Shave of the day 13th July

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Pre-shave: Pure glycerine soap
Lather: Arko Cool Mint shaving cream
Brush: Vie-Long 14033 mixed horse-badger brush
Razors: Merkur 25C open comb with a “Treet Platinum” blade, Racer Safety Razor with a “Racer Super Stainless” blade
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum block and Proraso Liquid Cream A/S

If you had told me three years ago that a DFS would be the norm and nothing to write about, I wouldn’t have believed you. But today I got a DFS as I usually do, and there isn’t much to say about it.

Pictures and quick review of the vintage Ever-Ready 1914

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I am a very lucky guy for many reasons, but one of them is that I own an old razor that used belong to an old friend of the family that is – as far as I can tell – in near mint, unused condition. What better way to try SE shaving than with a razor that has a history attached?

Thanks to the friendly fellows at The Shave Nook I identified the razor as an Ever-Ready Model 1914, also known as the little lather catcher. Most of the guys who uses SE razors promised me that it was a wonderfully smooth and mild shave… more on that later

First we got to have pictures!

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Riches revealed; a SE razor and almost full packs of blades.
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Focusing on shiny objects is hard…
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Two packs of blades, one full, one missing one blade – which is in the razor.
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Everything out of the box.
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Just the razor – nice knurled grip, balance near the head.
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Closeup on the head – an interesting (to me) open comb with a bar. Not a spot of rust either, or even much dust.
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The head head-on. The lettering on either side says “LIFT HERE” in a non-serif font.
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The head opened, showing the blade that is in the razor. Two little tabs on each side holds it in place.
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The blade out of the razor. I’m not sure what “radio steel” is, but I know that back in the day radio was a buzz word much like digital was in the 90’s.
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A better view of the lettering on the blade.
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The head with no blade. It’s a little hard to see, but the text says “American Safety Razor Oo. Inc. New York”. Again, it’s practically spotless.
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The underside of the head, reading “Ever-ready” and “Patented March 24/14”
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Another view of the underside. Seems to be a very slight bow to the bar connecting the ends of the comb, but that might be the surface I photographed it on.
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One of the unopened blades. Compared to today’s packaging, this is pretty awesome.
    
This is the old, original blade. Notice how the solid sides lets the hooks on either side hold the blade in place easily.
    
Closing the lid though, it seems that the blade is pushed forward a bit and rests against two small bumps on the razor. The bear-trap lip seems to hold it securely in place too…

The only downside is… I can’t get it to give me a good shave. I can get a near BBS shave on my face with it in a single stroke, but once I get to my neck…. lets say I haven’t had this much razor burn and weepers since I started traditional wetshaving. I’m not sure if it’s the blade flexing – the original blades were certainly thicker and more rigid than the modern GEMs – or if it’s just me not being able to hold the EverReady at the right angle down low on my neck. At any rate it is a real shame, since I would really enjoy using this historic razor… but for now I’ll have to put it aside. Who knows, I might give it another go in a few months and see how I fare then?

Shave of the day 11th July

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Pre-shave: Pure glycerine soap
Lather: RazoRock XXX
Brush: Turkish No7 horse hair
Razors: Merkur 25C open comb with a “Treet Platinum” blade, Racer Safety Razor with a “Racer Super Stainless” blade
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum block and Krampert’s Finest Experimental Menthol

On a whim tried a cold water shave today. Used a block of what was intended as a melt-and-pour from the local hobby store for the face wash, built up a good lather from the RozoRock and went to town. The cheap Racer razor keeps impressing me. Cold water rinse and Krampert’s Menthol was a cooling end to a damn fine cool shave. Worth doing again on a summer day!

How to introduce traditional shaves to the cartridge generation?

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I really, really enjoy shaving in the old fashioned way; soap, brush and double edged blade. I enjoy it so much I rather go for the cave man look than having to use a cartridge or electric razor – in fact, I enjoy it so much I want to share the enjoyment with the world!

There are several reasons for wanting to share. At the very core, I find it to quite simply to give a much superior shave and a much, much more enjoyable experience in the bathroom. Then you have the enjoyment of trawling the various online shops in the various corners of the world – from Turkey to Brooklyn NY, from Spain to the UK. And not to forget, the fun of talking to like minded shavers from even further abroad online.

Which off course leaves the question of how to properly introduce others to this all too absorbing hobby of mine… without coming across as a weirdo or worse. Not an easy one to answer, that is for sure.

One thing I have considered is assembling a Pay It Forward Starter Kit – PIFSK – and hand out as gifts. A quick look around shows me that I can assemble a decent one for less than 10 USD, meaning no one will be heartbroken if the recipient finds that old fashioned shaving isn’t for him (or her, for that matter).

Such a kit would most likely consist of a Turkish No6 brush, a stick/tube of Arko soap/cream, some good blades and a cheap but good razor – right now the choices are between the Yuma and Racer razors; neither of which can be said to be expensive razors. Add to that a card with some quick instructions*, some links to places online to learn more and perhaps some pointers on brush and razor care… printed out on nice, thick paper.

I have gotten both a Yuma and a Racer from turkey, and both actually shave remarkable well. I just need to find out what bades do and don’t work with them, which off course would mean trying them with several blades I consider good to find the best match… or maybe two best matches.

Then it’s “just” a matter of creating a presentable box and find out who the recipient will be… and that might be the hardest part of it all.

*) Wash face. Rub shave stick over stubble. Use wetted brush to build lather directly on face. Shave with short, controlled strokes while maintaining proper angle. Rinse face. Apply more lather. Shave again. Rinse well. Apply aftershave or balm of your choice.

Shave of the day 9th July

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Pre-shave: Dr Bronner’s Magic Soap, Lavender
Lather: Mike’s Unscented Soap
Brush: Vie-Long mixed horse-badger #14033
Razors: Merkur 25C open comb with a fresh “Treet Platinum” blade, Racer Safety Razor with a fresh “Racer Super Stainless” blade
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum block and Krampert’s Finest Experimental Menthol

First shave in quite a few days – being ill is no fun – and the first outing of two new razors. The 25C performed excellent as expected, having the same head as my 985CL travel razor. The Racer was a pleasant surprise, being a gentle-yet-aggressive razor performing better than the 3.75USD I paid for it would indicate.
Krampert’s Menthol – which I do sincerely hope he’ll be able to offer for sale when my sample bottle is used up – rounded off a really nice Monday shave on a muggy summer morning.

Shave of the day 4th July

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Pre-shave: Dr Bronner’s Magic Soap, Orange
Lather: Proraso eucalyptus and menthol soap
Brush: Turkish No6 horse hair brush
Razors: Vintage EverReady Model 1914 with a GEM, Feather Popular with a “Feather Hi Stainless”
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum block and Krampert’s Finest EXPERIMENTAL Menthol

I was still very excited about trying my vintage, but… had to switch to a regular DE for the second pass. Got a decent shave on my cheeks, but anything but on my neck. Seems like me and SE is just not meant to be.

Quick review: Proraso eucalyptus and menthol soap

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The Proraso in the green tub was one of the first soaps I bought after getting into traditional wetshaving, and still one of my fall backs if nothing else appeal to me in the morning.

The Proraso eucalyptus and menthol soap makes a great lather which not only cushions great but stays fluffy for quite a long time, which is good if you like me sometimes spends a bit of time fuzzing over which razor to use. It also smells good, which is always a good thing.

It can be a little picky about the brush – I seem to get the best result using a short lofted brush with lots of backbone. YMMV off course, but when I’m using a soft brush on this soap loading seems to take forever.

Overall a good soft soap that I can recommend to anyone who likes menthol in the morning.

Shave of the day 2nd July

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Pre-shave: Dr Bronner’s Magic Soap, Lavender
Lather:C&E Sandalwood soao
Brush: Omega #10048 boar brush
Razors: Vintage EverReady Model 1914 with a fresh GEM
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum block and Krampert’s Finest Bay Rum

Very excited about trying my vintage, but… lovely lather, not so lovely shave. A bit of shave burn, a few weepers on my neck. As far as I can tell there is nothing wrong with the razor – logically the fault must be in my technique…

Shave of the day 29th June

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Pre-shave: Dr Bronner’s Magic Soap, peppermint
Lather: Mike’s Peppermint & Rosemary Soap
Brush: Cie-Long mixed horse-badger #14033
Razors: YUMA with a “Shark” blade
Post-shave: Cold water rinse, alum block and Krampert’s Finest EXPERIMENTAL Menthol

Last shave for now with the cheap and cheerful YUMA. While the handling is a little rough, the end result was a DFS.

Quick review: The YUMA 2.59 / 2.98 dollar safety razor

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Bottom line up front: This is not a bad razor when you consider the price – but there are plenty of other, better razors out there if you’re willing to pony up a little more cash.

As part of my experiments in traditional wetshaving – and also with an eye to putting together a cheap starter kit I could PIF to people curious about old fashioned wetshaving, I picked up a very cheap Turkish razor. You can get this for 2.59USD from BestShave, or a whopping 2.98USD if you spring for the boxed version. The box is flimsy plastic and don’t fit the razor very well – allowing it to dance around during shipping – so you might as well save the 40 cents.

The razor in it’s presentation case. Notice the lack of supports holding the razor in place, and also the generous airspace between the lid and razor.
   
The YUMA head on. The actual surface treatment is decent, but not great – I can’t see this razor lasting terrible long with frequent use.
   
Obligatory beuty shot – the hexagonal handle is quite comfortable to hold, but very lightweight. It is also oddly slippery, meaning dry hands is a must when using the YUMA.
   
When disassembled it’s obvious that the YUMA has been designed to be as cheap as possible. Not only is the metal some unidentified for of pot metal, most likely heavily alloyed zinc, but they have also made the molds to use as little of it as possible – hence the very wide gap between the safety bar and the body of the razor head, as well as the     raised bars to lift the blade as opposed to a more traditional design where the center part of the head would be thicker.
The head and handle. Again notice how much care has gone into minimizing the use of metal in this razor. One downside of this is that the razor head is somewhat malleable –    if you look closely you can see that the curvature of the head is slightly uneven.
The YUMA reassembled and back in it’s box. All things considered it’s a fairly decent looking razor with a classical styling – reminiscent of the Merkur C42 in looks but not quality.
In use, the YUMA is.. .interesting. It feels harsh – at least with the Sharb blades – but provides a surprisingly smooth and mild shave. Some online reviews of the YUMA indicates that it should in fact be aggressive, I chalk that up to either the well known concept of YMMV, or possible to the lack of QC in production. The cheapness of construction also means that care has to be taken while loading the YUMA, to ensure an even blade exposure on both sides of the head. Care must also be taken while using the YUMA, since I found that the head have a disturbing tendency to work itself loose from the handle – which may be an issue with mine rather than a consistent feature with the YUMA. The YUMA handles much like any other short handled razor, although it is extremely lightweight. The hollow, lightweight handle acts as a megaphone, pretty much letting you hear each whisker as it’s cut. As mentioned a couple of times the razor feels fairly rough and harsh, but it does give a remarkable decent shave in the hands  of someone who knows what they are doing. It is also remarkable intolerant of any mistakes the user might make; this makes the YUMA a poor choice for someone just starting out with traditional wetshaving in my opinion.

I cannot in good conscience recommend the YUMA as someones first razor. I will however suggest that it’s a fun little razor to play around with for an experienced shaver, or to use as a travel razor. For less than three dollars it’s actually remarkable good value… but keep in mind that the value is that low.