razor and soap combination

[nicodemus38]

A lot of people used to say my bad shaving experiences with my slims was due to technique or just crummy razors. Never anything to do with the soap and razor combination.

Last few days ive been using my slims with speick and 1 kind of blades that came from the same package. Ive gotten just 2 nicks that healed during the second pass.

For a long time ive had the position that some razors need a specific amount of glide and cushion to be safely usable. That notion has been crapped on by many of the "knowledgable" on various forums, because well, they don't see any difference in performance between razors when they use their one and only soap that that picked after years of experimenting..

[CMur12]

Nic, I have certain favorite soaps that I use with any razor. That said, I vary the consistency of the lather depending upon the razor being used. With especially mild razors (that have a very narrow blade gap) I make a thinner, wetter lather, aiming for maximal glide and minimal cushion. I find that cushiony lather with a mild razor impedes blade access, requiring additional pressure to battle the cushion and achieve an effective cut.

I use mild razors and I like wet, slick lather better, anyway, but this is especially true with very mild razors (US Gillette Tech, Feather AS-D1, and such). I add drops of water to the lather between passes to keep it from thickening. If I want my lather a little thicker for a given pass, I add less or no water between passes. As such, I can easily vary the consistency of the lather from one pass to the next. Generally speaking, I can get the kind of lather I want from any of my favorite soaps, depending on how I work it.

- Murray

[brothers]

It took a while to get into the habit of adding enough water up front, so that I don't find those overly thick cushiony lathers clogging up my razor. If I happen to notice the blade skimming over the lather on the first stroke I don't hesitate to stop and add more water.

[CMur12]

Gary, as I recall, you like the more aggressive razors, so you would tend to use razors with a more generous blade gap. When you get into really mild razors, such as a Gillette Tech or Feather AS-D1, the problem increases exponentially. Even moving up to a Mergress/Progress at lowest setting or a Schick Krona results in enough blade gap to greatly diminish the effect. I prefer wetter lather, anyway, as I find it slicker and it further softens the beard, but it also works much better with the mild razors that I use.

What I was trying to express in response to Nic's post is that I can get whatever kind of lather I want out of most any good soap, though I do agree that different lather works with different razors (i.e. The milder the razor and the thinner the blade gap, the wetter/less viscous one wants the lather to be.)

Glide/lubricity and cushion both provide protection. In a lather with minimal cushion, glide becomes all the more important. I get this normally with a properly worked, wetter lather, but there may well be some inferior soaps that don't provide this glide. This may be what Nic is talking about.

- Murray

[brothers]

Makes sense to me. I tend to prefer abundant lathers, but not so thick as to interfere with the razor trying to do its job.

[CMur12]

So, Gary, you have found a limit to desirable cushion even with the aggressive razors you use. That would make sense. If I used really aggressive razors, I would certainly want a lot more cushion than I do now.

- Murray

[nicodemus38]

I did originally use the amount of left over debris on the underside of my razor blade post shave as an indicator of how good the lather was. At first a good lather meant the residue rinsed off just fine, and commonly if I had to physically wipe the blade on my shirt to get residue the lather had been bad.

I used that method with leas classic cream and razorock classic cream. Once I started using Williams I realized that was not a good indicator of anything. Really it wasn't, and I started focusing more on how the blade felt on my face. Once I did that I suddenly discovered I could use my flair tip with near impunity.

Now that I have a new bunch of soaps to use, the flare isn't quite the same friend it was, im working on that aspect but I think it was blades. Those previous soaps were a blood bath with my slims. Ive had two good times with my slims this week using speick, wich is a lot greasier soap then the first ones.

[CMur12]

Nic, I think you have some pretty good soaps now. Each one can have its own lathering characteristics, however, so in some cases you just need to take some time to get to know the soap and determine what adjustments you need to make to get the most out of it.

- Murray

[brothers]

If you don't already do this, you might give it a try. Use the same soap for several days in a row, not just 1 or 2 shaves, but try for a week or 10 days or more. This is a real eye-opener. The good ones and the bad ones will quickly reveal themselves to you.

[nicodemus38]

ive got good soaps now, and they work fine. Its just that its hard to not use them all at the same time.

ironically,, ive discovered arko and proraso blue at the same time only smells like Blue, but the lather is just like arko on its own. its odd.