Adventure into disposable land

bodge

Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2012
I have been an irregular shaver in my past, and jumped in to daily shaving with DE & SE for a bit over 2 months now. There are some questions buzzing in my head.
What if I had been doing it (technique) wrong with the disposables?
What if the prep is making the difference which allows me to shave daily?
What if daily shaving itself is making my skin tolerate the blade better?
and more what ifs.

If I had to have only 1 razor from the ones I have, it would be the Gem featherweight. I have ordered SE blades but as they aren't delivered yet I have decided to try some experiments with random stuff.

Prep - Cold water splashes, Proraso pre shave, proraso face lather.

First up - Some extra cheap home brand disposable twin blade. I can't remember but it was either Coles, Woollies or IGA. It's a dark navy blue job with a non pivoting head and weighs close to nothing. 1st pass does a good job, it does feel a bit tuggy.
2nd pass good job, all going very smoothly and it's seems at this stage that there won't be irritation. 3rd pass and touch ups reveal a weakness. It shaves the easier parts quite closely, but the thicker areas you would have to press pretty hard to get close. I didn't go there, it started to feel like its scraping skin and not cutting hair. I left it as a reasonable shave.
 
Keep it coming bodge. I wouldn't mind having a go at disposable myself just to see what's going on. By the way if you want a few SE blades to tide you over to when your stash arrives give me a PM.
 
Thanks for the kind offer pj but I will probably be continuing this test even after the SE blades arrive.
 
Nice effort mate, taking one for the team!

Will be watching with interest.
 
I'm not a safety razor aficionado just for the fun of it, and I am open and fair.
But like you, I found cheap razors a little blunt, therefore 'tuggy'.
Some are OK, but if they cost more than a safety razor blade, why bother?
It's more plastic landfill, and you don't get a nice bit of heavier vintage metal equipment to hold.
But like I said in other threads, got nothing against using learned techniques with modern gear, but modern stuff in over priced or not too sharp.
Look at the merkur blades for example for the fact that even a brand in the industry gets blades all wrong! Not that good and overpriced.

Safety razor does the one thing that any other business can't offer you, choice to walk away and find a better deal than some generic disposable/cartridge.
 
I still use my old Sensor Excel when I travel but get a much better result because:
  • I prep properly with a good lather
  • My understanding of my beard and thus my technique is better
  • Because I'm not using them daily I can more easily afford to toss blades when they START to lose their sharpness.
 
Next up is an Aldi brand 3 blade razor called the WIN3+. I think its trying to be a mach3 type of thing. I bought this about 2-3 years ago in the hope for a cheaper alternative to the mach3 carts. I was disappointed with it instantly. The blades are quite vertical and closer together whereas with the mach3 they are a bit more perpendicular to the face and you can see right through the cart which allows for easy rinsing between strokes. The win3+ would clog up (with gel and beard) and be all scratchy and irritating.

Today I found it quite different. I am only shaving stubble these days rather than 4-10 days growth. Plus proraso lather is obviously so much more rinse friendly than gel which would clag up the between blades.

It's a lot heftier than yesterdays bargain bag toy, but surprisingly this doesn't help at all. The shave was worry free with no irritation to speak of. It kinda felt like using a toothbrush to shave with, hard to explain, there was tugging but not a feeling of cutting. I actually had to press a fair bit harder than with yesterdays cheapy. 1st pass did do a very good job. 2nd pass also, but I could see that it is failing to get into the thicker parts of my beard. Even though I was pressing significantly harder than yesterday, it was much too mild to do effective cutting. I must say I went over and over and over some parts without reapplying lather. There seemed to be little danger of irritation, or a close shave. I left it as a good shave with no irritation. Emotional content warning! I really got bored with trying to get a close shave with it.

For it's eulogy I would say that it was too mild for the likes of this world. I think this is an amazing razor for the right person with not so coarse stubble or the very young or infirm. The downside is you really have little control in the "cut" that it provides. Yesterdays cheapy at least gave you the option of slicing your face if you wanted to by pressing harder.

One thing extra, it doesn't clear the lather away completely. It felt like I was shaving lather for some of the strokes.

"My understanding of my beard and thus my technique is better" seems to answer one of my what ifs.

"Some are OK, but if they cost more than a safety razor blade, why bother?" - Totally agree. What if they cost more and are better?

Experimental science will take a break tomorrow, I will use this same razor again as it's mothers day and not potential failure day.
 
I used the Aldi win3+ again yesterday, for a repeat performance. You can't hurt yourself with it. After the 1,2 passes it has done most of the shave but I have to go on scrubbing with it in the coarser/thicker areas. It seems to be filing down the stubble here rather than cutting/slicing.

Today I tried the cheapest name brand I could find. It's called "Bic sensitive 1". Comes in a 10 pack for about $4, its bright orange with a white head and has a single blade. I got a pretty close shave with this. But like the previous disposables it seems to get the easy areas of the face closer than a safety can but the tougher areas need a bit of work

Unlike the aldi triple blade, it is possible to irritate and nick yourself with this one. It also can provide me with a closer shave. You could treat it as a SE safety razor. I had to be a bit careful ATG, but ATG was needed for a complete shave. Definitely has more user input/feedback than the triple blade. In both looks and feel, it's as glamorous as a worn out pair of tracky pants with failed elastic.

I wanted to reach for the real SE during each of the previous days shaves. I still have a few more razors to try and I'm not testing for longevity, though I wouldn't imagine that any of these would be vastly different or better than the mach3 which I would probably use about 5 shaves.
 
......... You could treat it as a SE safety razor...........I wanted to reach for the real SE during each of the previous days shaves..........

You're mentioning SE a tad too much in your assessment. No need to torture yourself. You sure you don't want a few SE blades to tide you over?
 
LOL, nah I'm right for now. It is a bit of torture, but I need to do this. This may seem like a review of razors, but the larger factor for me is a review of my skin/beard/prep/technique. I've only had 4 shaves with disposables so far but that's more than I've ever done on consecutive days.
 
Today - A Schick Exacta 2. This is a twin blade pivot head with a "push to clean" button which pushes a plastic shim between the blades to clear stuff out. It has the tiniest head of all razors I have seen. The handle has a rubberised grip, it is a bit more upmarket than the real cheapies coming in at about $4 for 5 razors.

Didn't like this one, The push button is a negative, the plastic shim might remove a wedged in piece of something, but just by being there between and just behind the blades, it acts like a plug requiring constant cleaning. 1st pass did an alright job, 2nd pass didn't do much but I didn't feel comfortable using it. It was a bit rough. If this was the cheapest razor I would understand. I finished the shave carefully with the orange bic from yesterday to bring me to an acceptable state.

I wouldn't use this schick again. The previous razors are more than fine for everyday shaving.
 
Next up - a Gillette sensor 3 sensitive. A triple blade job, it comes in a 4 pack for about $5, weighs something more than the nothing of the cheapies. It has a blue grey handle.
The razor head looks like the mach3 cart but with the blades slightly more aggressive(?). If they were venetian blinds, you would say they are a fair bit more opened than the mach3.

This worked similarly to the aldi win3 in that it sort of feels like you're not really using a razor. Less so with this gillette but the feeling was there that you can't harm yourself at all. I could do a pass in under 10 seconds if I wanted to. Like all the disposables the 1st pass does an admirable job, and this gillette seemed to do more than the others. There are parts of my beard that could be fine with 1 pass of this. Unfortunately the tougher parts need more than 2-3 passes. It definitely can be used over and over for touchups but not as much as the aldi job. It is the closest shave of the disposables so far and less tuggy.
 
You've got to stop this bodge. The force in you is not yet strong enough. You're toying with the dark side.
 
Today a twin blade cheapy - Bic sensitive 2 - green handle with a white head. Has a very small head almost like the schick. Better than the schick but I could feel a scratchy irritation coming on. The Bic sensitive 1 (single blade) is better than this one for me.

1st pass seems to do a fine job, 2nd pass isn't as effective and I struggled to keep using it for a complete shave so I grabbed the orange bic1 for a bit and it felt better (as in doing less damage) then I grabbed the gillette sensor3 for finishing which felt better again.


I guess I don't like these tiny head twin blades. The schick was worse I think. I won't revisit these two.

Pj- I am almost done for now. I still have a mach3 to try and then I'll take a break and go back to the gem. My order has arrived and its just sitting there. I have been using the omega brush for the last couple of days.

Some time later I want to revisit some of these razors plus the DE and SE ones with my previous old prep with gel etc.
 
Although I applaud your scientific acumen, there is a real chance that you'll prove or disprove your theory at the expense of having a face permanently resembling a smashed crab. You also must be spending a fortune on disposables.

Come on folks we must intervene!!
 
Almost done pj, and I'm looking forward to the SE day. I have a stick of tabac and MWF puck waiting for the day as well.
 
Last of the disposables test. Today a mach3. I was expecting this to be the best one for me as it had been in the past. It feels to cut much like the sensor3. Its handle is heftier than the complete disposables but this is neither a pro or con or even relevant with these disposables. Yes, it gave me a good shave. It cut through quicker than the aldi win3 but not as forgivingly. I did use the sensor3 for a couple of strokes as a direct comparison and apart from the weight it feels identical.

I know I'm preaching to the converted and its been said a billion times, but I can't understand why this cartridge is in the $4 range especially when the sensor3 from the same company is a about $1 with handle.

Comparatively I found the Aldi win3 the most forgiving thing around. If my right arm was broken and I still wanted to shave left handed, this would be my razor of choice.

The twin blades from Bic and shick were the worst for me. They induced that scratchy irritation feeling I used to get. The first no name twin blade I tested in this thread seemed to be better than the following branded twin blades, but this could be due to not having cumulative minor irritation from the previous disposable.

The single blade Bic was alright and the cheapest of what I had bought. I haven't spent much on this test as I had a few of these tested razors lying around. I have not tried the 4 or 5 blade jobs and probably never will.

I am glad this chapter is over. I have proved to myself that my skin is not in the nancy boy condition that it used to be. I could shave everyday with disposables.
I don't know if I've answered all my what ifs, but I'm satisfied with knowing which disposables can be used when required and the resultant shave and feeling.

Final disclaimer - This is all my own experiences and may not be what your results are for your skin/beard. It turns out my initial prejudices were mostly wrong. My skin has toughened up without me knowing it. And/Or my technique learned from the traditional tools has improved my shaving. Even the ugliest, plasticest, cheapest of these disposables costs more than using a really nice SE or DE everyday.
 
Well done Bodge. I applaud your efforts and would suggest that it is your technique which has helped improve the results.

PM me your postal address, I will put some blades in the post.
 
Well done mate!
 
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