Double Edged Razor Blades

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anotherbob

Lifer
Mar 30, 2019
16,539
30,997
46
In the semi-rural NorthEastern USA
After 20+ years with Gillette Mach 3 Turbo, I have suddenly gone hipster with a Mercur 34c.

To be honest, Mach 3 Turbo gives a decent shave in 3 minutes, and is still the efficient choice to me.

However, I am liking the 30 minute ritual in the evening. It takes time, but with a proper blade it can give a better shave

Trying a lot of things but this is what is working for me

1. Razor - Mercur 34c (Works wonderfully with an aggressive blade). Yet to try an aggressive razor with a mild blade

2. Shaving Soap - Taylor of Old Bond Street and Proraso are both working excellent. Viking Revolution is horrible

3. After buying a cheap pure badger brush I instantly regretted my decision. Favorite is now a Parker Silver Tip with Olive Wood handle

4. I use a pre-shave oil which works, but probably not necessary

5. I like aggressive blades. Still not tried Feather, but Gillette Perma Sharp is excellent. German made Wilkinson Sword is also good. Astra Platinum and Derby is about average. Shark, Personna, and Treet did not work for me.

Not new to safety razors. I used a safety razor during my college days to budget.
Proraso is great. I use the red one.
 

Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,960
14,297
Humansville Missouri
The original double edge safety razor with disposable blades came out by Gillette in 1904. The razor was $5 and blades 12 for a dollar. The inflation calculator says a dollar then was worth about thirty dollars today.

So a $150 razor using $2.50 disposable blades revolutionized how men shave all over and around the world.

Over a century later the Chinese sell platinum coated stainless blades for less than a dime.each.


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Imagine the machine that makes those dime razor blades.

Humans is smart critters, you know?.:)
 
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jpmcwjr

Moderate Moderator
Staff member
May 12, 2015
26,112
29,959
Carmel Valley, CA
I bought my adjustable double edged razor in a flea market in college for a dollar. Turns out it’s a sixties Gillette “Slim”.
<< Snipped bits out >>
Your college had a flea market? Their endowment must have needed real shoring up.

On a thankful note, glad to learn from you I may have some cash hidden away if I can find my old Gillettes.

Now, I am happy with Harry's.
 

jaingorenard

Part of the Furniture Now
Apr 11, 2022
732
3,325
Norwich, UK
My razor is an old Gillette from the 40s, sold by the Co-op. I used to use exclusively Feather blades, but it became difficult to get one colour (the sharper ones - I can't remember which colour) here, so I switched to Astra. I only use Taylor's of Old Bond Street, either the Sandalwood Soap or the Tobacco Cream, which is a fairly new one. As others have said, a key tip is to just allow the weight of the razor to do it's job rather than pressing down.

Does anyone else here shave in cold water? I used to use hot, and do the whole hot towel on the face thing, but I've found I get better results in less time just using cold. I believe there's some logic to this (although it could be total nonsense) - cold causes metal to contract, which at least in theory causes the blade to be sharper. At these temperatures I'm not convinced that this would make any discernable difference. However, the other point is that we use hot water to soften the hairs. Apparently this can cause the hairs to bend slightly when passed with the razor, causing them to cut at more of an angle (and hence leaving a bit more of the hair there). Whereas with cold, the hair slices clean through.

I suspect this is all total nonsense, but it has definitely worked better for me and I wonder if anyone else has tried it.
 

huntertrw

Lifer
Jul 23, 2014
5,793
7,288
The Lower Forty of Hill Country
Here's a shaving tip that I picked up years ago from the Lehman's Hardware (www.lehmans.com) print catalog, and that has worked well for me:
1. Wash your face with soap and warm water, then rinse with warm water.
2. Apply hydrogen peroxide to your still-damp face. The catalog article said that this helps the whiskers to stand upright.
3. Apply shaving cream.
4. Shave.

Regarding Burma-Shave, its manufacturer, the Burma-Vita Company of Minneapolis, Minnesota, sold the business to Philip Morris in 1963. PM subsequently sold it to the American Safety Razor Company who reintroduced the brand in 1997 as a puck-type soap to be applied with brush (the original product was sold in jars as a "brushless" shaving cream). The appeal was strictly nostalgia, as the new product was vastly different from the original.

Burma-Shave was famous for their multiple-roadside-sign advertising campaign (which, sadly, was discontinued after PM purchased the company). One of my favorites, and that appeared on six consecutive signs, was: Shaving brushes / You'll soon see 'em / On the shelf / In some / Museum / Burma-Shave.

BS Jar.jpg
 

Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,960
14,297
Humansville Missouri
Let’s not forget the old politically incorrect shaving accessory advertisements

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IMG_5322.jpegIMG_5323.jpegIMG_5324.jpegIMG_5325.jpeg


What’s always fascinated me is men have shaved since antiquity. Beards went in and out of fashion but most of the Roman statutes and frescoes show clean shaven men.

A friend of mind named Ewing said as a young man he was sent over to Germany and entered combat in the Ardennes in January 1945 and wasn’t able to shave for about two months. His platoon finally was pulled off the line in early March and Ewing said nothing in this world feels better than than a hot, leisurely shave when you’ve almost forsaken any hope of having one.
 
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Flatfish

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 20, 2022
766
1,913
West Wales
but what’s next - copper boiler to heat the water for a weekly bath?
Just because it's old, doesn't mean it's worse. This is particularly true for DE razors.

A proper brush and soap is probably better for you than the stinky, chemical squirty stuff that people use now.

Plus single blades are better for the skin (preventing ingrowing hairs) than multi bladed razors.

Then there is cost. I bought a 100 blades for less than £20. How many Gillette Mach whatever blades do you get for that? Plus if I don't like my blades, I can use a different brand. But with a modern razor you are stuck with one expensive type.
 

Flatfish

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 20, 2022
766
1,913
West Wales
I’ve seen those Gem single blade razors in flea markets all my life, but I’ve never seen or heard of a soul using one to shave.

They still make single edged blades, but they seem intended for box cutters and not shaving.
You have now. I use one. Or at least an Ever Ready which is identical.
One box of 100 blades did say "for industrial use only" but I thought that was cool. My new box doesn't say that, so perhaps I was shaving for 10 years with the wrong type.IMG_20231031_183138.jpgIMG_20231031_183129.jpg16987771943697604663038245119179.jpg
 
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Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,960
14,297
Humansville Missouri
You have now. I use one. Or at least an Ever Ready which is identical.
One box of 100 blades did say "for industrial use only" but I thought that was cool. My new box doesn't say that, so perhaps I was shaving for 10 years with the wrong type.
I just bought a $10 “1912” Gem razor in a metal display box with blades that might be old stock.

Then there was another seller peddling GEM stainless blades for $3.65 for 10 and I bought those.

There’s a forum for razor enthusiasts and I learned the pre 1912 Damaskene Gem is highly prized, and my 1912 is second, and then as the Gem razors get newer they are lighter and of course more common, and cheaper.

There’s a fascinating story about how Gem razor sold for four million dollars in 1919 and the hefty income taxes were avoided by the owners gifting the company to their wives.

—-
WASHINGTON, Feb. 26. 1926 -- Three founders of the Gem Safety Razor Corporation have been relieved of an aggregate of nearly $2,000,000 in taxes through a decision rendered by the Board of Tax Appeals which held that they made bona fide gifts when they presented their wives with $1,250,000 each after selling their stock to the American Safety Razor Corporation.


——

It warms my old heart to read where an old Gem razor was likely the finest replaceable blade razor ever devised.

The double edged razors were for the folks who worried about economy.:)

The original “Damascene” Gem single edge carbon steel blades could be honed and stropped.

 
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Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,960
14,297
Humansville Missouri
There are nearly eight billion souls on earth, about half are men, and at least a billion times a day, likely more like two billion or more, men look in a mirror and shave.

That’s a lot of razor blades.:)

The original shaver was what we call the straight razor. I own my grandfather’s and I took it to my barber about forty years ago (he’s 94 now) and he said he learned in barber school in 1952 to not use that. The double edged razor he claimed was far easier to use, gave as close a shave, and didn’t need honing and stopping. He did hone and strop my razor and I tried using it just once, not twice.:)

But for $26 you can still buy a complete new straight razor kit.

IMG_5330.jpegIMG_5331.jpeg

For those who would like to find a lazier way to shave with a straight razor these seem popular.

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Many years ago I was given an electric razor but I got razor burn from it and it’s somewhere in a box of treasures.

I will say cartridge five blade Harry’s razors work and they are fast and hard to cot yourself with.

But I’m going to play with my old razors a awhile.

What a man saves on blades might buy an extra pouch of tobacco every few months.:)