Thread: Feather wow ??

I just had my first shave with a feather blade it just glided through the whole shave. WTG , ATG fastest smoothest shave ever. Ok that was the good after I had a dozen nicks all over my face!! And the only razor burn I have ever had. I used 1/8 of a nick pen and 1/4 botle of Thayers. Now my face is BBS buy it feel like a caulk board. I have only shave with Merkur before this. I guess I'll try again in a couple of days. Cuse I thingk it will take that long before my face will let me shave

Yup, Feathers are a wonder to behold, capable of giving the smoothest, most comfortable shaves. Unfortunately, it seems that you underestimated their sharpness, especially jumping from a Merkur blade to a Feather. The best advice I can give you is to keep your angle low, use ZERO pressure and ditch the blade at the first sign of deterioration. I rarely get more than 3-4 shaves from a Feather, and almost nothing gives me as much irritation as a dull Feather blade.

Originally Posted by Ryan82;841179. . . The best advice I can give you is to keep your angle low, [B

use ZERO pressure[/B] and ditch the blade at the first sign of deterioration. I rarely get more than 3-4 shaves from a Feather, and almost nothing gives me as much irritation as a dull Feather blade.

Got that? "ZERO pressure" -- that's what worked for me. If you're scraping off a layer of skin (which is what 'razor burn' is), you're pressing too hard. With no pressure, the Feather glides over the skin, slicing off beard, leaving the skin untouched.

I can, however, shave with a dull Feather blade -- it's no worse than any other dull blade, IMHO. When you feel yourself pressing on it to make it cut, it's time for a new blade.

Charles

I've used lots of blades, including Feather, and have never got the slightest scrape from a DE. How do cuts happen with a DE? Do you accidentally let the corner of the blade dig in? Does that happen more often with different makes of razors? I use a Merkur HD with open comb.

Originally Posted by MinATX

I've used lots of blades, including Feather, and have never got the slightest scrape from a DE. How do cuts happen with a DE? Do you accidentally let the corner of the blade dig in? Does that happen more often with different makes of razors? I use a Merkur HD with open comb.

I have several DE's, with some, like the Feather Stainless and the EJ89L, it is indeed difficult to nick myself. I did once buy a Lord, the old Model. It cut my face to ribbons. different Blades, different Razors, different results.

I use a Merkur HD also. I'm going to shave later today and see if indeed im hitting myself with the corner of the blade. I really thingk it was the fact that it cut so smooth I just sped up the shave and wasn't concentrating. So after work I'll try again slow and very little presure.

Whether you get nicks or not with a DE depends a lot on your face and its qualities. Personally, in all the years I have used a DE I can count the nicks I have gotten on the fingers of one hand and I've used more blades than I can remember. I prefer Feathers and even when dull I get no irritation just the shave closeness decreases. On the other hand I shave my son who is disabled and I've used every razor I have and blade I have and he gets nicks every time I shave him. Pressure, angle it just doesn't matter. Everyone is truly different and the techniques have to be radically adjusted at times.

I have an EJ89BA11 and use Feather blades to touch up areas from my straight razor shave from time to time. They are smooth and effective and do last a long time with this type of use. The performance of my straight razors let me know when the Feather blade isn't "cutting it" anymore and out they go. Overall, I am very pleased with the performance of the EJ89BA11 and Feather Blades andthey give a performance very close to my straight razors. Weepers, nicks, everybody is different.

So I revisieted the De yesterday. This time I went slow and watched my presure. It was a dream. I only had a couple of nicks. I just needed to lean to respect them. Next time I try a new blade I will be alot more carefull. Next up a Loard.

Originally Posted by Goingst8

So I revisieted the De yesterday. This time I went slow and watched my presure. It was a dream. I only had a couple of nicks. I just needed to lean to respect them. Next time I try a new blade I will be alot more carefull. Next up a Loard.

The Feather blade (like many) will tend to give an easier shave on its second day of use, as you have found. But we use Feathers because of what they are... extra sharp compared with most blades. I happen to love them. The other thing that I have noticed is that a Feather blade will do better in a less aggressive razor. Probably the smoothest and most comfortable I have tried is a Fatboy set on 3 for the first day and 4 for subsequent days. Despite the very mild settings, the Feather blade works superbly.

Rod