How to Shave with a Safety Razor

Close side-view of a man's cheek partially covered in shaving soap, and his hand holding a matt-black safety razor against his cheek.

This is a no frills, no lengthy intro, guide that gets straight into the meat of the topic. Learning anything new though does require a little memory muscle reprogramming. It did take me about two shaves to get into the swing of it, and from there the benefits just flowed.

One really need not get too tied up in the details though, as there is a bit of give and take (the 30 degree shaving angle is just an approximation), and you will settle on what is comfortable and works well for you. Nowadays I shave as quickly with a safety razor as I would have done with a cartridge razor.

Traditional wet shaving does bring quality, better economics, more freedom of choice, is more environmentally friendly, and pleasureful.

I still regret my dad trying to be modern in the 1970’s and only introducing me to cartridge razors. I endured a good 30 years of hell before I even knew about traditional wet shaving. I have just never looked back since then. The biggest problem for many is, not having actually tried traditional wet shaving. It was also probably an initial mistake of mine to go buy as super cheap disposable Bic razor and blades from the corner shop. There was a world of difference when I tried the Merkur 34C razor with some decent Astra and similar blades. If a razor is going to last 20+ years, you may as well spend a little more on it.

See the guide at https://zomchi.com/en-au/blogs/news/how-to-shave-with-a-safety-razor