPlace.com

I'm not sure about the first two, but I know that StraightRazorPlace.com has quite an active BST with quite a few newbies posting WTB for razors, and such.

With a quick search on google, I'm sure you can find links to quite a few internet only shops that cater to wet-shavers as well.

Good luck!
 
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