Thread: Reaching back to go into the future

Just trying to understand how you know that the pre shave was the reason you had such a good shave if this was your first total face shave?

Bob

Originally Posted by foldedandhoned

Now is the question of stopping.....
Any one have some wisdom to impart to me?
folded

You mean stropping? Watch a few videos, you may want to search for the Stroptober thread. Practise with a butter knife for a while before putting your razor to your strop, to get a feel for it. Use no added pressure, just the weight of the blade, and prepare to make a few nicks in your strop as you develop your muscle memory. Everyone makes mistakes sooner or later, so if you haven't already a strop, consider buying a secondhand one or a simple new one.

Yes, Laurens I did mean to type Stropping.
How can using a butter knife prepare me for stropping my razor? Two different things. A butter knife is used for spreading butter a razor is used for cutting the hair off my face. I don't get it.
I do have to thank you, Laurens, and Glen and and several others for your encouragement and advice when I started this journey. I am very proud of myself that I got the first full face shave today, even though I still look like I got down with a pack of feral cats. But I wear my scratches with a bit of pride.
Oh, right...to BobH, I don't really know. I have read a lot about pre-shave and all and thought that maybe I needed a bit of foundation (that sounds girlie as hell) to better let the razor do it's job now that I'm learning about angles and such. It just worked. I spent a hella lot more money than I wanted to but I learned a few valuable lessons so I feel ok about it.
Hopefully, within a month or so I will have a good technique down and become more comfortable and confident using a straight razor.
The next step is proper stropping. Keeping these blades sharp enough to do me harm.
Best,
Folded
Thank you all who have offered me advise. I think I'll keep doing this.

Pardon my confusing previous post, let me clarify myself.

Stropping is a motion that looks really easy in videos, but just like shaving, it's easy to make little mistakes. Your face will heal in time, but if you nick your strop... Well, it can be mended with rubber cement and sanding, but that is another subject.
To help you prevent nicking your strop, I suggested practising stropping with a butter knife. They're not sharp, you can drop them and you can make mistakes with flipping the knife/razor without consequences. Once you get the feel for the stropping motion, the pressure (or absence thereof) and the flip, switch to your razor.

As to flipping, a good practice is reversing the stropping motion during the flip just before the edge touches the leather again. This can be tricky in the beginning, but will also help preventing nicks. Keep in mind that the razor's edge is sharp enough to dig into the strop if you move it in an edge-leading direction even for a few millimeters.

I hope that clears it up a little, and I especially hope that you understand the flipping part, because it's the hardest to explain in words. If not, feel free to scorn


By the way, I'm happy to hear of your success and decision to keep shaving with a straight! Good luck and enjoy the ride.

Laurens,
I think I have the motion down and please allow me to be more specific.
I work with knives and use wet stones and steels (actual steel or ceramic) but SR is totally different.
If I don't have the best edge on my kitchen knives I can make up for it. But I'm cutting meat and fish.
When I go to my face...that's a different story!
The strop is very new to me and I don't know if I'm doing it right. The question that I have has more to do with the conditioning of the strop so I keep my razors at an optimal sharpness.
As you can tell I like my blades (tools) sharp.
Thanks for the reply
Folded

BobH,
see my reply to Laurens.

Originally Posted by foldedandhoned

BobH,
see my reply to Laurens.

Yea, saw that, still wondering. Good luck with the stropping.

Bob

Conditioning the strop can simply be done by rubbing it with the palm of your hand a few times before or after every stropping. The oils from your hand will keep the leather in good condition.
Otherwise, there are leather conditioning fats and neatsfoot oil. If you decide to use those, use them very sparingly and rub them in well.

Hi Bob,
I think that a few things are in play. I used a pre-shave that I now feel was a waste of money because I should have known better about how flesh and oils work. But the most important thing other than learning my angles and allowing the razor to do its thing is that I bought a razor from Glen and he knows his stuff. When I need to take my kitchen knives to be be "brought up" as it were, I have a very trusted smith. Glen, from the outset, gave me really great advise and sent me links and such...but the razor (an old WW2 era Schlieper) I bought from him was ready and fine, he takes this straight razor thing seriously and I'm down with that! Only I could make my shave a bad experience.
I think, and as I will do in the future, stick to those who have knowledge and passion. There is no substitute for knowledge.
And as I have said before I thank all of you who have responded to my posts or pm'd me.
Life is a learning experience. Preparing the flesh of once living beings to sustain the life of those still living will give you a particular outlook on what is important.
All the best,
Folded
The pre-shave thing is a matter of preference and climate. I believe that all you need is a little olive oil.

Well, that clears it up a little bit. I am going to guess that the edge Glen put on that razor had more to with an improved shave than any pre shave product.

Personally, I think using pre shave products and elaborate pre shave routines may help you initially achieve a better shave more quickly but will mask deficiencies in your basic shaving/lathering techniques as well as a poor edge. When I started I had built up a very elaborate shave routine from pre to post and was never really sure which parts of the shave routine were really contributing to achieving a really good shave. I have now eliminated everything and got it down to wet face, lather up and shave, all using cold water. Long winded way of saying a lot of things may seem to help at the start but in the long run may be a hindrance to getting the basics right. In the end though it is what ever works for you because everyone is different or more simply YMMV.

You have gotten good advice about stropping and strops. I won't say a word on that as I still manage to put small nicks in my strops every now and then still. OTH I am not degrading my edges by stropping. Stropping a another one of those "deceptively" easy looking skills to learn.

Bob