Thread: First Shave with a Straight

Hi all! Just had my first shave with a straight yesterday and I still here to write about it so I guess that is good. I had been doing my research and watching videos for about a month and decided to give it a go yesterday. I used a Dovo silver steel that was shave ready. Sounds like I'm in the same boat as all the other newbies but I had a lot of pulling (which doesnt' happen with my disposables) and I couldn't get a good lather from my soap. I think I was coming at a good angle of less than 30 degrees but still had a lot of pulling on my 2 days worth of stubble. I shaved everything but my mustache and chin with the straight and finished the rest with my dispoable. Managed to do it without cutting myself. I know I'll have to work on the soap and it will eventually come but should I have stropped the razor before the first shave even though it was shave ready? Thanks

Yes*.

Post shave stropping is to clean and dry the edge.

Pre shave stropping is to remove oxidation and further polish the edge.

*But for some honemeisters now send out an oiled edge so that the newb doesn't ruin the work before he feels a good edge. One simply and carefully wipes away the ol in that case, or just shave it away.

Proper stropping is everything, nearly. Well, improper stropping can undo everything!

"shave ready" also doesn't always turn out to be such.

For a long time I mistook 'resistance' for 'pulling'. The feel of a straight, even a super-sharp straight, is different than a disposable or even a DE safety razor. It's hard to know if it just wasn't sharp enough or if you weren't pulling the skin tight enough or if it really was just resistance.

Where did you buy the razor?

Where did you get the "shave ready" razor from? Some are, some are not. If it was truly shave ready and you did not strop b4 shaving, it should not have pulled. My first new dovo was shave ready from the factory but I purchased online and Lynn made it truly shave ready for me. Great shaver.

Thanks for the replies. I got if from SRD. Could be from multiple things. I didn't really prep first. I just splashed some water and tried to build a lather. The bad lather probably didn't help, kept drying up, probably becasue I was too slow. I think until I really get the hang of using the razor I'm going to do a full prep with a shower and a pre-shave to loosen up.

SRD should be shave ready. Don't give up, it takes time. Technique is definitely a big part of it. You might try a lower angle with the blade. Part of the fun is learning everything.

In my opinion, face preparation and building a proper lather is one of those skills that you really need to perfect for a good shave. After you do it for a while you'll begin to see that with the same razor and a better prep routine and lather, you'll get a much better shave. I occasionally still rush that part of the shave and when I start to notice it, I re-lather or add water and re-lather on my face all over again. What soap did you use?

FYI, I have 3 SRD razors and Lynn has honed my vintage one -- all were great, right from the day I got them.

Thanks Chugach68 and Haroldg48.....I won't give up I plan on being a lifer! FYI my wife watched me for a minute when I told get I was going to give it a try and she laughed and said "You think the boys (2 1/2 year old and 3 month old) are going to let you get away with spending a 45 minutes alone everyday to do this." Ha!

I used the SRD essential oil soap. I couldn't get it to lather very good and will have to watch some videos. It felt more like a watery lather from a bar of soap rather than a cream that most are able to create. Will keep working at it. Thanks

Oh, you'll get it down to 20 minutes after a while. Just make sure you lock the bathroom door! SR shave is a bad time to get surprised or bumped.

Watery lather is usually not loading the brush enough and the drying out is probably time. Adding glycerin to it will help the drying out and try lathering only the area you are currently shaving. Look up mantic59 on YouTube he has a good lathering video. Good luck