SMF

Gordon, you may be right about how many shavers have bumps and other irritations caused by multi-blade razors but I am not convinced it is as many as you think. I am cautious about extrapolations in most instances because I prefer to have controls in place before drawing too many conclusions. It would be helpful if some studies were available for us to look at and see whether we are right or wrong. Perhaps it is a much greater problem than I think it is but so far I have not seen the evidence ... or if it is there it is not public or else we don't know about it or it has been concealed. I do know that if I had such a problem I would stay away from multi-blade razors but since I don't, I don't worry about it. As an octogenarian I have far more pressing concerns ... such as not buying green bananas.

Harper, Yes, green bananas are also a problem more often then is generally realized...yep. It is unfortunate that there do not seem to be any controlled studies of the issue at question. I base my 'hunch' merely upon personal observation realizing, of course, that such is not 'scientific'.
Regards,
Gordon

Oh science be hanged, too scientific, I much prefer my free association way of thinking.

Oh sure Squire, you are not yet an octogenarian. When you are you will not be so cavalier with your free association thing and will inspect every banana with exceptional scientific circumspection.

It won't be a banana that gets me harper, it will be a blonde. Then my son will have my remains cremated and my ashes shot out of a canon.

Yes, indeed! SMF's own Hunter S. Thomson....you know, I always suspected...
Regards,
Gordon

Squire: do you mean canon or cannon? If it is canon then you have a literary bent that I was sure you had but for some unknown reason kept well hidden, like your Hunter S. Thompson secret identity. And if it is cannon then it is the same thing.

Like many men, I, too, would like it to be a blonde but all my girl friends were brunettes except for one redhead and I have been married to a brunette now for 52 years now. And as you would expect, she uses a pink multi-blade razor. I think it is a no-name.

I'd like to be blasted out of an original Civil War field piece but that's the romantic in me.

All I could come up with that gets close to science on this topic is a poll conducted by the American Academy of Dermatology which indicated 78% of men that shave reported they get "skin irritation" from shaving. I did not find the poll details so I cannot say if they asked about type of irritation, type of shaving, or other factors. Also, I cannot speak to quality or generalizability of the information. However, if you are comfortable extrapolating, that would be a lot more men with shaving related irritation that I assumed were out there. It is probably safe to assume that the majority of respondents to the poll are multiblade users, but it does not tell us if that is the source of the irritation.


Related to ash distribution, these folks look like they may be a good starting point for you Squire.

http://myholysmoke.com/Home_Page.html

Apparently you can also launch your ashes into space, however it also looks like that can go awry.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18594384/ns ... ost-earth/

Andy, when was the poll taken? I am not surprised that 78% of men report some kind of irritation from shaving but the severity of the irritation is another matter and a lot depends on what period the poll covers. I doubt that 78% had a problem today but if it covers a lengthy period such as several months I am sure the numbers rise. I get neck irritation and the occasional weeper from using a DE on my neck ( no where else) but I do not from a multi-blade which seems to be the opposite of what some on this forum report.

Squire: where do you want the cannon pointed? That is a critical factor in an endeavor such as you suggest.

harper wrote:Andy, when was the poll taken? I am not surprised that 78% of men report some kind of irritation from shaving but the severity of the irritation is another matter and a lot depends on what period the poll covers. I doubt that 78% had a problem today but if it covers a lengthy period such as several months I am sure the numbers rise. I get neck irritation and the occasional weeper from using a DE on my neck ( no where else) but I do not from a multi-blade which seems to be the opposite of what some on this forum report.

Poll was conducted in September of 2005. It is not clear the nature of items used to gather the data, the details not being available. I suspect it was probably more of a broad question, something like "Do you experience irritation while shaving?" and 78% said Yes. Certainly there are a lot of variables left out, including how often a person experiences irritation or how severe it is. I am not saying the information was not gathered, just the information was not published where I could find it. I would be intrigued to see if there is more out there and may eventually look, time permitting.

Andy: Thanks. I would be interested in more information too and have made some searches but have not turned up anything.

That's the rub harper. My son and my friends have developed several charming senerios for the disposal of my remains, none of them quite legal.

Around here there is a trend of being scattered in the St. Lawrence River in the Thousand Islands. I'm not sure it's legal but it happens, the local self named "river rats" like their river.

Squire wrote:It won't be a banana that gets me harper, it will be a blonde. Then my son will have my remains cremated and my ashes shot out of a canon.

So, Squire, were you an artilleryman in your soldiering days?

brothers wrote:Harper, I've used a Trac II on and off for decades, more off than on. They never fail to cause one or more bumps. It's a guarantee, I've found. Usually not on the first shave, but after about 2 to 3 days, it's as good as money in the bank. Why, I've not been able to think it through, but the shaves are close and smooth. That makes me think maybe the second blade coming along a millisecond after the first is cutting the whisker just a teeny bit below the skin level, and after a few hours when it begins to grow back, it encounters a difficulty coming up through the surface of the skin. Just a pure guess, but something's causing it, and I reckon that theory's as good as any.

Gary, I experienced the exact same results with the Trac II razor. The shaves were nice and close but the bumps made using the razor very annoying. The only multi-blade razor that didn't do this to me was the two blade Schick Diamond FX. I used it until finding blades locally became impossible.

No, a particular razor does not cause bumps. "Cause" is the wrong word; this matters, I'm not nit-picking. At one time I used a Fusion for three weeks straight, and had no bumps. A couple of years before that, I used a Mach 3 on an every-day basis, and no bumps either. I was, however, easily able to give myself razor bumps by using my electric razor too vigorously. (I never use it anymore.)

The essence of the matter is, if you shave, you must not harm your skin too badly. For me, the mass-market multiblade razors work just fine - I suppose I must have been issued the mass-market skin as well.

There are several ways of preventing skin injury while shaving. If your skin tends to get injured easily, because of its texture, its chemistry, or what have you, then you have to find the methods and materials that work for you. A razor is only one piece of the puzzle, and it's necessary to remember that, through every step of your shave. (for example, if you make a poor lather for shaving, your "mild" blade might not save you.)

Using a product that softens your beard better can help (even such a simple one as a longer soak in hot water), because that will reduce the pressure required and will make your razor strokes smoother, thus the blade will dig into your skin less.

To me, the Fusion does seem to have a significant "traction" that pulls it closer to my skin. I can see that for someone who already has razor bumps sticking up, that could spell disaster as those pre-existing bumps get cut up. It's (relatively speaking) a lot easier to "skim" with a single blade, holding the razor in mid-air and keeping it away from the skin. (AKA "negative pressure") Less shave, more skin...


Conclusion: Blame the razor, sure, but never blame ONLY the razor.

I blame only the razor. For several decades of shaving, the only razor that's caused my ingrowns is the Gillette Trac II, and the thing is, I really like the shave it provides. I don't use the Trac II any more because of this. I still have it though.

Murray +1

Just to add to this, my theory is that if you use a 2 pass shave WTG & ATG then the hair folicle should be cut evenly each side leaving a point in the centre of the hair thus allowing easy passage through the skin. But with a single pass the tug and cut action leaves a sharp point to one side of the hair which increases the likelyhood of it snagging and the innevitable ingrowns.

As I said this is just theory IMO

Any thoughts?