Traditional Shaving

Revision as of 16:37, 5 December 2010

Traditional Shaving is a form of shaving that eschews the newer cartridge-based razors and aerosol-based creams and gels, and instead used older forms of blades such as the 'Straight' (cutthroat) and 'Double Edge' (DE) razors which when combined with quality soap or cream gives a much closer, irritation free shave. It is also known as Wet Shaving.

With the moves by multinational corporations to force western-world shavers into the expensive cartridge based products, many men have found that they spend up to $4 per cartridge, yet get all sorts of problems such as bumps, ingrown hairs, razor burn and other skin irritations. In most cases, the cartridges are do not last any length of time, and are used more times than they should because of their expense and that causes more issues.

Traditional Shaving instead uses sharp, inexpensive blades which in most cases last longer than cartridges and range from 8 to 15 times cheaper, giving much better value. While the cost of entry into Traditional Shaving is often much higher than a cartridge based razor, the ongoing running costs are much lower, and shaving is seen more as an enjoyable task than a daily chore.

For the most part, OCAU members use Double Edge (DE) Safety Razors for their tradtional wet shaving, mainly as the effort required to keep a Straight Razor in good condition is high. Thus, the scope of the Traditional Shaving page in this Wiki is limited to DE shaving. A Straight Razor Shaving page has been created for those that prefer that method.

The current main thread used by OCAU members for traditional shaving discussion is called DE Wet Shaving Victory

Requirements

There is a high initial cost of Traditional shaving if you were to buy a complete shaving kit, however you may have some usable items already in the house.

You may have an old DE Razor floating about. Many of us were given one by our Grandfathers in the 1980's as a toy - no blade in it of course. Otherwise they can be purchased from online retailers, eBay, etc. Often hitting an old, slightly crusty and rusted razor with baking soda and an old toothbrush yields a razor that looks almost good as new.

Blades are getting hard to find now in retail outlets in Australia. The easiest blades to find are the Brazilian-produced Wilkinson Sword in a white plastic container, mounted on a cardboard hanger and plastic bubble. These sell at Coles and Woolworths supermarkets nationally for ~$12.50 and at some chemists for ~$14.00 and while considered 'servicable' they are not highly regarded. Otherwise, you can get 10-blade packs online for less than $10 delivered. See the Blades section for more details.

Shaving brushes can be found at Chemists for around the $10 mark if you hunt around a bit. If you want a bowl to build your lather in, a simple cheap ramekin from discount stores for just a couple of dollars.

Soaps and creams can also be found at either supermarkets or chemists. Mennen and Palmolive Sticks are found widely and cost just a couple of dollars, and Palmolive cream in a tube is usually stocked also. These are fine to start with before hunting out the fancier stuff like Proraso cream or Colonel Conk soaps.

DE Razors

Double-Edge Safety Razors, while not generally available at the supermarket, chemist or other grooming stores are still one of the best ways to shave. The replaceable blades are cheap compared to cartridge razors, and give very good to excellent results.

DE Razors are not entirely without risk because the blade edges of the razor are exposed and can cause nicks and cuts if the appropriate technique and sufficient caution are not used. They are, however, considered to be safer than straight razors because there is no actual risk of serious injury as there is with the naked blade of a Straight Razor.

DE Blades

Blades are best purchased from online suppliers who can buy in the bulk required to keep prices low, mostly under 50c per blade. There are many vendors who offer sampler packs of a few blades of each brand and variety in order for you to try. After you find a blade that works well for you, it is best to buy in bulk where you can. 100-blade packs are known as Pillars, Slabs or just Boxes. Some blades come in 200-blade Pillars, some in 100-blade Slabs.

Some OCAU members will have small amounts of blades left that they will be happy to either swap with you for another brand, or even send to you on a Pay It forward (PIF) basis, with the expectation that you will do the same for someone else. It's great to try different and possibly harder to get blades in this way, and a blade that doesn't work for someone may just work on your skin and beard combination. This is known as the YMMV rule, or Your Mileage May Vary. Shaving is a very subjective thing.

The following is a list of blades available to purchase through various vendors. We have attempted to find the best vendor list price on each blade on a volume basis of AT LEAST 100 blades, added postage costs for that one package only, and converted it into Australian Dollars at a set rates against Euros (€0.70c), GBP (£0.60) and USD (US$0.95) as indicative at time of publishing. The foreign exchange rates and/or prices may change, extra volume or coupons may affect the price, and getting multiple pillars at once might be more cost effective from a postage unit cost view. DO YOUR OWN CALCULATIONS!!

Blade	Image	Nicknames	Origin/factory	Quality category	Availability	Squire's Score	Cheapest Vendor Delivered to AU (Price+Postage) AUD	Price Per Blade	Mitsi's Notes
Astra SP				Value	Wide	6.25	Razorblades & More ($14.99+$7.28) $23.44/100	23.4c/blade	Not a lauded blade, but liked for the price. Needs slow strokes.
Derby			Turkey	Performance	Wide	7.0	Razorblades & More ($10.99+$7.28) $19.23/100	19.2c/blade	Many recommend this blade, however some say the 'Horizontal' packaged blades are better than the new 'Verticals'. Company says there is no difference. At the USD$20/100 mark it is decent value, at under 20 bucks delivered it is insane value.
Personna Platinum		Red Israeli's, Red Personna, Personna Platinum Chrome	Israel	Value	Wide	6.25	Shaving.ie (€15.95+€4.85) $29.71/200	14.9c/blade	Highly regarded blade for the price but it is a daily 'value' blade. Big value in buying BIG amounts. Connaught can do 400 blades at £28.00 ($46.67 or 11.7c/blade) before postage cost if you like them. Crystals (Blue Israeli's/Israeli Personna) sharper but noticeably more expensive.
Lord Platinum			Egypt	Performance	Good	N/A	West Coast Shaving ($10.00+$4.80) $15.58/100	15.6c/blade	Exceptionally cheap from WCS, one other vendor at USD$12.50/100 (Razorblades & More), the rest above USD$23. Definitely worth a try at these prices.

Shaving Products

In order for the blade to glide across the skin and slice through the facial hair, some sort of lubrication is required. In most cases with traditional shaving, this lubrication is provided by a cream or soap which is worked into a lather and applied to the face, often with a shaving brush. Traditional shaving soaps and creams are based on Tallow (animal fats) or Vegetable fats/oils, and sometimes a mixture of the two. These base ingredients provide lubrication to the blade.

Modern products such as Foams and Gels may work for some people, however they lack the Tallow or Vegetable fats, and replace then with petroleum-derived surfactants instead, namely Sodium Laryl Sufate and Sodium Laureth Sulfate. These two chemicals tend to strip your skin of its natural oils and some people can have sensitivity to them.

Creams

Soaps

Brushes

Accessories

Trusted Vendors

Unfortunately getting supplies for shaving is not as easy as running down to the local supermarket and picking up your favourite DE blades. In most cases we need to deal with online shops, but some local bricks & mortar businesses are stocking the products we want.

All vendors listed have had OCAU members purchase from them with no issues. While this is no guarantee that you will also have a smooth purchase, it gives some background and level of comfort. OCAU takes no responsibility for vendors listed here that you have bad experiences with.

Australian Stores

mensbiz.com.au : Local outlet with a decent selection, but higher prices. Good for emergency supplies, delivery is fast.

International Stores

shaving.ie (IRE) : Newish vendor with an excellent range, some very good prices.
West Coast Shaving (USA) : Longstanding online store, massive range. Postage costs appear the lowest in the business.
Bullgoose (USA) : Another excellent US store. Some hard to get soaps and creams.
Lee's Razors (USA) : Lots of high-end equipment and products here. Seems to be great postage value when buying a large amount.
Connaught Shaving (UK) : Possibly the widest range of blades, and great prices if buying in bulk.
The Superior Shave (US) : New and somewhat ugly site (HTML circa 1998), small Mum & Dad operation but that means low overheads and great service.
Razorblades & More (US) : Former shaving forums seller with a proper website. Some seriously cheap blades, postage is very low.

Forum Sellers

eBay Sellers

The Shave Shed (AU) : Local seller of decent products - blades, soaps and brushes. More expensive that overseas sellers, but handy if you need something within a few days.
Double Edge Shaving Place (aka dridiot, SGP) : Possibly the world's best source of Feather DE blades, and only source of Feather portables left to Australians. Cheap, fast postage from Singapore. Suggest contacting him via PM in the major shave forums as his prices (including postage) are much lower outside eBay.
Bestshave (aka Store34, TUR) : Source of Shark, Rapira and a number of NOS blades. Some very cheap prices, mostly sold 'Buy It Now' with postage included.
Ferroburak (TUR) : Store34's Turkish competition. Does not sell much on eBay, but his package of 1000 blades (400 Derby, 300 Shark & 300 Rapira) is priced as delivered to Australia for under $80. Also sells off eBay.
On The EDGE (aka ntguys, USA) : A decent and reasonably priced source of some harder to get blades, also stock Weishi razors and well-priced Omega brushes.
Kentbrushes (aka gbkent, UK) : eBay 'Factory outlet' for Kent - the brushes considered by most as the best in the world. Great gift ideas (brush, bowl, soap & stand).

Tutorial links