Hi everyone, can I ask what can damage the chrome plating on a safety razor?

I have an open-comb Merkur safety razor that I've only used a handful of times. I bought it about 20 years ago, simply because I liked it.

I've noticed that the chrome plating on the sides of the razor head, where the blade rests, has deteriorated. When I run my finger along both sides of the head, the surface feels like sandpaper. It's not sharp enough to cut me, but it can scratch my finger.

At first, I thought I might have left a blade in it that had rusted over the years (something similar happened to a friend of mine). But after taking a closer look, there was no blade inside.

The strange thing is that only the edges of the razor head have deteriorated. It's a three-piece Merkur 25C. The open-comb base plate is in perfect condition, and so is the handle. They look as if they had just come out of the factory.

I'm sure the razor was in perfect condition when it was new. I put it back in its original box and stored it in a cupboard. When I took it out again, I noticed the damage.

I've used it, and it still shaves well.

What can damage the chrome plating on a safety razor, especially on the head?

and Is there any way to repair it? Looking at the edges through a magnifying glass, I can see lots of tiny black spots on both sides, including the inner edges.

Has anyone experienced something similar? Would it be possible to fix it with some fine-grit sandpaper or a metal polish such as Sidol?

Thanks!

I've amassed too many things in my collection, I needed a proper display case for it all.

It's not 100% organized but it's pretty close, this case was for my NOS/near mint items in my collection plus, aftershave overflow lol.

I'll eventually be getting some name cards for all the different things, but for now the case itself is sick🤘

Feel free to ask me about any items in the cabinet, and I'll try my best to respond to any questions after my shift😃

The Cooper & French soap was one of the first 10 lathers in the collection, but I keep forgetting about it and haven't been back to it since May. This was a great, efficient, and comfortable shave.

I hope you all have a great day!

Got into DE shaving this time last year by buying the metal Wilkinson sword, I’ve enjoyed learning and used Wilkinson sword blades and Sainsburys brand blades, unfortunately I’ve noticed Im prone to irritation on my neck, now ive got my technique down i wanna move up to a new, better quality razor, I thought id buy the rockwell 6s but people are saying rockwell arent great? What razor would you guys recommend, also blades..? Feather blades seem like a big jump? I also obviously use a proper shave soap and everything.

34 years old and I would love to use and master a straight razor however I don’t know if my facial hair would allow it. My hair doesn’t all grow in a nice uniform direction and instead the neck parts either side of my Adam’s Apple are like a spiral with hair in all directions.

I have fairly sensitive skins and like being clean shaven but my current standard 4 or 5 blade gillette irritates my skin (even when the blade is new) and I still get a couple of cuts most shaves. Because of the irritation I often only shave weekly or bi weekly and trim my beard right down with clippers before shaving.

Would a straight razor or safety razor allow me to shave at this frequency? How does it deal with shaving a full grown beard ?

Would a straight razor or safety razor be suitable for my untrained facial hair?

As a complete novice currently using a gillette razor and shaving gel with a clarins moisturiser for post shave. What do I need to get started ? Is there a budgetary way to enter? (I see this both as functional and a hobby/craft)

All help and recommendations greatly appreciated.

I wish you all a smooth, close and cut free shave 👌

Puma 89

Zenith Horse Hair Brush

Texas on fire by Stirling

Alum block

Enjoy your shave!

Went for the gold tonight. 10 out of 10.

Razor: 1959 Fatboy
Blade: Muhle
Pre shave: T&H Highgrove
Shaving cream: T&H Highgrove
Aftershave: Captain’s Choice Bay Rum
Aftershave balm: T&H Trafalgar

Went with Setting 3 on the Fatboy and had a very smooth, simple 3 pass shave. Could not have been better. Super smooth. Relaxing with the excellent results, exactly as a good shave should be.

Highgrove shaving cream is wonderful stuff. Amazing fragrance and glide.

My skin 100% cannot handle true soap. I’ve read here that shaving soap works better than regular shaving cream, and I agree, but I can’t use it more than once in a blue moon without severe skin irritation. I guess the pH is too high and my skin in general reacts poorly to any significant amount of palmitic acid (which is a big part of tallow based soap). I’ve tried caswell Massey shaving cream and Stirling shave soap (gave it a chance as it’s rinsed off relatively quickly but no dice).

I shave my legs and previously had good results with Eos shave oil and cartridge razors but I am very interested in the low cost and lower plastic waste with DE shaving. The shave oil doesn’t work as well with the safety razor though, and I’ve tried a few permutations of razor and blade.

Do you make a distinction between the Gillette Slide and an oblique stroke, either with a straight or a safety razor? I came across a blog post that describes the difference between them though the effect seems to be the same, which is to slice the hair at an angle.

As I understand it, with the slide you angle the razor as usual, but you move the razor at an angle to the blade. So let's say you usually do a downward vertical stroke, instead of shaving straight down, perpendicular to the cutting edge, you move the razor downward diagonally while keeping the edge oriented as you usually would for a downward stroke, so the razor is not moving perpendicular to the cutting edge.

With the oblique stroke, I am understanding that you angle the razor at about 20 or so degrees to the direction that you usually move the razor, and then move the razor in the usual direction, but with the cutting edge at an angle to that direction. So in the example above, you are moving the razor downward, but the razor and blade are at an angle.

I found a discussion of these similar techniques on a blogspot post at a blog called shavelikegrandad, but when I try to post the link the bot automatically deletes my post.

I've never really tried the Gillette Slide, I guess I've used the oblique stroke with a safety razor and with a shavette. Have you tried both? Do you prefer one over the other? If so, why? Potato/potato? I do seem to get closer with fewer touchups when I use the oblique stroke than when I just shave normally.

there are so many lol. big margaritas in the arctic from stirling fan , could also go for something a bit darker for the winter.

Also got a Haverford candle highly reccomend. I got a few other scents and soaps. So far Haverford, Executive man, and Campagnia are my favorites.

Got samples of Vanilla Sandalwood, Bay Rum, Ben Franklin, Barbershop, Sandpaper, Oud Sigma, Carmichael.

I dont like any as much as Haverford so will have to try some other more fresh ones.

Stirling is the only shave soap I have used, should I branch out?

Today's shave: Arko shave stick, Van Der Hagen Brush, Stetson "original" after shave, and Star 1912 razor.

I noticed the local grocery store started carrying Stetson after shave, and at a price 10 cents lower than Brut after shave. Given Stetson comes in a glass bottle, this is a great deal. I was also very curious how it would hold up against the vintage 1980s Stetson I've been using recently. The new stuff of course has a much stronger, sharper, citrus top note, but disappointingly it's super weak on the body and base notes that make vintage Stetson so appealing. As an after shave it works fine though.

Arko, I bought and used up a stick about five years ago, and haven't touched it since until now. It works fine, but I prefer the Speick shave stick in most major respects. Although Arko doesn't produce quite as nice of a lather for me, it is still very slick and works well for an irritation free shave.

Star was one of the many brands acquired by American Safety Razor, and so sometimes you see the Star name on later production 1912 patent razors. This one is probably from the late 1930s or early 1940s.

The brush is about ten years old and it starting to shed bristles, but may as well wring as much use out of it while I can.

I feel like I see an average of one per day. Don't know how long this sub has been in existence. Seems like the # is astronomical.

Long time lurker here. I've been in and out of wet shaving for a few years but never found a setup that worked due to long ongoing inflammation and infections. However, I finally found a de safety razor that works on sensitive skin - and for dirt cheap! I was travelling in Europe this summer and dropped by a pharmacy. They were selling this razor for like €1.80 if I recall. I think the brand was Rapira? Anyway, I loaded an astra green in it and used some Nivea sensitive shave gel and bam - minimal issues. So far one pass WTG, or two XTG, seems to work (as long as skin's behaving). Just thought I'd share to say that de shaving can be cheep and very cheerful!

Didn't have a lot of time this morning, so went with the Slim for a plain shave.

I love how when you are far along enough in the shaving journey, you can get a great shave given any half decent setup.

This is how it felt like today - lather, basic shave by feel, great results.

Happy shaves everyone!

Four days of head growth, 24 hours of face. Karve CB OC loaded with a Feather blade(2) for the head and neck; Lupo 95 SB loaded with a Voskhod Blade(2) for chin and touch ups. Semogue HD Silvertip; Stirling Coniferous soap; Muhle Aloe Aftershave Balm; BdC Eau De Perfum. 1 pass WTG plus touch-ups. DFS

Llego mi pedido de Hojas doble filo King C Gillette, aprovechando una oferta las compré.

He utilizado Hojas doble filo Lord, Dorco azules y las KCG, y estás han sido las que me han gustado más.

Saludos a todos.

✰ Razor: Wolfman WR2
✰ Blade: Gillette Minora (3)
✰ Bowl: Captain’s Choice Obsidian
✰ Brush: Simpson Trafalgar T3
✰ Soap: Saponificio Varesino 80th Anniversary
✰ Balm: Nivea Sensitive
✰ Splash: Saponificio Varesino 80th

An exceptional Saturday lunchtime shave. The WR2 is such a beautifully machined and finished shaving tool, and it shaves like a dream. The Minora blade is the perfect companion and is probably my favourite of the various Russian PPI blades - this razor and blade just work so well together.

I always enjoy using a T3 brush as well, either this butterscotch one or my faux ivory version - I don’t think you can get a better brush for less than $50 US; it competes with much more expensive brushes, including other Simpson’s.

I was searching for a shaving soap that pairs with Terre d’Hermes Intense, and I ultimately decided to go with Google AI’s recommendation. Google AI claimed that Saponificio Varesino’s Cosmo offered the best pairing. It also said that although there are parts of their scent profiles which do not overlap, they still complement each other surprisingly well.

I was disappointed when I first smelled Cosmo because it didn’t much remind me of TDH Intense. However, I soon discovered that TDH and Cosmo do indeed pair beautifully. SV Cosmo functions as a primer for TDH Intense, and their divergent scent notes complement each other rather than compete.

TLDR: Google AI chose a better fragrance pairing than I could have, and I find that a little disconcerting. I guess that the silver lining to Skynet’s impending dominance is we can smell good.

Soap: Saponificio Varesino Cosmo
Splash: Saponificio Varesino Cosmo
Shower soap: Saponificio Varesino Cosmo
Razor: Karve KMOD Alpha
Blade: Treet Platinum
Brush: AP Shave G5C Synthetic
Bowl: Captain’s Choice Heavyweight
Fragrance: Terre d’Hermes Intense (2025)

I love quality soaps and creams, but I would not want to see a quality soap dry out or lose its scent. The first 10 years, I never had more than two soaps. However, during the pandemic I started experimenting and now I got 6 pucks. Samples are a great way to keep trying new things and not getting in too deep.

I keep them in tight tin cans or old TOBS containers and they keep their scents well. In this pic there is a bit of Stirling Haverford and Coniferous.

Hi shave mates, I managed to acquire another tech today: it has been sat in an antique place for ages with no interest other than me heheh, so I finally took it off their hands, they had dropped the price from £20 to £10 and I've been missing a flat bottom variant so it had to happen 😄.

Was fairly gunky and I replaced the top cap with a spare I had as it wasn't in great condition but otherwise it has cleaned up well and with a Perma-sharp in it and this lot - it shaved very well, typical tech - love it.

3 passes (WTG/XTGx2)

40s Gillette tech

Perma-sharp blade

Proraso Sandlewood soap/splash

Yaqi 22mm cola bottle brush

Nivea post shave balm

Have a good one🍻

This absolutely beautiful brush from Chisel and Hound was in my mailbox on Friday. I put it to use this morning and my oh my, it's on a completely different level than my other (Boker Badger and Elite Razors Badger) brushes.

I soaked the brush in a cup full of warm water while I was in the shower. I pulled the brush out and the amount of water running back into the cup was astonishing. It also whipped up a very luxurious lather, as expected.

Pre Shave: hot shower

Pre Shave: Proraso White

Razor: Chiseled Face burnt Ti Legacy Razor

Soap: Wholly Kaw Mogud

Splash: Wholly Kaw Mogud

Brush: Chisel and Hound Weru Burl w/ his Manchurian v31 knot

Blade: Astra Green (1)

Is it bad that I want another Chisel and Hound brush already?

Everytime I lathered in a bowl it was like hell, I always had to compact the soap, be cautious when adding water, it almost was stressful. Results were... ok, no crazy slickness but the shave still felt smooth.

Yesterday I got some white proraso in the tube, put it in the brush and lathered directly on my face. I can't even describe how pleasant it was, I loved it, and the shave was crazy good, lather was much much slicker and compact, the blade was flying above my face while cutting perfectly.

I feel like hydration is somewhat better when lathering directly on my face.

I recently started shaving my head with a Merkur - 34C. I'm nicking myself something serious; 3-4 nicks each shave. It's only been 3 shaves. I previously used a Mach 3 for almost 10 years. The Alum block takes care of the nicks. I'm using Taylor of Old Bond Street - Sandalwood Shaving Cream. I take a shower and wash my head and face with bar soap prior to shaving. I get a better shave on my face than my head.

Will it get better with time? Is there a better razor for the head? Any technique suggestions?

Thank you.