I hear all this about it applying more pressure due to its weight, but the majority of the neck portion of your face is shaved with the razor inverted.
Additionally, while shaving against the grain, nearly ALL of the shaving happens with an inverted razor.
In both these situations, the weight of the razor is pulling away from your face due to gravity.
In: Physics
I’ve never actually heard that theory, but I would assume it’s referring more to the mass of the razor than the weight. A bulkier blade, like a straight-razor as opposed to disposables, has more mass and wider blade geometry, meaning there is literally more steel in the blade.
One benefit is that you need to apply less force for the razor to cut, sort of like using a chef’s knife as opposed to a paring knife to cut meat. Both work, but with the chef’s knife the blade does half the work for you.
Another benefit to that design is that the blade won’t dull as easily. The bulkier blade geometry of a straight razor may not cut as clean as brand new disposable blades, but it’ll keep that sharp edge for much longer, even without stropping.
This conversation usually comes up when you are dealing with safety razors – cartage razors are much easier to shave with and require very little technique.
Shaving with a safety razor (or a straight edge) requires pressure control. If you push to hard on the skin, you will cause cuts and irritation. A heavy razor will allow you to put virtually no pressure on the skin during the shave, letting gravity apply the right amount of pressure to cut hair. This leads to a better shave.
Now, you are right in that this doesn’t work for against the grain shaving, but that is something that usually isn’t recommended for safety/straight shaving until you have pressure control down and can replicate light pressure on the strokes where gravity can’t do the work for you.
Its about control. The heavier handle, not blade, requires more feedback from your hand, giving better balance and therefore, control. Obviously, too heavy of a handle gives you more fatigue and less control.
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