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After a few years of disasterous results with disposables, cartridges and electric - my Merkur "Futur" arrived today, with a badger hair brush and some Taylors cream.
Question #1:
The Futur safety razor is adjustable, from 1 through 6. Clearly the metal buffer various from far out to far in. My question is, for a newbie at this sorta thing, which is the optimal setting. I've just had my first shave and it wasn't that close and a little bit slicey - well, 3 or 4 little nicks and no slices anyway.
I put the adjustment midway as I didn't know the optimal setting.
Any advice with this razor would be greatly appreciated - I've watched the videos and such and just need a touch more information.
Well Im new here as well, as you can prolly tell from my high "post" # but the way Ive been doing it is starting at the beginning. Shave w/1, see how it works out, next time try 2, ect. The setting varies with individual.
There may be some method to determine half way through if youre too.. light I guess--the blade isnt aggressive enough-but youll prolly be doing multiple passes so your whisker length after the first pass isnt a good measure
Youll be able to tell if its too aggressive, your face will feel like it was sandpapered. I got sandpapered and nicked up the other day. My cat was distrating me too, so I blame it partially on her. She doesnt seem too worried about it though...
Oh something that isnt spelled out that I started doing-- use a wide mouth cup to build your lather, like an expresso cup in Mantic videos. I tried a regular mug and couldnt get enough motion to get a good lather going. You may already have that one down, but it was a newbie thing that I just recently ran across
Thats my experience so far, I but I freely admit there may be gaps in my knowledge
Pete_T wrote:Youll be able to tell if its too aggressive, your face will feel like it was sandpapered.
Excellent description! Thats exactly what I am feeling right now; the shave is pretty smooth (ish) but it is more than apparent that it was too harsh and too fast. I will get it down to a #1 setting.
I have some details on Futur use in the post at the link below my signature. But in general, start at 1. Work your way up as you have to---you want the lowest setting that will work. And, of course, get LetterK's blade sampler so you can try different blades in the Futur and find the one that works best for you.
I've tried to take off todays stubble after a hot shower and I'm afraid to say the results aren't good. Let me state my two predominant problems:
1) the underside of my face has a lot of hair that grows in different directions. The north to south shave doesn't touch these.
2)I used a setting 1 on the Merkur Futur. The shave was better, granted, but just like yesterday my neck is on fire - no cuts, but aggressive razor burn. I used the weight of the razor head and did not apply external pressure.
So my main questions are: Shaving in those tricky spots - I'll never get a clean shave if I can't switch directions although I appreciate that this will take some practice; and the neck hairs - is my lather poor or my technique or both - just in your opinion based on the history.
Oh yes, the neck. It's a place where anyone can have trouble. The N-S approach is not very apt because hair does not grow truly N or S. In 'hair grain'-speak, North would mean against-the-grain and South being with-the-grain. So when you hear 'do a N-S pass' what they're really saying is go with-the-grain. You'll need to make a mental map of your neck one day. Let your hairs grow out for at least 2 days (maybe 3 depending on your beard's growth speed) then rub your hand over your face. Where you feel the hairs lay down properly is their direction of growth (with-the-grain). When you feel your hairs become more rough against your hand that would be against-the-grain.
You will find your neck does not have uniform growth. It's a jungle down there and must be treated very carefully when shaving.
Going with the grain of the hair in some areas will require me to invert the safety razor - and I'm scared to death of slicing myself raw. Apply no pressure downward - no problemo. Applying no pressure, or very little, upward - easier said than done for the novice.
Is this just a slice it n see type thing until one day it clicks?
Typically, with no finesse and all over the handle.
In general I grip it from the lower region to ensure the head does the main work, although I find thats easier said than done. Plus when lather gets into the equation my grip maintenance causes alot of play in the handle position.
Bit of a mish-mash of factors really.
In short: I try for the bottom, but usually end up somewhere in the middle.
The neck is difficult because of all the curves, in addition to the various beard directions. I have found that for me, I can best tell the grain about 10-12 hours after I shave: I rub my face in various directions, and the roughest directions are against the grain for that part.
Keep working at it, remembering good prep, light pressure, and correct blade angle, and use short strokes so you can pay attention for the entire stroke. It will come together soon.
I purchased the same razor for my first wet-shave experience. I was fortunate to have the knowledge of this forum before I got started, so I've been shaving between 1-2 the whole time with good to great results. I also echo the sentiment of the other responses in that you should try different blades. I initially started with Merkur blades, thinking the Merkur razor/blade combo would be optimal, but quickly learned that feather blades better suited my shaving needs.
I use a Futur and love it. For me its all in the blade. I can get a very smooth neck using a german wilkinson and 2.5 passes. An extra pass on the chin area across the grain. Take time to ensure you have prepared your face properly and made the stubble stand out as much as you can. Don't over-use your blades and try different blades until you find the one that suits. I couldn't get a closer shave with any other razor if I tried. Try Proraso pre/post shave cream after you have shaved, it has a tremendous cooling/soothing effect if you do get any razor burn. I also find that using a good toner after the shave close the pores and helps to reduce any mild razor burn.
well...been shaving with the lowest price merkur for 6 weeks after years of various mach crap from Gillette.
First week with merkur cheapo was rough but after a week got good shaves.
Merkur futur arrived today with feather blades. I started with a 1 setting and didn't feel like it was doing much...cranked down to a 3 and I COULD REALLY FEEL IT. As others have described...it almost feels like straight razor burn. Don't know if it is from new razor (weight is much differnt), new blades or my cream (muehller pinsel) which is my least favorite.
I guess I should have started at 1 and just went through 2-s, 1-n pass. South passes went pretty well. North nicked me up in 3 places. I guess it is like anything else as far as getting used to something new...but rough first shave with the new razor
You should start at the lowest setting with the Visiion (with any blade, especially the Feathers), and then shave. Gradually increase the setting from shave to shave, stopping when you get the shave you want. This will be around "O" or the second "I", probably.
I should have mentioned it previously, but you don't want to start adjustables at a high setting. Start at the lowest.
