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Re: Hello all, so tired of electric, need to change!

Posted: Tue May 06, 2014 9:27 am
by mustang_john
Hi all,

I seem to be having more sucess, not cutting as much now.

The thing I can't work out is that some blades from the same packet seem to vary immensly in sharpness. Had a couple of Gillette's that seemed blunt, and now got a Wilkinson Sword one that's lasted 4 shaves and counting.
Been having to change blades after 2 shaves. Could it be that I am just getting better at shaving? How long should a blade laste, approximatley?

Has anyone else had that experience?

John.

Re: Hello all, so tired of electric, need to change!

Posted: Tue May 06, 2014 1:49 pm
by CMur12
Hi John -

It sounds like you're getting better at shaving.

The time a blade lasts varies a lot from one shaver to the next. If you have a very heavy, coarse beard, you may only get a couple of shaves out of a blade. In that case, you might also be more aware of variations in quality from one blade to the next. I'm surprised that you are having such an experience with Gillette blades, but I'm in no position to say you're wrong.

- Murray

Re: Hello all, so tired of electric, need to change!

Posted: Tue May 06, 2014 3:27 pm
by ShadowsDad
John, the last batch of Personna Labs I bought from a b/s/t were and are pure garbage. I got one from the pack that gave me weepers, lots of weepers. Unfortunately I sent some out to a noob with the advisory that they might be terrible. The ones I sent to him wouldn't cut paper. So yes, it's possible that blades can vary. I strongly suspect however that the labs I bought were Personna cast offs that someone decided to make a bit of money by selling. Normally there is little to no variation in 1st quality blades.

When I was testing blades I found some blades where I got as few as 2 shaves (Feather) and as many as 7 shaves which is my limit for DE blades. Single Edge blades, I can get as many as 20 shaves from one. I think one of the factors Murray didn't mention ( a personal theory) is lather quality. The better the lube the longer an edged tool lasts. I always make an ultralather. I'm pretty sure I don't have a light beard.

Re: Hello all, so tired of electric, need to change!

Posted: Tue May 06, 2014 7:55 pm
by Squire
Brian has hit on it John, we can't say with any certainty how long a blade will last because it's not a controlled experiment. Once the shaving technique is down and the lather is consistent from day to day you can notice trends with blades but consistency is the key.

Re: Hello all, so tired of electric, need to change!

Posted: Sun May 11, 2014 3:22 am
by mustang_john
Hmmm, interesting.

I think my technique is getting there, but there does seem to be some variation in lather consistency. I'll try being more careful when mixing it up. Trying to be frugal as much as I can and make the cream last. Funds in very short supply, but that's another story :roll:

Cheers.

Re: Hello all, so tired of electric, need to change!

Posted: Sun May 11, 2014 10:47 am
by ShadowsDad
M-J, Mainers are frugal, and being a Mainiac you'd think I'd try to cut corners where I can. But frugal doesn't mean cheap. It means using something and getting the most out of it. Trust me on this, use what you need for soap. Don't scrimp there.

When ARKO can be purchased in bulk, for less $ for than some other soaps sell for only 1... Well, just use the right soap and make the lather correctly without scrimping. ARKO isn't a luxurious soap, but it operates at a far higher pay level that it's price would suggest.

Google "ARKO for sale 12" and find out what 12 sticks sells for today. I do believe that's the shipped price also. BTW, it would be Tulumba that has the bulk price you want. I believe they're on Amazon.

You don't use a stick you say? Just mash or shred and pack it into a bowl. That's what I do, and it works fine that way too.

If you haven't tried ARKO, PM me your address and I'll send you a stick. Just don't try to make the stick last. Make great lather with it.

Re: Hello all, so tired of electric, need to change!

Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 11:58 am
by Squire
I'll second Brian on the Arko soap and add Real Shaving Co. for a frugal, high performance cream.

Re: Hello all, so tired of electric, need to change!

Posted: Mon May 12, 2014 9:42 pm
by bernards66
John, I agree with Brian regarding frugality. While I understand not having a bundle to spend on all this, still, frugality only makes sense up to a point. It IS important to have the best lather that you can make with whatever prep product you're using and this sometimes means using a bit more product. I've always ( well, not 'always'...but for a long time anyway ) mostly used rather more expensive shave creams and I used to make the mistake of trying to eke as many shaves as I could out of a pot or tube of cream. I never really got the full benefit of these products ( Trumpers, T&H, etc. ) until I tried not being so damn skimpy about how much cream I used. Only when I made this shift did I get that 'oh wow' sort of lather that these creams can provide. Much the same is true regarding other prep products as well.
Regards,
Gordon

Re: Hello all, so tired of electric, need to change!

Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 5:16 am
by brothers
bernards66 wrote: . . . I never really got the full benefit of these products ( Trumpers, T&H, etc. ) until I tried not being so damn skimpy about how much cream I used. Only when I made this shift did I get that 'oh wow' sort of lather that these creams can provide. Much the same is true regarding other prep products as well.
Regards,
Gordon
Yes to this. :D Find what you like and use it in good health, because no one knows what tomorrow might bring. Enjoy your shaves!

Re: Hello all, so tired of electric, need to change!

Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 6:30 am
by jww
+4 -- frugality in cream use has always resulted in outstanding quality lather for me as well.

Re: Hello all, so tired of electric, need to change!

Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 11:38 am
by mustang_john
ShadowsDad wrote:

If you haven't tried ARKO, PM me your address and I'll send you a stick. Just don't try to make the stick last. Make great lather with it.
Thanks for the offer buddy, but shipping across the big pond would be waste of money :roll:

I'll have a look around for it here in England.

Cheers,

John.

Re: Hello all, so tired of electric, need to change!

Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 1:37 pm
by ShadowsDad
Thanks for being so gentle in shaking me awake. I missed the location. Yes, I agree.

OK, but that opens up other possibilities, and to my way of thinking even better ones than ARKO.

You have Palmolive which is even better and inexpensive for you, not so much for us. Boots stick is good also, but I have no idea of the price. I have a friend who sends it to me and I just tell him to let me know how much $ to Paypal to him.

I think there might be a few others easily available to you but the memory escapes me at the moment. Basically we can't help with price/value suggestions since the pond is in the way. You have good and inexpensive soaps easily available to you though. Far more of those than we have actually.

Re: Hello all, so tired of electric, need to change!

Posted: Wed May 14, 2014 6:29 am
by jww
Palmolive classic stick is still my favourite stick from a pure price point to performance perspective. Squire frequently reminds me how good it is every time I see him post about it on the daily soap and cream thread. Pick 'em up at Tesco or Asda for a bomb - 50p (49p at Asda - always the price cutter :wink:) for a stick that will last a good while -- you simply can't beat that. Even the cream at £1.90 is a great deal -- especially given the performance. Nothing comes close to the overall quality of these two products.

Re: Hello all, so tired of electric, need to change!

Posted: Thu May 15, 2014 6:01 am
by Squire
Squire is close to being able to read through the remaining Palmolive cake in the bowl but has been glad to have the opportunity to revisit.

Re: Hello all, so tired of electric, need to change!

Posted: Thu May 15, 2014 6:35 am
by brothers
mustang_john wrote:
ShadowsDad wrote:

If you haven't tried ARKO, PM me your address and I'll send you a stick. Just don't try to make the stick last. Make great lather with it.
Thanks for the offer buddy, but shipping across the big pond would be waste of money :roll:

I'll have a look around for it here in England.

Cheers,

John.
Just FYI, John, you can get it shipped from Bestshave.net for a very reasonable cost. Check it out. They have all of this stuff, and they ship worldwide with free shipping after the purchase total reaches a pre-established threshold. Shipping costs for purchases less than the threshold are not bad at all. It's a well-run enterprise.

Re: Hello all, so tired of electric, need to change!

Posted: Thu May 15, 2014 6:46 am
by Squire
I'd be surprised if you couldn't find it there John, Arko is ubiquitous.

Re: Hello all, so tired of electric, need to change!

Posted: Thu May 15, 2014 10:11 am
by jww
Amazon.co.uk at £2.50 for starters and The Executive Shaving Co for £3.40. Just to name two.

Re: Hello all, so tired of electric, need to change!

Posted: Thu May 15, 2014 1:16 pm
by mustang_john
That's cheap enough :) think will stick clear of amazon though, politics etc etc!!!!

Just out of interest if this Arko stuff is a stick, how do you get it onto your brush. I have only used a cream upto now.

Also, and apologies if posted in wrong place, I stumbled across this today whilst reading the news....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-magazin ... r-27412415

Re: Hello all, so tired of electric, need to change!

Posted: Thu May 15, 2014 1:50 pm
by ShadowsDad
Perfectly reasonable question IMO. Sticks aren't best applied to the brush, but to the face. Sticks used this way are perfect for travel since it removes some gear from the bags.

If you need a shave you have a built in rasp called a beard. When I used them in stick form, I no longer do, I wet my face a bit, and wet the stick as well. Then just rubbed the stick on my face. The whiskers would remove plenty of soap from the stick. It's plenty for face lathering. I found that to be messy process though so now I shred the stick and pack it into a tub. A bit of water added to the shreds allows the shreds to be packed much tightly together. Give it a day or so to set up and use it as you would any other soap in a tub. Today all of my sticks are packed into tubs, and I still face lather them. FWIW, all lather is built on my face, I never bowl lather.

Re: Hello all, so tired of electric, need to change!

Posted: Thu May 15, 2014 1:58 pm
by jww
+1

Simply wipe your wet mug all over with a wet stick and build lather. If you want t is actually quite easy to ally soap from the stick to a brush by holding the bristles of the brush together making an "ok" sign so that your point and thumb make a snug rim around the middle of the height of the brush and rub the soap directly to the brush. I do this when the water is harder as in most hotels, but never need to at home.