Thread: my straight wet shave razor journey.

This is going to be my personal journey of wet shaving.

I started with a EJ De and a cheap brush with some proraso soap. Had a shave after learning how to lather properly. To my surprise after it was better and closer than my disposable 5 blade. As I continued my progression towards straight razor and help from peoples post on here. I ordered a vintage sight unseen from whipped dog and strop kit. Ialso ordered a better quality brush a Simpson commodore x2 and some MWF from royalshave. While waiting for the brush and MWF to arrive. I had 2 shaves with the straight for the first pass and 2nd in some places. Then finish up with my DE for a BBS shave. So far only 1 nick and a couple of weepers. But no burn. Today my beloved brush and MWF shows up. Wow what a nice brush worth every cent spent..soft yet stiff and packed with hair. So I figure let's break it in with MWF that everyone likes. Ive seen people complain how it may be tough to lather. I watched the video and followed along with his example. To my dismay minimal to no lather. I worked it up as best I could on my face. I proceeded to shave. OWCH!!! My face is on fire!! Razor burn. The only difference was not having much lather. So to finish up I added some of my prorasso to the brush. Kaboom this brush bloomed with foam from prorasso, But to late i have razor burn. So could it be my area has bad water? Any locals use mwf? Did I miss something? Maybe I just should order tabac or MDC.. Tips and advice welcome as my journey continues for the best shave.

Thanks.

some do have trouble with MWF ,I cant say for them ,I don't have a problem with it ,,, it does want more of my water. I load my brush , then go straight a wet face , if it doesnt get there with the water in brush I started with I just keep adding a little water at a time , if your trying to lather on top of the puck ,its getting more soap and very little water then. just try adding water till you see results, once you figure it out its a great lather tc have some fun with it !

I Hope to have fun with it. I wonder if I have hard water where I live. Maybe I need to use bottled water. I refuse to let it beat me. Others enjoy it. So can I.. Hope a mentor from NEPA can help.

not much but a start

I also am one of the winners of Whippeddog facebook contest woo hoo.. a silvertip brush.

So the past few days I received some shavemail. From SRD and whippeddog. A silvertip brush and a modular paddle. As for the brush its very nice and soft. I imagine this will be a great bowl shave while the slightly stiffer Simpson best badger for face lather. Unless I'm mistaken? The WD silvertip looks like it will bloom into a big brush. I might have to order this brush with it recessed to get a stiffer feel. Ive read its better when its recessed an extra 5-10mm. As you can see in the photo its the same diameter. the Simpson and wd looks and feels equaly dense. And I can't wait for my Boker silver steel I won from ebay to arrive. Supposed to be shave ready by Lynn with 2nd honing coupon. So should my WD silvertip brush be a face or bowl lather? Photos below

front view

top view. you cant tell much in this photo besides size but the Simpson and WD are much denser than the Escali

New Brush? New puck of soap? BINGO! You have everything you need for lots of PRACTICE. Like everything else in wetshaving, whipping up a nice lather takes some practice. It's fun, and a new puck of soap will let you load a brush dozens of times before you even notice the loss. MWF is the Bomb! The lanolin base really acts as a softener well. Don't give up, but don't be afraid to rinse it down the drain and start all over either. If you are in a rush, use an old reliable brush/soap combo, if not, enjoy the lathering up experience. It's like a tiny chemistry experiment (it's exactly a tiny chemistry experiment) each time you churn up a face-full!!!

It's pretty amazing how long a puck of soap lasts. Even if it seemed expensive, on a per shave basis it's a bargin. That realisation coupled with having a new wet shaving hobby that I could only enjoy once a day drove me to.....my problem. Hi. I'm Tom, and I have a lathering problem. The first year or so of my wet shaving obsession, I would sneak upstairs, lock myself in the bathroom, find a new soap or a new brush, or some combination of the two I hadn't tried yet, and.......whip up a lather. In a bowl, in my left palm, it didn't matter. I just couldn't wait until morning. Worse yet, sometimes an hour or two later, if I had to actually use the bathroom, while I was in there I would ....... sniff the brush.

The up-side to this, is I never used a soap or brush for the first time during an actual shave. And my lathering improved much faster. All kidding aside, I still do this with a new soap or brush before I use them for an actual shave. Practice is good. And I still regret that I have but one face to shave.