Quote Originally Posted by Huggybear View Post
You have a lot more to gain by soaking your face with soap and water for a few minutes [[not just throwing on shaving cream from a can) than the outcome of any choice involving safety, cartridge, or straight razors.

My suspicion - having tried pretty much every shaving method that exists - is that the lore of the straight razor comes from the fact that the "normal" straight-razor shaving procedure involves more prep [[and results in more beard softening). Reproduce this prep with other razors, and you can get an excellent shave with any but the worst disposable razors [[Bic yellow). And skip the prep with a straight, and you can get just as poor results as with anything else. A dry beard can literally dull your razor. Any razor.

Modern, teflon-coated commercial cartridge blades are very, very sharp and last a surprisingly long amount of time [[two to three weeks) if you care for them. And by caring for them, I mean rinsing them off and letting them air-dry. Straight razors require a good amount of maintenance every time [[and any steel used for knife blades can rust). They're great for barbers, since they can be sterilized and don't incur buying a new blade every time your neck or face gets shaved. But for everyone else, they represent a time commitment that may or may not be worth it.
Absolutely correct. I haven't used shaving cream in ages. Soap and hot water works wonders, as does a hot, wet washcloth against the face before the shaving cream. Kind of replicates the hot towel barbershop experience, but nothing really can. It's quite relaxing.