Thread: Finally getting the hang of it

I don't shave that regularly so when I do I am usually dealing with a week or two's growth, and my stubble is particularly coarse. I had been struggling and was started to doubt if my investment in my Theirs Issard straight and all the associated kit had been worth it. Finally I realised what was wrong.

The razor, despite extensive use of the strop before each shave, just wasn't sharp enough. I applied some abrasive paste to the rough back side of the stop and gave the razor a go on that before finishing on the smooth side of my strop, which has never been treated. It transformed the whole shaving experience. I have now sharpened it more still and am now achieving really quite a good full face shave.

I have also installed a good shaving mirror next to my basin . This, with my reading glasses on, gives me much better view of what is going on, especially under the nose and round the mouth.

A properly honed razor can make or break the shaving experience. Glad to hear that you got it sorted out. Has it been professionally honed or does it have the factory edge?

Glad to hear that the bad shaves didn't leave a permanent bad taste in your mouth. It might need a touch up on a hone, as suggested in the above post.

It's kind of strange how helpful a good, well-placed, mirror is too. Congrats on sticking with it.

Congrats on the improvement. What specifically was the abrasive paste and about how many strokes did you use?

Originally Posted by BeJay

A properly honed razor can make or break the shaving experience. Glad to hear that you got it sorted out. Has it been professionally honed or does it have the factory edge?

I bought the razor in Boston when on a trip to the US from "the Art of Shaving". I don't know how it had been sharpened, but one problem was that it progressively got blunter as I used it. My stropping in other words was not putting back as much edge as was taken off in the shave.

AOS famous for a factory edge , no one in the store uses the razors,, get it pro honed and then you,lol really be amazed. Tc

Originally Posted by Utopian

Congrats on the improvement. What specifically was the abrasive paste and about how many strokes did you use?

I used a Theirs Issard "Pate a Rasoir a l'Aluminocyline" which I had bought at the same time as the razor - it's a little white stick in a tube about the same size as a lady's lipstick. I think I initially used about 20 strokes on each side of the razor to restore a reasonably sharp edge. For the last three shaves I have started off on the rough, abrasive-treated side of the strop with around 20 strokes followed by around 20 to 30 strokes on the smooth untreated side. The razor has got progressively better and the last shave was the best ever.

Plenty of folks in London town that can set that razor up proper for you and then you will see what a great shave is. but it sounds like you are on the right path and getting better with the strop. No amount of paste will improve a bad strop technique.

Happy for you that it finale comes down. And yes a sharp razor make the different about a good or bad shave.