The Taming Of The Muhle

daz

daz

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A wee field in Scotland
This could also be posted in shave of the day!
I have been using the Muhle R41 for a quite a few weeks now, it has been a sair fecht at times, but tonight was a different story! Lathered up with La Toja and stuck in yet another Astra SP, i took my time and let the blade slip accross my face. After three passes i was rewarded with the closest shave yet, with no nicks, cuts, bleeders or anything else. Not even any irritation afterwards! I finished off with some Arko post shave cream and then some of Steve's marvellous bay rum. I am pretty new to DE shaving so you may not want to trust me, but for anyone out there trying to get to grips with this beast please give it some time. You really need to use it for quite a while to get the feel, but once you do you will be rewarded with a very clean face. In fact it is the best shave i have had for years,

Daz
 
Mine should be arriving in the post this week, I am looking forward to giving it a go. I found a similar experience with my Fatip where it took quite a while before I could get irritation free shaves, and now it is the razor I reach to most often, hence why I decided to purchase the R41.
 
Well done, Daz. Still fear'd of that particular beastie and not sure my growth warrants it. Would probably wake in the middle of the night screaming, " The R41's gonna git me!"

Would rather not wake in the middle of the night whilst dreaming that Nigella's gonna git me!
 
I could never understand one thing though. People are amazed at 'how close it shaves', but how does it get any closer than BBS? I mean - it's skin next. So, if I can get a BBS with, say, Aristo, R41 won't give me any closer shave - perhaps a faster one if I could skip a pass. And I think it's more about experience and realisation that you've succeeded with this vampire :)

Now for you Daz.. How are you getting on with that 1912 SE? I'd like to recommend you trying some GEM razors - if you're R41 guy already you could skip straight to the OCMM. I think you'll love it!
 
Good on you Daz, it does take a few goes to "get" the R41 but it's not as scary as those first few tries suggest it might be, when you feel the blade on the skin, not the safety bar or comb but the bare, actual blade! It can be off putting initially.
Sirprize said this razor took him back to day one and taught him how to shave again, it really does hone the basics. Pardon the shit pun, it wasn't intended. :)
 
I've been using it for two weeks now and I think it's brilliant, even a two pass shave is acceptable with this razor whereas, if I was using my 34C or 89 Grande nothing less than three passes will do, I even had the balls to try it with a feather blade instead of my Astra SP and I lived to tell the tale lol
 
Helveticum said:
I could never understand one thing though. People are amazed at 'how close it shaves', but how does it get any closer than BBS? I mean - it's skin next. So, if I can get a BBS with, say, Aristo, R41 won't give me any closer shave - perhaps a faster one if I could skip a pass. And I think it's more about experience and realisation that you've succeeded with this vampire :
Click to expand...

Ok, maybe I can help you there.

What I consider a BBS shave to be, is one where I can't feel any whiskers on my face......very smooth. Now if I really press down and scrape my hand across, there's just a hint of roughness. That's about as good as it gets with my usual set up, which is fine with me.

A razor with more bite will actually even get rid of that tiny bit the other razor would leave.....very very smooth.

A few days ago I used a fairly aggressive razor for two shaves. What I noticed the next day was less stubble was there to be whacked. Less whiskers than what my normal razor leaves. That tells me for whatever the reason, my shave was unusually close. I can see something like the R41 delivering an amazingly close shave.

How's that sound?
 
dodgy said:
What I consider a BBS shave to be, is one where I can't feel any whiskers on my face......very smooth. Now if I really press down and scrape my hand across, there's just a hint of roughness. That's about as good as it gets with my usual set up, which is fine with me.

A razor with more bite will actually even get rid of that tiny bit the other razor would leave.....very very smooth.

A few days ago I used a fairly aggressive razor for two shaves. What I noticed the next day was less stubble was there to be whacked. Less whiskers than what my normal razor leaves. That tells me for whatever the reason, my shave was unusually close. I can see something like the R41 delivering an amazingly close shave.

How's that sound?
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I'd say you've nailed it, Martin.

The problem being I can only rarely use a razor that gives a shave like that 'off the bat' like the R41 as it's too aggressive to be used daily.

Occasionally something like an Aristo Jr and a fresh blade will deliver a shave which is almost as good, but with a fraction of the chance of opening a minor artery.
 
Tall_Paul said:
The problem being I can only rarely use a razor that gives a shave like that 'off the bat' like the R41 as it's too aggressive to be used daily.

Occasionally something like an Aristo Jr and a fresh blade will deliver a shave which is almost as good, but with a fraction of the chance of opening a minor artery.
Click to expand...

I'm with you buddy,

Actually I'd never use anything like that Muhle, not even once. That extra close shave comes with a price I'm not willing to pay. I've used a bunch of bloodsucking vampire razors over the years, and I know I hate em. I flat out love that extra close shave though........sigh.

There's nothing I could use that would tame an extremely aggressive razor....not technique and not the blade.

Gimme an old Gillette and I'm happy.
 
dodgy said:
Tall_Paul said:
The problem being I can only rarely use a razor that gives a shave like that 'off the bat' like the R41 as it's too aggressive to be used daily.

Occasionally something like an Aristo Jr and a fresh blade will deliver a shave which is almost as good, but with a fraction of the chance of opening a minor artery.
Click to expand...

I'm with you buddy,

Actually I'd never use anything like that Muhle, not even once. That extra close shave comes with a price I'm not willing to pay. I've used a bunch of bloodsucking vampire razors over the years, and I know I hate em. I flat out love that extra close shave though........sigh.

There's nothing I could use that would tame an extremely aggressive razor....not technique and not the blade.

Gimme an old Gillette and I'm happy.
Click to expand...

This is a bit rich coming from someone so new to it all, but have you tried a very heavy razor? My own experience is that the heavier the razor the less likely it is to bounce.
 
Halk said:
There's nothing I could use that would tame an extremely aggressive razor....not technique and not the blade.

This is a bit rich coming from someone so new to it all, but have you tried a very heavy razor? My own experience is that the heavier the razor the less likely it is to bounce.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing by that 'bounce' you mean how the razor can skip along sometimes? Doesn't usually do any damage but it doesn't cut anything. That what you're talking about?

If so then yeah, having a heavy handle will help keep that to a minimum. In a way it sorta adds a little pressure, making that skipping less of an issue. Many aggressive heads are on the light side, which to me means having to bear down a little. It adds an unwanted variable to the mix, and that's not good using a razor with lots of bite.

If anything, a heavy handle can make a razor even more aggressive, so it wouldn't help my problem.

So that's the deal.
 
I know where you're coming from, but still - if there's stubble, that's not BBS to begin with. Things like R41, slant, OCMM and Feather can perhaps do this a bit faster, but not actually closer. I mean - you can still get it THAT close with other razors (well, maybe not all but the decent ones), it just takes a bit longer.

P.S. to NTS - what's wrong with '04? They are excellent shavers, some of the best.


dodgy said:
Ok, maybe I can help you there.

What I consider a BBS shave to be, is one where I can't feel any whiskers on my face......very smooth. Now if I really press down and scrape my hand across, there's just a hint of roughness. That's about as good as it gets with my usual set up, which is fine with me.

A razor with more bite will actually even get rid of that tiny bit the other razor would leave.....very very smooth.

A few days ago I used a fairly aggressive razor for two shaves. What I noticed the next day was less stubble was there to be whacked. Less whiskers than what my normal razor leaves. That tells me for whatever the reason, my shave was unusually close. I can see something like the R41 delivering an amazingly close shave.

How's that sound?
Click to expand...
 
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