Thread: Few questions before first shave

Well USPS finally decided to show up so my new kit from SRD is here(YAY). Just got a few questions I didn't think about before now

1. This kit came with Razor oil. Is this something that needs to be applied before its put away at the end of a shave, or is it more for if the razor is not going to be used for a few days or more?

2. I've heard that for the first shave with a properly honed razor you should just shave and not strop until the second use, is there merit in this?

3. For the strop, I normally use neatsfoot oil to condition the other leather goods I work with, will this oil interfere with the razor during stropping or is it safe to use every once and awhile to keep the strop in good shape?

I don't have razor oil so I can't answer question 1 (although I will watch to see what others say).

2. If your razor was properly honed by SRD, then I'd use it once before stropping so you get a feel for what the blade should feel like. You'll mess up stropping at first, then get it honed again once you have it down.

3. I use neatsfoot oil on my strop and it never caused a problem. I just heard you should let it dry completely before stropping again.

Welcome to the group!

Originally Posted by Dave851

Well USPS finally decided to show up so my new kit from SRD is here(YAY). Just got a few questions I didn't think about before now

1. This kit came with Razor oil. Is this something that needs to be applied before its put away at the end of a shave, or is it more for if the razor is not going to be used for a few days or more?

2. I've heard that for the first shave with a properly honed razor you should just shave and not strop until the second use, is there merit in this?

3. For the strop, I normally use neatsfoot oil to condition the other leather goods I work with, will this oil interfere with the razor during stropping or is it safe to use every once and awhile to keep the strop in good shape?

1. If you live or store the razors in a high humidity area a thin, thin coat applied after each use will keep them in shape. When you run out of the 'razor oil' use mineral oil (probably the same thing) and a hell of a lot cheaper.

2. If the razor came from a source that absolutely hones all razors before they are mailed out then, by all means, DO NOT strop before first use. That way you will know, for certain, what a razor should feel and shave like. Then, if your stropping technique is good, you should be able to maintain the razor for months to come.

3. I, and many others are purists when it comes to new strops. With a daily rubbing of the strop with your hand, after running your hand over your face and forehead, you need no other or further kind of maintenance. Neatsfoot and other conditioning oils are best used for reviving vintage strops that haven't been used in a long, long time.

Good luck and enjoy your straight razor shave.

Pretty much as above
1. Use the oil for storage and maybe a drop on the hinge pin once a week.

2. Do not strop that razor before you use it. SRP sends them out ready to shave with.

3. The SRP strops do not need to be immediately conditioned. Palm condition it every time you shave and you can go for months without the conditioning oils, but neatsfoot is a good choice.

I know that you are excited, but remember to breathe and take it slow.

Thanks for the information everyone. I wasn't planning on using the neatsfoot oil on a schedule, only if/when the leather started to dry out. Didn't think of using people oil however, but it makes sense to me, the leather goods that I make that are handled by people more often tend to not need as much conditioning. Wouldn't consider update new york in the winter a humid environment, all the moisture turns into snow around here.

Going to wait till Friday evening for the first shave, hopefully next time I post its not in the cut of the day. Now I'm just going to carefully clean up the oil, its been getting a little everywhere since I took the razor out and moved it into the small cloth pouch. Good thing its not like some oils that just do not want to ever come off a surface and leave the area oily for days/weeks/ever.

Great advice from the guys. If you got one of the silicone cloth razor pouches from SRD then you shouldn't need to use the oil as the pouch acts as the protectant

Good luck with your first shave. Just relax and take your time to enjoy it.

Bob

Originally Posted by Razorfeld

1. If you live or store the razors in a high humidity area a thin, thin coat applied after each use will keep them in shape. When you run out of the 'razor oil' use mineral oil (probably the same thing) and a hell of a lot cheaper.

2. If the razor came from a source that absolutely hones all razors before they are mailed out then, by all means, DO NOT strop before first use. That way you will know, for certain, what a razor should feel and shave like. Then, if your stropping technique is good, you should be able to maintain the razor for months to come.

3. I, and many others are purists when it comes to new strops. With a daily rubbing of the strop with your hand, after running your hand over your face and forehead, you need no other or further kind of maintenance. Neatsfoot and other conditioning oils are best used for reviving vintage strops that haven't been used in a long, long time.

Good luck and enjoy your straight razor shave.

Quoted for agreement.

Well, little good new little bad news. Good thing is that I stayed out of the cut of the day and I would consider the shave overall productive for a first try. But I would not call it successful. Here's how it went.

Tried to go build up a lather. Put a little bit of water on the soap as I soaked the brush for a little bit. Had some trouble getting some soap of the puck, so when I transferred to the mug I just didn't end up having enough. Played around with adding water anyways to at least see if I could get a decent lather, ending up adding to much water and wow is it clear when you do that. All the lather basically turned to soup and ran out of the brush.

So dumped and cleaned the brush and mug to start again. Second time I left more of a thin layer of water on the soap as oppose to some water drops across the surface. Had a much better time getting soap off the puck. Worked up what I though was an OK lather and went for it. Was not comfortable at all. I believe it was 'tugging', tried playing with the angle a bit with no luck. If I used a very light touch, the blade would not glide for me and felt "sticky" at a higher angle, and with a lower angle did not appear to shave at all and just removed some lather. Went back to the lather again because I know that's suppose to help with things like this. Was able to add a fair amount of water without turning in into soup again. Was better, but still wasn't comfortable and was still sticking/tugging. I ended up stopping because partly I ran out of sections on my face to use, and well I wasn't exactly getting all that far. No lasting irritation might I add, little cold water splash and it felt much better. Time to go read up on lather (again).

Now for the questions.
In regards to the angle, is it possible that I just simply didn't notice that it was actually shaving? What type of feedback from the razor should I expect when I have the right angle?
How much downward force is normally needed to push the razor? I was under the assumption it should be very little.
I did not strop the razor this time, and did not bang it around, after I was done I just wiped it off with a microfiber cloth i had around. Is there anything I could have done to end up dulling the razor making it tug?

First question would be "Did you strop before shave?". If not, then I would say, lather possibly still too thin, and, or razor angle too steep. Try making your lather too thick, and then thin it out till it is almost like whipped cream. Keep an eye on your angle next shave. Just do one cheek with your dominant hand, with no pressure, gentle short strokes, and check results. It is a bit hard to get past the first few steps, but worth the effort. Best of luck.