Speak to me about Rotation

Thoughts and input on anything related to wet shaving or men's grooming.
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bflotom2
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Location: Buffalo, NY

Speak to me about Rotation

Post by bflotom2 »

No not tire rotation but Razor & Blade combination rotation. I have two razor & blade sets that are at the ready to shave with each day. My process is to use the same razor and blade for 5-6 shaves. (I get 5-6 shaves per blade before the quality degrades to where I need to replace the blade) Then rotate and use the other razor & blade combo. What is your process: do change set-ups each day?
Regards,
Tom
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John Rose
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Re: Speak to me about Rotation

Post by John Rose »

Um... yes, I guess.

Aftershaves: I go in alphabetical order, then repeat.

Brushes: I try not to use the same one two days in a row (for no technical reason), But a few I favour more than others.

Razors: I pick one more or less randomly from a selection of 12 or so, but again I try not to use any one more than twice in a week, and some (Edwin Jagger DE87, QShave Futur clone, '46 Aristocrat and Long-Comb New) get more use than the others.

Blades: I do not rotate them but swap them between the different razors. I keep track of how many shaves are on them. I take them out and rinse & dry them after each shave.

This is my blade bank with the then-current blade, and the D12 I was using to keep track of the shave count.
Image
The yellow stuff is a little wad of temporary adhesive putty (eg. "Fun-Tak") to keep it from being knocked around accidentally.
Nowadays that D12 is usually used to keep track of the single-edge blade I use in a RazoRock Hawk, and for the DE blades I use a pair of Percentile dice, which can count up to 99. I have taken a few blades to 100, just to see if I could. I usually replace DE blades after 30 or so shaves, but towards the end some razors do not perform well with them.
For me, the EJ DE87 is good for blades in any condition.
I use the Hawk or another SE razor once a week. There are also a few Schick injectors in the rotation, but once a blade goes into them, it stays there until I replace it.
"If this isn't nice, then what is?" - Kurt Vonnegut's Uncle Alex
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fallingwickets
Clive the Thumb
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Re: Speak to me about Rotation

Post by fallingwickets »

im on the other side of johns spectrum :)

one, brush, one razor, one blade ( known around these parts as fidelity!!!).

Blade gets changed every sunday regardless of times used

clive
de gustibus non est disputandum
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drmoss_ca
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Re: Speak to me about Rotation

Post by drmoss_ca »

I wonder what Royal Doulton intended that item to be? Between my wife's childhood acquisitions, and mine, and the pieces we bought for our son, we have a fair bit of it in the china cupboards, but no blade bank!

PS I showed your photo the The Boss, and she immediately said 'it's a money box' 'Do you think?' "I know!'
"Je n'ai pas besoin de cette hypothèse."
Pierre-Simon de Laplace
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JarmoP
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Re: Speak to me about Rotation

Post by JarmoP »

My three badger brushes I rotate regularly, without favoring any, all work about the same.

That dice cube method would never work for me John Rose. Once a DE blade gets into a razor, there it stays until ditching.No swapping. For me the spreadsheet method works to record. Otherwise I'd never know/remember how many shaves I have had with a blade.

Seldom I want to feel if a blade is worn. Usually I get 8 shaves from a blade, but depends of the blade brand.
Jarmo
ShadowsDad
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Re: Speak to me about Rotation

Post by ShadowsDad »

I mostly use SE razors and the blades last a very long time. So I use one blade and if I change razors that blade gets swapped. They come with a cardboard wrapper and I use that to tally each shave when I put the razor away. I have razors to rotate, but I've pretty much settled on the MicroMatic Clog Pruf. It doesn't clog and handles my multiple days growth just fine. I have a cabinet of soaps that I'm using in the shower. I use my own Bay Rum soap and splash in the cold weather and Frostbite in the summer. Brushes, now those I rotate. I start on the left with the boar brushes using each in turn as it comes up. Then in the middle are the synthetics and on horse. Then all the way to the right are the badgers. As I use a brush I move it to the extreme left after at least a day in the "open" to fully dry.
Brian

Maker of Kramperts Finest Bay Rum and Frostbite
Or find it here: Italian Barber, West Coast Shaving, Barclay Crocker, The Old Town Shaving Company at Stats, Maggard Razors; Leavitt & Peirce, Harvard Square
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churchilllafemme
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Re: Speak to me about Rotation

Post by churchilllafemme »

Well, I have 28 vintage Rooney Finest brushes, so I rotate them in order of total height, from shortest to tallest every 28 days. I also have a 28-day rotation of soap or cream/aftershave combinations, which I have tried to match by character. I have a few colognes and eaux de toilettes that my skin will tolerate, and I use one at the end of a shave that I think will complement the scents of the aftershave. I have 9 double edge razor heads that I use in various combinations (stainless steels or titaniums) with my 16 razor handles, again on the 28-day schedule. And I use each of my vintage razor blades for either 12 days (Gillette Spoiler, Schick Plus Platinum) or 24 days (Personna 74 Tungsten, Wilkinson Light Brigade) depending upon how durable I have found them to be, using a couple antique ivory dice to keep track of the days. All of this may seem just a bit obsessive, but I find that as I get older I like my routines more and more.
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John
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jww
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Re: Speak to me about Rotation

Post by jww »

I have plenty of gear - that I have accumulated over the years and have landed pretty much on a single set up which suits me just fine. I'll swap it up very rarely these days ....... ymmv.
Wendell

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Rufus
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Re: Speak to me about Rotation

Post by Rufus »

I use the same razor for every shave, but replace the blade every 7 days. My at home razor is a Mach3, but when travelling I use a Sensor. I do, however, rotate my brushes every day as I’ve 30. I use a different aftershave every day as well. I don’t change my shaving cream until I’ve finished the bowl, which last me about 3 months.
Bryan
pausted
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Re: Speak to me about Rotation

Post by pausted »

For the majority of my shaves I use the Colonial General with either a Kai Captain or Feather Pro blade. For the sake of variety, I occasionally use one of my DE razors for a few shaves and then it's back to the General. Nothing I have found can compare to the AC blades for a close, comfortable shave. With brushes, I keep two on the counter and alternate them. When the mood strikes, I change them for two different brushes. I use a soap or cream for three or four shaves and then switch to another different one. I usually use the same aftershave until the bottle is dry and then switch to another one until it is used up.
Best regards,

Basil
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Re: Speak to me about Rotation

Post by brothers »

jww wrote: Tue Apr 14, 2020 1:11 pm I have plenty of gear - that I have accumulated over the years and have landed pretty much on a single set up which suits me just fine. I'll swap it up very rarely these days ....... ymmv.
Wendell says it best. Stay with what works best.
Gary

SOTD 99%: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, soaps & creams, synthetic / badger brushes, Colonial General razor, Kai & Schick blades, straight razors any time, Superior 70 aftershave splash + menthol + 444
CMur12
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Re: Speak to me about Rotation

Post by CMur12 »

jww wrote: Tue Apr 14, 2020 1:11 pm I have plenty of gear - that I have accumulated over the years and have landed pretty much on a single set up which suits me just fine. I'll swap it up very rarely these days ....... ymmv.
I'm largely in Wendell's camp. In the early years here, I spent a LOT of money pursuing the perfect brush, the perfect razor, the perfect blades, and the perfect soap. It seemed that blades would be discontinued about the time you found the right ones and that that perfect soap would be reformulated. So, I hoarded expendables. I have around 4000 blades (vintage, recent, and current), including some really good ones that a friend brought me from Iran. I also bought up a lot of the old Valobra-made AoS soap, Valobra Shave Sticks, and the more recent Valobra soap in cakes. I also have some impressive artisan soaps, including some from Tim/TRBeck.

My favorite RAZORS are now the Rockwell 6C on plate 2 and a Mergress on the lowest setting. I find a three-piece razor more convenient, so I have been using the Rockwell (with a custom chromed-brass handle) consistently.

I have a lot of favorite razor blades and I keep several open tucks out at a time. When I need a new blade, I take whatever appeals to me at the moment and I use that blade until it starts to dull.

My favorite commercial SOAP is Valobra hard soap (old AoS, Valobra Shave Sticks, and the new Valobra cake soap).
My favorite artisan soaps are Tim's Soap and Mike's Natural Soap.
I'm currently using one of Tim's prototypes and I'll probably go back to Valobra/AoS after I finish it. I normally use a soap up before moving on to another.

The BRUSH that works best for me, out of over thirty badger, boar, and synthetic brushes, is the Semogue 1305 boar. This brush and the denser 830 are made of a unique boar bristle that is unlike any other I have experienced. For lathering on top of the soap cake, no other brush works as well and as easily for me as the 1305. My favorite badger brushes are also by Semogue.

So, my normal setup now is the following:

Rockwell 6C with custom handle on plate 2
The blade varies
Semogue 1305 boar brush
Tim's Soap (prototype)
Thayer's Peach Witch Hazel

- Murray
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John Rose
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Re: Speak to me about Rotation

Post by John Rose »

drmoss_ca wrote: Mon Apr 13, 2020 3:53 am I wonder what Royal Doulton intended that item to be? Between my wife's childhood acquisitions, and mine, and the pieces we bought for our son, we have a fair bit of it in the china cupboards, but no blade bank!

PS I showed your photo the The Boss, and she immediately said 'it's a money box' 'Do you think?' "I know!'
Yup - a coin bank. It's got a plastic plug in the bottom for when you want to get the coins out again.
Using it for a blade bank is certainly not the sort of thing you would want to do in a house where kids are likely to live or visit.
One particularly nice feature is the rippled top, meant to represent the top edges of the pages of the book. It allows any remaining water to dry, and makes it easy to pick up the blade with your fingers.
"If this isn't nice, then what is?" - Kurt Vonnegut's Uncle Alex
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