OT: Safety razors

[KenK]

Last weekend I looked in Walmart. Walgreen, Albertson, CVS, etc. for a single blade safety razor. Nary a one anywhere! Surprising! I use a Hydro-5 and the blades are just too expensive. I've been working several months with a Rolls Razor I inherited from my father but despite many honings and stroppings I still can't get a decent shave. Despite owning many in the past I couldn't find one in my bathroom cabinet. So it's either buy one amd blades via mail/internet (hate to pay the high shipping), learn to use the Rolls, or try yet another electric, none of which at a decent cost seem to work.

Comments? Is it just me?

[Mayayana]

I just use Gillette "Good News", without the slime strip. I would prefer not to buy disposable, but the Gillette GN are the only ones I've tried that don't cut my face. And they're actually very cheap. All the specialty razors seem like overpriced gimmicks to me. I haven't tried an old-fashioned type for decades. Last time I did I found it tricky not to cut myself. With the GN razor the blades are set and don't seem to extend out far enough to cut.

On the other hand, it's been awhile since I had to do a GQ shoot. (Well, never, actually, truth be told. :) So I'm not all that picky about getting a perfect shave.

| Last weekend I looked in Walmart. Walgreen, Albertson, CVS, etc. for a | single blade safety razor. Nary a one anywhere! Surprising! I use a Hydro-5 | and the blades are just too expensive. I've been working several months | with a Rolls Razor I inherited from my father but despite many honings and | stroppings I still can't get a decent shave. Despite owning many in the | past I couldn't find one in my bathroom cabinet. So it's either buy one amd | blades via mail/internet (hate to pay the high shipping), learn to use the | Rolls, or try yet another electric, none of which at a decent cost seem to | work. | | Comments? Is it just me? |

[KenK]

"Mayayana" wrote in news:mh3ari$2ae$ [e-mail]:

I tried disposables. Bic I think it was. Don't remember why, but I hated them. Poor shave? Painful? Can't remember.

You're not missing anthing. Those weekly GC shoots are very boring.

[Retired]

I, too, find the Good News 2 blade performs as well or better than these new "gimmick" razors. And they are inexpensive.

Also I started out, and for some years, used an "old school" double edge safety razor (and brush & mug !). Would not go back to that now.

[Retired]

I tried the BICs once. You're right They were awful compared to Good News.

Also, if you really meant *Single* edge blades, try a hardware store. They still sell them as paint scrapers etc ;-)

2.79 for pack of 10 >

[Frank]

I've been shaving with an electric razor since starting blood thinners over 16 years ago.

When I first went into the hospital for my clotting problem I had a roommate being treated for an infection after cutting himself shaving. He put a new double edged blade in his old style shaver and unknowingly it snapped and protruded out cutting him badly.

[dpb]

...[snip]...

Not surprising at all if you mean the razor; Wally-world here still stocks the Wilkenson (sp?) blades; Dollar General has a no-name that is quite acceptable as an initial edge altho as one might expect doesn't hold it for as long...

I also got fed up with the high price of replacement cartridges when quit being able to find them for the Schick whatever it was called had used for years. I couldn't find one of dad's old safety razors so I went to eBay and got a replacement used old heavy Gilette for like $3 w/ free shipping and have been using it for a couple of years now...

They've become a hot new item it seems, though, so may have to keep looking for a while for a good deal but they're certainly findable...

[dadiOH]

Since you know how to strop and hone, go get a straight razor. People think they are hard to use and that their faces will wind up as chopped meat. Not true. Being able to actually feel the blade makes their use easy.

There are three main considerations:

1. blade width (1/2"-3/4")
2. toe shape (square or rounded)
3. grind (hollow or "V") _________________

I've used two for close to 60 years...

1. 5/8", round toe, hollow ground
2. 1/2", square toe, "V" ground

Each has a totally different feel. The first almost "'pings" as it cuts; the second has a more solid feel. I prefer the second because it is easier to shave around my beard and moustache; gotta be careful with the square toe not to dig in. ____________________

If I didn't use the straight razors I would be using one of those bat wing Gilettes with double edge blades.

[John]

Gillette Sensor 3's work well for me.

John

[Dean Hoffman]

Consumer Reports doesn't have any ratings for blade razors. The electrics they rated are spendy. I don't hang around civilized people so the quality of my shaves doesn't matter much. I use whatever triple blade razor seems cheapest at whatever store I'm at. Amazon does have customer ratings for razors. >

The Perfecto plus 100 blades will set you back $33 plus shipping. Eighty one customer reviews with a rating of 4.9 out of 5.0.

[notbob]

Still buyable on ebay for < $50.

The old Gillette Platinum blades, not so much. I see 'em "from Russia", but whazat gonna getchya? Whatever you do, do NOT buy Gillette "Blue Blades"!! Ancient technology that turns yer razor into a dull whisker yanking nightmare. No wonder the straight razor survives!

I may jes splurge for a used Gillette. I hate throwing these crappy multi-blade disposables away. Jes more plastic in the ecosystem. I currently use Bic Comfort 3 disposables, but not happily. 8|

nb

[Chet]

I've been using my trusty old 'Gillette Trac II' since around 1974 and couldn't be happier! The razor and blades are readily available on eBay at very reasonable prices.

Gillette Trac II Metal Razor:

Trac II blade examples:

[Nil]

On 20 Apr 2015, KenK wrote in alt.home.repair:

I've been using inexpensive disposables from Costco. There are several dozen in a bag and that will last years. They work fine for me. The last batch I bought were, I think, Gillettes - I liked them better and will probably get them again when the Costcos run out.

I used to use a nice heavy, balanced handle for Trak II type blades. That felt nice in my hand, but the shave was really no better.