# I, a 39-year-old man, just learnt how to shave properly
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-a-39-year-old-man-just-learnt-how-to-shave-properly/853063
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [May 3, 2020, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-a-39-year-old-man-just-learnt-how-to-shave-properly/853063 "2020-05-03T12:20:49Z")
**Posts on this page:** 16
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@NetTrekker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NetTrekker)
#### Post date: [May 28, 2021, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-a-39-year-old-man-just-learnt-how-to-shave-properly/853063/21 "2021-05-28T13:41:21Z")
š
Iām going through the DE āsafetyā razor renaissance phase now and getting nicked more often than not. But thatās the time suck for me ā¦ lengthy dabbing and waiting for coagulationā¦
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [May 28, 2021, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-a-39-year-old-man-just-learnt-how-to-shave-properly/853063/22 "2021-05-28T13:44:17Z")
[https://www.amazon.com/Shaving-Styptic/b/ref=dp\_bc\_aui\_C\_5?ie=UTF8&node=7654695011](https://www.amazon.com/Shaving-Styptic/b/ref=dp_bc_aui_C_5?ie=UTF8&node=7654695011)
No waiting.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [May 28, 2021, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-a-39-year-old-man-just-learnt-how-to-shave-properly/853063/23 "2021-05-28T14:08:42Z")
Hot shower, regular soap, single blade disposable razor (I find it gets gummed up less and is easier to clean in between strokes) and Iām good to go. I go every which way, but start with the grain. Shaving gel and foam doesnāt seem to do anything for my skin and face that soap doesnāt. The most important thing for an easy shave for me is a hot, damp face. My whiskers come off like butter then. Otherwise, it hurts like hell, no matter what I use.
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [May 28, 2021, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-a-39-year-old-man-just-learnt-how-to-shave-properly/853063/24 "2021-05-28T14:12:50Z")
Barber shop. I havenāt had a shave in over a year now.
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### Author:  [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)
#### Post date: [May 28, 2021, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-a-39-year-old-man-just-learnt-how-to-shave-properly/853063/25 "2021-05-28T15:53:46Z")
My whiskers donāt grow that fast, and my facial hair is both soft and light-colored (now mostly gray I guess) so I shave āwrongā (i.e. mostly against the grain, finishing with the grain) maybe twice a week (used to be 3x a week before I retired) using gel and a 5-blade disposable. No aftershave, just lotion, because I have dry skin. Works fine for me. My razors seem to last forever.
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### Author:  [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)
#### Post date: [May 28, 2021, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-a-39-year-old-man-just-learnt-how-to-shave-properly/853063/26 "2021-05-28T16:24:41Z")
I use an electric because I canāt bring myself to use a bladed razor over my surgery scars\*. Iām not good at it. Mask wearing has let me do it less, but my wife hates it.
(\*: I have a big divot in my neck from a neck dissection and parodidectomy, but the hair follicles in the worst of it were killed by radiation therapy. And my phone typer remembers this, apparently.)
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### Author:  [@Dark\_Sponge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Sponge)
#### Post date: [May 28, 2021, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-a-39-year-old-man-just-learnt-how-to-shave-properly/853063/27 "2021-05-28T17:20:16Z")
My father gave me his grandfatherās (my great-grandfatherās) safety razor and I kept it as a cool old memento.
But then a few years ago I started using it after I realized how incredibly cheap the cost is to use them. Really nice, high-end blades for the thing cost around $0.10 each. I typically only shave a couple times a week and I switch blades every other time putting my razor cost at $0.40 per month.
I have to be a little more careful (some skill is involved) and itās not quite as smooth as a Mach3 razor (my previous favorite) but I get great shaves for next to nothing.
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### Author:  [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)
#### Post date: [May 28, 2021, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-a-39-year-old-man-just-learnt-how-to-shave-properly/853063/28 "2021-05-28T18:17:53Z")
I hate spending any more time in the bathroom than necessary, so I shave in the shower. The idea is to soak the beard soft in the hot water / steam, while getting oneās hair and body clean. Then, taking a Mach 3 or whatever, I shave with the grain, without shaving cream, or a mirror, just by feel and thoroughness.
Rinsing the blade with high pressure water (from a bidet) and drying afterwards after each use is what keeps the blades working for a really long time, long after the āchange nowā strip on the blade has turned into mushy remains.
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### Author:  [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)
#### Post date: [May 28, 2021, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-a-39-year-old-man-just-learnt-how-to-shave-properly/853063/29 "2021-05-28T19:38:10Z")
> [@Dark\_Sponge](#):
>
> I have to be a little more careful (some skill is involved) and itās not quite as smooth as a Mach3 razor (my previous favorite) but I get great shaves for next to nothing.
Hereās the thing- the old-style double-edged safety razors werenāt really intended to produce a super-smooth shave in one pass. Apparently they were intended to produce a passable one pass shave, but super-smoothness took a second lather and pass from different angles.
The modern-day cartridge razors effectively give you as many passes in the same direction as you have blades, and they actually reward pressing relatively hard versus what works best with a safety razor. So theyāre fast, reasonably smooth, and rather foolproof- theyāre also hard to cut yourself with.
But theyāre expensive as hell, and get obsoleted surprisingly regularly. Part of what made me switch to the safety razors was that it seemed like every 7 or so years, the makers would basically release a new sort of razor, and the kind I was using would be pushed out of stores. Not discontinued exactly, but just a lot more difficult to get hold of. This frustrated me, and I figured Iād just learn how to use the safety razors and Iād be more or less future-proof. And itās cheaper as well in terms of consumables; you can get 100+ blades for $25, and thatās for the high quality ones, and they probably last about 4-5 shaves each.
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### Author:  [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)
#### Post date: [May 28, 2021, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-a-39-year-old-man-just-learnt-how-to-shave-properly/853063/30 "2021-05-28T20:28:17Z")
> [@Tabco](#):
>
> I also recall receiving a free razor and can of shaving gel from Gillette when I turned 18 or so. My friends did, too. Was this a thing for anyone else? This was ca. 2002ā¦
In 1986, when I moved into the dormitory at the University of Oklahoma, it seemed like every time I turned around, someone was giving me a can of Gillette shaving gel. I think I got 5 within the first week.
Iāve tried shaving with the grain. Whenever I do, it feels like I still need to shave.
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### Author:  [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2021, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-a-39-year-old-man-just-learnt-how-to-shave-properly/853063/31 "2021-05-29T04:15:47Z")
One time while travelling I had to use a shared washroom (I mean basins in a shared room, not showers), and was surprised to notice several guys banging their razors against the basin furiously to try to knock out the stuck hairs. Really weird.
Perhaps they noticed me calmly brushing out the stuck hairs in my own razor with an old, soft toothbrush and maybe had an āOhhā moment. Or maybe they thought \*I\* was the weirdo.
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### Author:  [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2021, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-a-39-year-old-man-just-learnt-how-to-shave-properly/853063/32 "2021-05-29T07:10:22Z")
The basic tip (for women, too) is to use a razor that isā¦ razor sharp.
> [@Mijin](#):
>
> Perhaps they noticed me calmly brushing out the stuck hairs in my own razor with an old, soft toothbrush and maybe had an āOhhā moment. Or maybe they thought _I_ was the weirdo.
Seems like going at it with a brush risks fucking up the edge?
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### Author:  [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2021, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-a-39-year-old-man-just-learnt-how-to-shave-properly/853063/33 "2021-05-29T07:16:49Z")
> [@DPRK](#):
>
> Seems like going at it with a brush risks fucking up the edge?
Not really.
So, what Iām referring to is just removing the hair and gunk that collects in disposable razors. It only takes a light sweep to do this, and mostly coplanar with the blades. Thereās no way the blades could cut or nick the bristles.
If you allow the gunk to collect over time, that might be a different story, but Iām referring to doing this as you shave. Iāve been doing this for years and never noticed any issue with how long the blades last.
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### Author:  [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2021, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-a-39-year-old-man-just-learnt-how-to-shave-properly/853063/34 "2021-05-29T10:33:50Z")
I donāt know about any of this. The few times I tried shaving made me break out, so I gave up on it. 64 and no male teachers on the subject.
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### Author:  [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2021, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-a-39-year-old-man-just-learnt-how-to-shave-properly/853063/35 "2021-05-29T22:03:47Z")
> [@garygnu](#):
>
> parodidectomy
New word for the day!
Until my late thirties, shaving cream and disposable razor. I finally got tired of shaving every day so just let it grow. No I just have an inexpensive beard trimmer to trim around the edges each week. When I feel like it, Iāll shorten the whole thing.
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### Author:  [@Jumpbass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jumpbass)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2021, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-a-39-year-old-man-just-learnt-how-to-shave-properly/853063/36 "2021-05-30T16:19:06Z")
I changed my shaving habits in the last couple years. Seems like, maybe since my beard is going gray, my beard is tougher to shave. Is that a thing?
I use Harryās razors. Pretty inexpensive and easy to find. I experimented with a safety razor, but slashed the hell out of my neck, so I gave that up. Itās strange, since thatās what I learned with. It was pretty cheap. I wonder if thatās a factor?
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