Okay, I received my AL-13 about 3 weeks ago and, believe it or not, there was a learning curve to prevent my dome from looking like a rotten strawberry after a shave. In the past, with cartridge razors, I got used to shaving against the grain, especially on the sides and the back, (Not much going on up top). So I reverted to the whole "against the grain" thing, and, VOILA!. The strawberry look had made a painful comeback.What I then experimented with was shaving with the grain, which I found to be less than effective. Not much cutting of hair and I must, subconsciously, have a yen for inflicting physical punishment on myself for perceived past wrongs because my response was to press harder. That led to a week or so using the old so as not to disrupt the body's natural instinct to create scabs to prevent exsanguination. Then I decided to go horizontal so my shaving satisfaction could go vertical. Not with the grain, not against the grain, but, kind of across the grain. That was the secret for me. No cuts or scrapes, no irritated skin, and a nice close shave.I started off using Feather DEs and I have a few different varieties of blades but unless I notice a perceivable difference between the current blades and any other just assume that everything is going fine.Thanks to sellitman for bringing this razor into the light. Good find! Kudos, sir.
I couldn't find the razor blades. I thought you were talking about the blades.