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Shaving Thread 2022 Edition

Started by Ceir, August 16, 2022, 01:10:59 AM

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Ceir

August 16, 2022, 01:10:59 AM
Have a shaving gear question that isn't particularly steamy, so I'll throw it in here - no threads more recent that a few years ago to necromance on either!

In short, what's the best way to clean a double-edge safety handle's mechanism, if possible?

My daily-ish razor is just a supermarket-grade Van Der Hagen handle, but it's been my old reliable for over a decade. Just this month, the mechanism to open and close the top of it has started really sticking quite badly. I've hit it with hot water soaks and scrubbing with an old toothbrush, which helps for a bit - but within a use or two it starts jamming up again. Any suggestions?

To open the floor a bit, I'm also a little annoyed that even my grocery-brand shaving stuff has just vanished from brick and mortar retail over the last several years. Thankfully I never have a problem finding standard DE blades; but the handles, brushes, soap, and even some of the aftershaves I like are just...poof, gone. Over time I've checked every grocery store, big-box retail, and pharmacy I've had ready access to, and found zip. My preference for buying things in person instead of online bites me again, I suppose.
In all fairness, some of those who wander are definitely lost.

von Corax

#1
August 16, 2022, 01:22:50 AM
If memory serves, ShaveMyFace suggested soaking in washing soda (sodium carbonate). After that, I'm sure a drop of shaver oil wouldn't go amiss.
By the power of caffeine do I set my mind in motion
By the Beans of Life do my thoughts acquire speed
My hands acquire a shaking
The shaking becomes a warning
By the power of caffeine do I set my mind in motion
The Leverkusen Institute of Paleocybernetics is 5845 km from Reading

James Harrison

#2
August 16, 2022, 07:18:32 AM
Taking the razor apart and leaving it in a bath of boiling water and baking soda has worked for me previously. 
Persons intending to travel by open carriage should select a seat with their backs to the engine, by which means they will avoid the ashes emitted therefrom, that in travelling generally, but particularly through the tunnels, prove a great annoyance; the carriage farthest from the engine will in consequence be found the most desirable.

Ceir

#3
August 20, 2022, 08:19:13 PM
Ah, I guess it does qualify as Anatomical, if not strictly steamy!

Taking the thing apart is the next part of the puzzle, then.
In all fairness, some of those who wander are definitely lost.

James Harrison

#4
August 21, 2022, 08:01:28 AM
Well, let's not be too hasty- mine is designed to come apart quite easily, not all safety razors are alike.  If you could show us what the razor looks like, it would give us more an idea how to take it apart without wrecking it.  Assuming it's designed to come apart at all. 
Persons intending to travel by open carriage should select a seat with their backs to the engine, by which means they will avoid the ashes emitted therefrom, that in travelling generally, but particularly through the tunnels, prove a great annoyance; the carriage farthest from the engine will in consequence be found the most desirable.

Ceir

#5
September 03, 2022, 05:17:04 PM
Quote from: James Harrison on August 21, 2022, 08:01:28 AM
Well, let's not be too hasty- mine is designed to come apart quite easily, not all safety razors are alike.  If you could show us what the razor looks like, it would give us more an idea how to take it apart without wrecking it.  Assuming it's designed to come apart at all.
After a brief and gentle go of it, yeah, I don't think that's happening - grocery-grade brand probably isn't designed to at all. I've given it another toothbrush cleaning, but I think I'll just wind up ordering another. It's not a major thing, but still. If I get my original properly smooth again, it'll be a backup. The metaphorical belt and suspenders of the shaving counter.

Anyway.
While I like the bar and puck-type soaps, they're super hard to find without buying online now, so I've tried a couple different cream types. Wahl's is decent, but seems to (also) have disappeared from my retail area - oddly, I can find their beard lotion and stuff, just not the shaving cream for some reason. Gave the Dollar Shave Club stuff a try too, while it doesn't lather up as thickly as Wahl's or the bar soaps I've used, it's more than reasonable and I actually like the menthol scent. Any other basic recs from folks?
In all fairness, some of those who wander are definitely lost.

von Corax

#6
September 03, 2022, 05:21:28 PM
Proraso is my cream of choice. I have a big tube that I bought locally, although I can't remember where.
By the power of caffeine do I set my mind in motion
By the Beans of Life do my thoughts acquire speed
My hands acquire a shaking
The shaking becomes a warning
By the power of caffeine do I set my mind in motion
The Leverkusen Institute of Paleocybernetics is 5845 km from Reading

Ceir

#7
September 23, 2022, 02:36:40 AM
Apropos of nothing else, my replacement handle finally showed up. Slotted in a minty new blade and had a very pleasant shave tonight. I didn't realize that, since my old handle was jammed and sticking, it had actually opened up the gaps quite a bit and made the going rather rough in comparison.

Shiny and chrome! (and a splash of blue Aqua Velva)
In all fairness, some of those who wander are definitely lost.
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