Since so many people have been asking me, through the typical quiet channels, I thought I might give a bit of an update on my adventures in wet shaving. More importantly are my long form thoughts on the mechanical aspects.
What makes it wet? New-comers like me may opine that it’s the blood. That makes it sound like torture to most people. Its half true. Its not called wet shaving because of that, but in the beginning there has been a fair amount of bleeding! Its wet because you need to use water and lather much more frequently than most disposable blades require, and nearly no electric razor on the market requires it [or functions correctly if you do use it!]. So already the key is quality and quantity of lather. Coming from a disposable system mindset, gel based bullshit was ubiquitous for this purpose. Getting past the garbage aerosol scent and reddi-whip appearance of Barbasol products, and graduating to the generic gels, gave the best results. In fact, my favorite non gel form, made at one time Edge as a cream in an apothecary type tube, would have been my only trial in wet shaving… the rest of it is awful. The gel products create a low friction point [good], but extremely thin and viscous. Why? Because they clog the 5 blade razors too quickly [bad]. I need to lower the point of friction, but not to nothing. Some of that friction is important, I’ve found.
Friction in multi blade throw-away’s comes from two places: poor lubrication across multiple blades and cutting surfaces, and poor technique. Both of those points, on a quality edge wet shaving system will gouge seams in your face like the ones on your jeans! Since I’m relying on only one edged surface to cut with, the ability of the shaving creams or lathers must not run or flush too quickly from the surface; and since its only one edge, clogging between blades isn’t of any concern. Granted, this razor will clog as well, but it takes considerably more material [wider blades, and more space available in the razor head], and you are constantly flushing the head of the razor with water to clear away the build up of lather from the non cutting surfaces. As a down side [of sorts], I’m using considerably more lather than I had with a 5-blade throw-away. A tall can of Fusion Gel lasted me MONTHS [six maybe?] with daily use. That’s ridiculous, and I realize that. However using more of the gel product didn’t make a difference in performance: the gel product was still thin, would still clog very quickly in the cartridge, and it didn’t change my poor habits. And with the advent of built in lubrication strips [note to reader: if dissipating friction was not an issue, why are manufacturers putting these on the cartridges? Because their gel products clog the cartridge, in the attempt to continually atomize the particles to lubricate the growing number of cutting surfaces. So they include lubrication that does not leave residue to clog, but that still acts as a friction modifier to the gel system]. In short, the fewer the cutting surfaces, the less you need to worry about keeping each lubricated to relieve friction problems.
A bit more about the blades is important before I get to technique. The cutting edge is honed to exacting specifications by these manufacturers, and ideally, the edge cuts as clean of a pass on one face as another. So why doesn’t work like that? Piss poor technique, and product engineering. As the material the edge is made out of is thinned, and its composition is changed, the quality of the blade will change with it. Softer material dulls quickly [rather, the edge folds and rolls or degrades against stronger materials], but harder / denser materials have less flexibility inherently. Manufacturers must strike a balance to keep flexibility [to move with the round contours of the human face, and to stay some what forgiving when necessary], yet keep the edge honed to cut cleanly.
Adding multiple blades became the fad, and it introduced thinner, flexible blades of softer material. Why? First and foremost, to sell more cartridges… No shit. As the edge dulls, you need to replace it, since it no longer cuts the hairs. Seems simple, but people glaze past this point. Part and parcel, adding multiple blades in a cartridge raised the price. Now its about money, on recurring bases, balancing how quickly the edge dulls, multiplied by the price point of each sold cartridge unit, divided by the likelihood of the consumer to purchase replacement cartridges on a frequent recurrence. But it also gives you the impression the blades weren’t flexible before; and in fact as a cartridge, they are less flexible now. In the same idea as doubling up 2x4s to strengthen a wall, creating five layers of redundancy spanning a distance will always yield less flexibility than spanning the same distance with one substrate. Each of the extra blades keeps you from bending and flexing, increasing rigidity. The notion of rigidity is engineered into the cartridge because of the poor technique of the user! [I promise I’m coming to that point!]
So I’m using a single cutting edge, that is more flexible than its “modern” counterpart, that needs different lubrication demands [that are actually in my favor], how the hell am I cutting myself more often? Its that poor technique. [bingo]
Using the multi-blade disposables we fight friction with minimalist layers of lubrication [to keep from clogging the blades], on cartridges that are firm and moderately inflexible by comparison sake. However, we introduce friction to combat its by product. You push harder to over come the softer edges that dull faster on the multi blades, to get the same quality shave as the edge disintegrates. Secondly you make fewer passes over skin because you have made the same pass 3 to 5 times with each cartridge movement. The idea of a once and done solution. That doesn’t work with a single blade. As my blade flexes better, it will bend and skip over spots on my skin that are not completely flat [read: everywhere]. What I’m seeing in my bleeding pattern are many, small dabs of blood. When I shaved and erred with cartridge razors I had deep cuts that bled and were wide. Its clear that the force I was using on the cartridge systems made the cuts; and it’s the blade bouncing causing smaller pricks with the single edge. My technique then became the issue, as I realized this.
I have always trusted in the cartridge razors’ motto: once and done. Making one pass, or two if really necessary, is all it needed to get the job done. With a single edge, I do need to make two or three passes. But more importantly, I need to relube and lather up each time…. something I rarely did with cartridges. Secondly, friction is important, but it doesn’t come from pressure. Using hand pressure flattens the skin around [and in between blades] of a cartridge system. On a single edge you will cut yourself deeply. With a multi blade cartridge you are minimizing the pressure by distributing it across multiple points. You don’t always cut yourself because it’s the same idea as the old circus bed of nails trick… however as the skin changes angles and is no longer flat, that’s when you bite hard… with excessive pressure behind a dulled edge, you do immense damage in the little vertical wrinkle under the nose and above the lip! With the single edge, I need some friction to know I’m gaining traction and working with the skin, pulling it taunt under the blade; this pops the hairs up and keeps from ballooning skin up in front of the cutting edge.
All of this takes time and forethought. But as of 2 months into it, I will say, I have a much closer shave, that I can get two days out of with a single edge system, compared to the cartridge razors. Secondly I can factor in the pricing as such:
Cartridge Razor Typical Expenditures:
1 - 2cartridge each week: 3.75 each
1 razor handle: 9.00 [good for a year or so]
1 can saving gel : 3.00
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in 60 days totals: 57.00
Straight Razor Blade Typical Expenditures:
1 blade each week: .30 each [in 50pk quantity]
1 stypic pencil: 1.97 [good for years?]
1 cake shaving crème: 1.99 [good for 6 months]
1 shaving brush: 20.00 [good for years]
1 razor handle: 25.00 [good for decades]
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in 60 days totals: 51.36
Also note… that while I do have to purchase and use more items, they are cheaper, and they do last considerably longer in the wet shaving system. In a years time, I should be somewhere in the 30% to 50% price equivalency of cartridge shaving. It does add up. But I have learned that much so far.
S
