DE razor recommends

also had a 34c heavy and a 34c normal break within the last 5 years.

Erm, how? There is precious little to break - two threaded parts and that's about it. Just a couple of lumps of chromed brass.

Cheap? Gillette one is nice and weighty. I didn’t like the smooth handle though…

King C. Gillette Men’s Double Edge Safety Razor - 5 Blades With Gillette’s Best Platinum Coated Double Edge Blades https://amzn.eu/d/2u5Uz2W

I’ve been using a Merkur 23c for two years - not sure how you’d break it! You been knocking nails in!? 🤣🤣

Blades! Shark have been my favourite so far…
https://www.edwinjagger.co.uk/en_gb/shark-super-stainless-de-razor-blades.html

Just leave it for a big manly beard.

Like my mothers.

With the 34c’s both the threaded shafts snapped through corrosion, the Futur just seized solid. And being a fitter by trade I can generally unseize most things but not on that occasion. In the bin!

I'm a big fan of the Muhle R41. Quite an aggressive shave but once you've got the hang of it...

Oh, I have a 23c in my holiday wash bag as it’s nice and light and it’s fine to be fair but then it doesn’t get much hammer as I like to get bearded up to annoy the wife on holiday.

My 2nd favourite is the Fatip Open Comb.

Muhle, looks worth a shout, and I see what you mean about the Gillette. I do like a bit of grip in a soapy situation.

Talking of soap, I recently discovered the best shaving soap to date is a common or garden bar of Pear's Soap. Good as shampoo too.

I've been using an iKon Shavecraft 102 Slant head with the iKon OSS Stainless handle since 2016 with no issues, I get a great shave from it. I am noticing the threads on the head are starting to corrode though so will also be looking at the recommendations here or going for another iKon.

I reckon 6 years is acceptable! I’ll have a look at an iKon, never heard of them before.

Another futur or the qshave cheap clone? Love
My futur although now I'm settled I don't adjust it much. I don't think I'd fancy learning a new razor through if it broke. I'd likely just buy another.

IKon Shavecraft 101 with a weighty handle from Executive Shaving. Been in use since 2014 or 2015.
Just checked it and there is zero corrosion.

I've also got a cheap Gillette one and it's good.

Both used with Feather blades.

Where do you store your razors if they are corroding?

My Futur is at least 6 years old, and it was second hand then. I strip it down every 3 months or so, scrub it clean with antibacterial soap and an old toothbrush, rebuild after lubing it with Vaseline.

I’ve also got a 25C that’s 10 years old that I use for travelling. Still in perfect condition.

Feathers or occasionally Astra green blades.

Oooh, we should start a who's got the oldest razor thread!

Mine's a Gillette something or other that was pushed through my letterbox (presumably as part of a marketing campaign) in 2001.

I had a 34c corrode where the stem meets the top. Emailed Murker who sent a replacement for free.

When you say your expectations, what are they?

My daughter bought me a King C. Gillette one a few years ago, as mentioned the handles a bit slippy with soap on it but it does the job just fine.

I have found Feather blades to be the best on average, i think you get duff blades from time to time no matter who makes them.
Am currently avoiding most other blades at the moment as they seem to be made in Russia, and with the whole Ukraine thing I'm giving them the swerve for now.

Oh, and the stub ends of Wrights Coal Tar soap in the bowl works fine. Getting the beard hot and wet makes more differencevthan soap brand, in my experience.

Anyone else tried flipping the blade over pnce ot starts to go dull? Im convinced it works for a while, bit havent heard of others doing it.

I tried it, made for a very scratchy shave so I don't do it.

I use an Edwn Jagger razor, had it for two or three years now and no signs of any issues whatsoever. Not tried any others so I can't say how it compares but I do wonder what you do that causes the corrosion? After shaving I always rinse the razor in cold water - do you? Maybe I don't use as much lather as you or something, I took a while to learn how to get a good lather (I now let the soap rest in hot water while I shower then it's nice a soft when I lather up - but even then once applied to my face the lather doesn't last and I need to relather halfway through - but I digress)

johnnymarone wrote
Anyone else tried flipping the blade over pnce ot starts to go dull?

neilnevill wrote
I tried it, made for a very scratchy shave so I don’t do it.

I tried it too and as above, found it very scratchy and quickly stopped

Oooh, we should start a who’s got the oldest razor thread!

1956 Gillette Super Speed Red Tip. It was my Grandfather’s. Still going strong, although I don’t use it much these days, preferring a Merkur 34C

Gillette Fatboy for me with Gillette Nacet or Astra Green blades.

birth-year (1964) gillette slim adjustable for me although i think ive got an older SE Schick injector razor from the late 50's too.

btw @bensales, the redtips a razor thats been on my wishlist for some time now and i'd willingly take it off your hands 😎
(if it was your grandfathers tho i guess thats not likely eh?)

Some nice (and expensive) razors on here ! As I mentioned, I don't particularly look after my razors, rinsed off after shaving, no stand just placed on the windowsill until next day. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect it to last more than a couple of years. I might go full stainless with an iKon B1 or Muhle R41GS and see how they fare but its a bit of an investment !

btw @bensales, the redtips a razor thats been on my wishlist for some time now and i’d willingly take it off your hands 😎
(if it was your grandfathers tho i guess thats not likely eh?)

Correct, it’ll never be sold! It’ll get passed to my son in due course as he’s named after his great-Grandfather.

They can be got off Fleabay for fairly reasonable prices…

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/394165885925

I recently switched to a Merkur 37c Slant after wanting a less tuggy shave for my coarse beard and not frequent enough shave routine. Night and day different, much better even if I haven't shaved for 4 days, possibly not quite as close but I don't care as I enjoy shaving again.

I am currently using 50s Gillette Tech / ball end DE razor.

Current blades are Gillette Super Nacet.

Best of all blades are Polsiver and Super Iridium blades.

Another Merkur 37C slant user here.

Since the start of the pandemic I have only been shaving once a week and the slant does a great job of getting through the whiskers in just two passes.

If you are interested in the same razor note that Merkur have made new ones a bit less aggressive then the older ones.

My 2 futurs (one at home, one at work) are about 4 years in my possession and both bought used on eBay. They get a rinse after use then get put away in the wash bag. They get a bit of a clean when I change the blade and occasionally a strip and a bit of vaseline. Which reminds me I must do that next time I change the blade. Why yours have failed to last I have no clue.

Gillette 7 o'clock sharp edge (yellows), arko shave stick and Johnsons aloe Vera oil for the best shave ever! (For me. YMMV)

Edwin Jagger DE89L has linear ridges along the shaft for decent grip and has good weight.

Fave lather is Truefitt & Hill 1805, I didn't get on with No 10.

Fave blades are Personna Red, Feather or Rapira Swedish.

1940's US made Gillette Super Speed which is in perfect condition.
Love the idea of shaving with an 80 year old razor.

(I also have a Gillette Tech, an Aristocrat Junior and a Futur which never gets used now)

rebuild after lubing it with Vaseline

Careful, the putoline crowd will not be happy

i just thought. the futur users, if youve not got one of the older ones you may think they dont dismantle and hence experience crudding up and eventually seizing as you cant clean them well. the older ones just keep twisting and the 2 bits of the hed, and the spring, unscrew from the handle so it can be decrudded and the thread can get a wipe of vaseline. the newer ones have a little tooth that acts as a stop at the max adjustment point of 6. at that point, pull the top of the razor away from the handle, the spring compresses and you have just enough movement to disengage the tooth, twist further while pulling and you can go a further turn before the tooth hits the stop again. repeat the pull and twist. after 2 or 3 turns you cn just keep twisting and it soon comes right undone allowing the 2 parts of the head, the spring and the thread in the handle to be clean and lubed. this should then provide decades (hopefully) of smooth use. hth

Recommend What you Have™.

I've got an Edwin Jagger which a brief google would suggest is this one. It was kindly donated to me by (I think) sadexpunk who you may remember from earlier in this thread, at the time I was dipping my toe into DE shaving and almost gave up because I had a cheap and nasty plastic razor (either Gillette or WS) which was dreadful.

It's night and day from the plastic crap and I can't fault it. It's a nice weight once you get used to it being on the stubby side compared with the Bic Biro style of modern cartridge razors. Whether it's any better or worse than other DE brands I couldn't say, but I've had it for several years now and who knows how old it was when he sent it to me, and it still looks brand new.

Oh, not really relevant, but I have a posh handle which takes increasingly-difficult-to-source Sensor cartridges. It has its place, I find the narrower head to be useful for detail work.

I don't really get this arms race that's going on with cartridge razors (well, I do, it's marketing and trying to sell razor blades at two quid a pop). As a kid back before I'd even started shaving I used to see the TV adverts with Victor Kiam going "the first blade shaves incredibly close... the second, closer still!" and I'd think "well what's the point of the first one then?"

I swapped a muhle for a rockwell 6s. If you're getting corrosion, perhaps spend more on a stainless razor rather than a chrome one?

It's 4 years since I tried the de thing and thanks to a lot of help here I was confident it would be a success pretty early in my journey, although I still spent about 9 months trying 20 or more different blades. Now I wish I'd just started out with a de all those years ago and not wasted money and time on cartridges or electric razors. Hopefully my lad will be wiser than me!

I remember that thread. Did you reach any firm conclusions blades-wise?

I bought a thousand Gillette 7 o'clock sharp edge, the yellow box ones. Pretty sharp, smooth and last well too. Since I'm hybrid working now and shaving a bit less I've probably got twice as many as I'll ever use. Glad I stocked up though, they are Russian made.