I started shaving like this years ago and never looked back. I feel it's better for the environment. I like whisking up the shaving soap, it takes only ten seconds, so why bother getting it in a can?
this post was submitted on 07 Nov 2026
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Sir, this is dull men's club. Talk of sharp razors is prohibited.
Meh. I started shaving with my dad's "safety razor" (it was just a razor, back then, no need for distinguishment). I get a closer, more comfortable shave with disposable, multi-blade razors.
I think a lot of younger (than me, which is many) men got suckered by the hype, frankly.
I did too until I was shaving too much with it. So we headed to town one Saturday morning and went to the drug store and I bought my own Gillette Slim Adjustable razor. And while I have bought other razors over the years, I have and use that Slim regularly. Best damn razor I own.
A lot of the move away from safety razors was the introduction of cheap plastic razors. After that, razor blade companies stopped making cheap blades and went to selling razors that needed to be replaced regularly and making them more money.
I can get a "baby bottom smooth" shave with a DE. Is it better than what I could get with multiblade plastic razor? I don't know.
What I do know is that those multiblade heads cost around $4 each, and my preferred DE blades cost about 8¢. Not to mention that there is no plastic in sight, and the amount of waste is minimal.
I shave with a disposable razor and with one razor, I shave my face, back, chest, ass, and below navel area from that same razor. I change the razor every month. I luckily use shaving cream most of the time.
Fun fact, shaving creams contain phtalates and parabens. These chemicals (they re monomers really and break down in the blood) are what is referred to as microplastics in the public discourses. Both have been proven to be extremely estrogenic, ubiquitous and non-biodegradable.
It's so bad for you, it has been proven to change gender expression in young children during play if these children had elevated concentrations of them in their blood:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/375990822_Long-term_exposure_to_exogenous_phthalate_masculinity_and_femininity_trait_and_gender_identity_in_children_a_Chinese_3-year_longitudinal_cohort_study
besides shaving cream, what other sources of these chemicals should we watch out for?
Teflon (t-fal and all other non stick pans, a good replacement is simply a seasoned carbon steel pan)
Use glass tuperwares instead of plastic.
Silicone cooking utensils only preferably, metal is of course okay, stay away from any other plastic other than silicone in the kitchen). Silicone is non-porous, cannot foster bacteria and burns at 400C rather than melt. I advise good quality silicone since curing is the predictor of durability and is what impacts price in silicone manifacturing.
Try to not smoke cigarettes specifically, cigars and pipes are fine even vaping. The reason is cigarette paper is sprayed with BFR (a flame retardant) so as to reduce the risks of cigarettes causing house fires if someone falls asleep with a lit one in their hands. PhilipMorris will kill you quicker with additives than tar from tobacco.
Avoid fast foods, as well as grease or water repelling clothing (even Gore-tex and others). They re PFAS coated, mcdonald's food for example is wrapped in packaging that does not stain despite the food being very greasy because PFAS coatings are heavily used in the ready-made food industry.
Try to avoid frozen meals or already prepared food you did not cook yourself (that sadly includes trader joe, I consulted for them once and they are not better than everyone else when it comes to forever chemical uses, Costco on the other hand is very careful manifacturing-wise and that is where i shop) since the packaging uses a lot of polyethylene and styrene which as an engineer myself I wonder how on earth we allow them in the food industry.
Canned food since the steel of cans is coated with a thin layer of epoxy on the inside ( this includes canned drinks and canned alcohols ), cosmetics, parabens for fabrics (dry cleaned clothes, enterprise carpet cleaning services, and artificial textiles such as polyesther in clothing, try to stick to natural cotton).
Finally the most important; all fragrances, cosmetics and UV blocking chemicals (sunscreen is horrible for your hormones). Fragrances in particular are terrible for the environment and for you as well. Non perfumed soap and detergents have a big impact on the environment. Finally, if you have kids, do not let them put non-silicon toys in their mouth, and avoid recycled paper products (toilet paper made of recycled paper for example).
Thanks for the detailed response. I didn’t realize that canned food was a concern.
UV blocking chemicals
Does this include sunscreen?
You re welcome bro, I m sure it ll help a few folks in terms of stuff no one shows you at school, I just became careful with time due to working in factories and learning about surface additives and polymers over time.
And yeah, sunscreen is up there with disposable paper cups for coffee for instance or disposable utensils (the bamboo/wood ones are just as bad as the plastic ones here).
Food wise, I say eat what you can afford but if you can shop somewhere, head to costco (their business model works well in this case to provide you with high quality goods and high production standards, and buy whole foods, nothing that you could not cook yourself at home. It can be tiring if you treat these microplastics like the plague since you ll become obsessive (I definitely get like that at times) but as long as you make proper choices, a trip to a fast food or a frozen pizza every once in a while won't kill you.
That's really too bad about sunscreen because I'm pale as they come so I feel like I need to pick between getting sunburnt or ingesting microplastics.
I feel ya, my family is african from western sahara personally so I ve never put on sunscreen nor gotten sunburnt, In my opinion the best you can do is expose yourself for durations under 3 to 4 hours, wear a hat with a round lid (cowboy for example) and wear long sleeve light clothing. Depends on where you live, but you should really have problems only when you get close to the equator during the summer. In my opinion, as much as it sucksm the alternative would be to use a cosmetic that might make you sterile through time, give you gynecomastia, lower your sperm count, raise diabetes and high blood pressure risks or worst case, cause neurodevelopmental disorders in future children you may procreate (adhd and autism spectrum disorders are known to have a link to it).
Small brochure on the subject that may interest you: https://www.endocrine.org/-/media/endocrine/files/advocacy/edc-report2024finalcompressed.pdf
That’s why I don’t let my children shave.
Also for those concerned, you can easily find shaving cream that doesn’t contain those like you do with your shampoo’s, etc.
I found good old glycerin (soap) to be the best possible shaving cream, i just emulsify it with a brush and shave,
You need to look for some real tallow soaps. those make lathers that are superb. But glycerin is cheaper so is more common.
MÜHLE Traditional with Astra blades have served me well, haven't managed to cut myself yet! Some razor burn but that's from being a lazy git and not always soaking with a hot towel before going at it 😅.
Congratulations! I will happily certify this as a Dull Man Experience™️. Absolutely classic 👏
I got one from the dollar tree and while the blades it came with were serviceable, I ordered some feather blades and it had been an absolute pleasure.
I tried one of those Dollar Store razors for fun. I would recommend buying a better quality razor personally. There are good inexpensive 3 piece razors on Amazon.
another +1 on Feather. I got a pack of different brands, 5 razor blades of each, and Feather was the sharpest and lasted a fairly long time too.
Razor blades are very YMMV thing. Lots of people like Feathers. I would choose a 4" angle grinder over a Feather blade myself. Even my Slim Adjustable won't make them work.
I have a taste for Gillette Silver Blues and Sputniks. But those are getting harder to find these days. so I have found Racers from India to be a pretty good replacement. But my Slim can get at least a decent shave out of most blades.
I've been using a Merkur for 3 years now and I still can't figure out how to not nick myself at least once.
I think the contours of my face just don't work for the design of these tools. It's a shame.
You face is fine, you handsome devil you.
Technique matters. Head angle and how hard you press with the razor matters. The brand of razor blades also matters. And even the shaving soap/cream matters too.
I think you should ask yourself why you keep using the razor if you nick yourself every time?
Welcome to the club. I can't speak for that model, but I love my safety razor. I've used less than $5 worth if razors in 2 years and my shave is comparable to the expensive cartridges. I'll never go back.
Not as close a shave as I'm used to
How many passes did you do? I've found that once you develop your technique and become more comfortable with using a safety razor, the cuts will be fewer and the shave will be closer. I also learned that you do one pass with the grain, a second pass against the grain, and a third across the grain. When I do this not even babies' bottoms can compare.
Congrats on saving money and the environment (in a small way). You'll have to figure out responsible disposal of the blades. I took a condensed milk can, carefully pushed a big knife into the top of it, drained it fully, and labeled it "sharps." I keep this under my sink with a piece of tape over the slot. Each time I retire a blade it goes in the container. Someday my descendants will tape it securely and it will go in the trash (because I've been shaving this way for well over a decade and have yet to fill it, but also I really stretch the life of my blades for no good reason).
I get much closer shaves with my Merkur 33c safety razor than I did with cartridges.
I'll suggest another order: go 1. with, 2. across, then 3. against the hair. Against is the most skin irritating and largest risk of nicks, so may well be done with the least amount of work.
Also, warming the area to be shaved with warm water (or shower as you mentioned) does a lot for the closeness of the shave, don't skip out.
I find brush and lather mostly to make shaving smoother and lessen skin irritation, not make for closer shaves, but your mileage may vary. Also consider warming your blade (I run it under the warm water) between passes, I find it also helps for the smoothness although can't say why.
If you have to apply force to the cutting (rather than letting "gravity" do the work) you probably need new blades. They are supposedly single use, but I can typically get 2-3 shaves in on a regular blade, and even up to six shaves with some blades (Korean Dorco platinum is my favorite).
Adding force is the only way I get nicked nowadays, but it goes fast when I do, so I make sure to switch blades even between passes if need be.
Also, depending on your face and skin, you might want to try a safety razor with a different blade angle, there are handles that give a (slightly) more aggressive shave — meaning closer shave but (slightly) higher risk for nicks and irritation.
Best of luck!
I find it so funny that they used to just put a hole in the wall and you would shove old razors in it. A hazard for renovators 60 years later.
Yep, found this in my old house during a renovation
There was a 3 inch deep pile in my wall when i pulled down the tile, weird surprise to find.
Next time (in like 30 years when you finally fill up yiu current can, use the church key method (one medium sized, triangle hole on one side, a smaller on the opposite side) and then after draining/rinsing, use a Dremel to cut a thin slot towards the top.
When you fill that can after 30 years, you just hammer the top down and seal the hole that way.
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After switching to safety razors many years ago I still haven't used a single pack of double sided razors for it. I honestly don't understand why people buy the plastic razors when it is neither more convenient or cheaper. Think I have the same brand head on mine, you gotta watch near the edges because they're more likely to cut you.
I'm about halfway through my second box. It took me about ~~10~~ 7 years to get through the first box.
I agree about not knowing why people keep using the plastic disposable ones. Best I can see is a reluctance to change a habit and/or a fear of safety razors. But it's well worth the switch.
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I honestly don’t understand why people buy the plastic razors when it is neither more convenient or cheaper.
Exposure is definitely a big part of it. The only reason I'm using one is because some podcasts / YouTubers I liked were extolling them and I looked into it. I can't recall ever seeing a safety razor for sale at any big grocery or drug store. I guess I could have just missed them. But they stock what gets advertised most, and by an immense margin: The dodeca-bladed monstrosities in either pussycat pink or blackout tacticool gunmetal. AFAIK, that's what everyone I know uses. I get asked every now and then if I can recommend my barber for a shave, then I mention the safety razor, and most guys have no idea what I'm describing to them.
Also, no matter the design, safety razors have an air of "old fashioned" that I think most people just cannot appreciate now. The notion that they'd ever have to do anything besides use the product and send it to the landfill is enough to make most people nope out immediately, and here you've got disassembling, reassembling, replacing parts, proper disposal... All that takes time and attention that most people can't reconcile.
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mercur 33c is a tight shave. Take it easy with that one.
Don't press hard. Watch your angles. I was going to say consider a badger brush, but it looks like synthetics have come a long way in the last 15 years or so. At any rate, lather is key - it doesn't have to be huge, but it has to be well-worked into your whiskers. You want your skin and the entire length of each whisker well-coated, so work it in.
edit: Also, don't take anyone else's blade recommendations as gospel. The blade you need depends on your razor, your technique, your beard, your prep, your comfort, your skin, and some amount of random magic. Try a bunch. Maybe get a sampler.
Best advice here so far.
I have a collection of vintage DE razors and they are all different. My favourite is a 1951 Gillette Tech. It's just the right level of blade gap for me. Others may like different razors, everyone's face and beard are different.
In general, I have found that newer DE razors tend to be more aggressive than older razors. So someone getting nicks with a modern razor may just have one that is too agressive.
It might be worth getting a late 50's - early 69's Gillette adjustable to learn what works best. You can probably get one cheaper than a new Merkur on eBay, or at a flea market or antique shop.
Blades also vary widely between and within brands. Do you need the sharpest blades on the planet??? Probably not. You have to experiment. Get a sampler pack from some online store and try them out.
Soap is a big factor. Don't just go with what's on the pharmacy shelf. Buy a tube of a premium brand like George Trumper to set a baseline of how a really good, slippery soap works. Then find a cheaper brand that performs as well.
Technique counts, obviously. I find that a 3 pass shave is overkill personally. Once with, then once against the grain with some spot touchups works fine for me. Just don't skip the "with" pass if you don't like razor rash.
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I've used great-grandpa's WWI Army issue razor. No different than new ones, but the edge has teeth rather than being straight. Was just getting used to it when a friend gave me one of his. Never looked back.
Sir, I believe your story has been posted in the wrong sub. This here is dull men’s club.
This channel convinced me to make the jump, years ago. https://youtu.be/-qSIP6uQ3EI
I still have an electric for a quick touch up, but proper shaves are with a Merkur Futur, Feather blade, Mühle badger brush and Taylor’s of Old Bond St. Sandlewood soap.
Random face moisturiser afterwards (still a good quality one, but I don’t have a preferred brand.)
I was skeptical about badger hair brushes VS my previous boar bristle, but it’s a noticeable improvement in the texture of the lather generated. Much finer bubbles.
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