It’s still a wet shave!

[UKRob]

I‘ve had a pretty severe bout of pneumonia recently that left me in hospital for a week or so during which time my wife bought an electric shaver which I’ve used for the last three weeks whilst in recovery mode. It’s fine but not as close as I like so, while looking through my shaving gear I came across my old Gillette 5 blade cartridge - not used for about 10 years and with a blade in place that looked OK. Just used it with some MdeC soap and had a very close and comfortable shave. I think I’ll maybe use it more often in future - at least until the other 4 blades are dull then decide whether to buy some new ones.

 

[p.b]

Sorry to hear you’ve been so ill but glad that you’re on the mend.

I agree with you about carts - Gillette know what they’re doing - it seems it was the canned goo that drove us to traditional wet shaving rather than the razors.

 

[Chris]

I have often wondered if I'd get better results with a cartridge if I tried using it with proper shaving soap instead of canned goop. Not enough to actually go out and buy any though, and certainly not at the price Gillette charges for a cart. My biggest problem with carts was that they choked on three days' stubble.

 

[chazt]

I‘ve had a pretty severe bout of pneumonia recently that left me in hospital for a week or so during which time my wife bought an electric shaver which I’ve used for the last three weeks whilst in recovery mode. It’s fine but not as close as I like so, while looking through my shaving gear I came across my old Gillette 5 blade cartridge - not used for about 10 years and with a blade in place that looked OK. Just used it with some MdeC soap and had a very close and comfortable shave. I think I’ll maybe use it more often in future - at least until the other 4 blades are dull then decide whether to buy some new ones.

I still have a Trac II handle and supply of old blades, and use it once or twice a week around and (gently! on) the earlobes for addressing the “oblivious-old-wolfman” look. The inherent design of this cartridge is perfect for the job.

Heal well, @UKRob. All the best wishes for your continued recovery.

 

[UKRob]

I have often wondered if I'd get better results with a cartridge if I tried using it with proper shaving soap instead of canned goop. Not enough to actually go out and buy any though, and certainly not at the price Gillette charges for a cart. My biggest problem with carts was that they choked on three days' stubble.

Genuine Gillette seem to be about £2 per cartridge on Amazon - so still expensive assuming only 4 or 5 shaves. Unbranded are less than half that price but I’ve no idea what the quality is. As regards canned lather - I’ve never used it having always used a badger brush and various soaps both hard and soft for something like 60 years now. I think Ingrams was my first soap - in a tube - and I only picked up all the alternatives when joining TSR in about 2011.

 

[Chris]

Genuine Gillette seem to be about £2 per cartridge on Amazon - so still expensive assuming only 4 or 5 shaves. Unbranded are less than half that price but I’ve no idea what the quality is. As regards canned lather - I’ve never used it having always used a badger brush and various soaps both hard and soft for something like 60 years now. I think Ingrams was my first soap - in a tube - and I only picked up all the alternatives when joining TSR in about 2011.

Despite the claims to the contrary, shaving every day I’d get about a week out of a cart. My last cartridge razor was a Petsonna Triflexxx (sic), it was cheaper than the Mach 3 but worked well.

 

[Zorro]

My perfect BBS shave is multi-pass with DE as normal, then run over very, very lightly with Gillette Fusion 5 Pro-Glide and just water for lube. It's really good at finding micro-stubble on the bumpy bits.

If I use only the Gillette to shave with, then I get neck rash + it grows back much more quickly, but it is great for a super fast decent shave if you use a decent soap or cream.

 

[Zorro]

Apropos Gillette 5 blade - the cheapest Orange / Black Fusion 5 carts will fit any of the later Fusion / Proglide handles (but not the Gillette Labs razors) and, as far as i can tell, offer a very similar shaving experience to the more expensive / later types of Fusion cartridge variants that have different colours, different micro combs and different types of lube strip.

The "power" option makes little to no difference IMO, but the Pro-Glide swivel head makes a huge shaving difference over the head that only pivots.

If anyone wants to try Gillette 5 blade shaving, i would suggest a Fusion 5 Pro-Glide handle and the cheapest genuine Fusion 5 carts you can find (there are LOTS of fakes out there, so buy from a supermarket or reputable supplier). They can be gotten for £2 or less per cart.