Quality Control Feedback

Hi All!

First, to all the folks chiming in with advice, etc. - thanks! You have made the switch to using a straight much easier.

Next - I am looking for some QC feedback so I can fine-tune my technique. I have received straight razors shaves off-and-on over the years, becoming addicted to a once-a-week session in a nice barbershop while on a project in Phoenix. I have also had shaves in Hong Kong and get repeatedly good quality work at barbershops here in Denver.

Still, I want to master doing it myself - both for the satisfaction and so I don't have to continue using the ridiculously priced disposables. So, here is my arsenal (btw, I'm a trained chef, so I am comfortable with sharp blades...):

Razor - DOVO Silver Steel 6/8 (honed by Lynn via Vintages Blades)
Soap - Art of Shaving Creme Soap
Prep - Art of Shaving Oil
Application - Badger Brush/Mug
Strop - Illinois Russian Leather and Linen
Maintenance - DOVO Sterol
Learning - Lynn's DVD

Routine:

Shower (very hot) lots of spray on the face
Move to the Shaving-

1. Stropping - strop hands from a hook next to the sink, so I am pulling towards me, with the handle end lower than the hook end. The X-pattern works fine. I am careful to try and keep the blade flat and to rotate across the back of the blade. 6-8 strokes on the linen, 4-5 on the leather.

2. Prep - on a wet face, a hot towel for 30-45 seconds; then a light coat of pre-shave oil and a layer of lather and another hot towel 30-45 seconds. (Lather is the shave cream and a few drops of oil mixed into a nice, thick lather, but not a foam.

3. Shaving - (I'm right-handed) Starting on the right side of my face at the sideburn, pulling my skins taught, I do a WTG downward stroke of about 2 inches, then rinse in cold tap water, thenwipe dry on a terry towel, pulling the blade between my thumb and forefinger, blade outward, being careful not to touch the blade edge. Repeat. I am trying to make sure I keep a 30 degree angle. I am heavy-set, so I do not have a lot of sharp angles on my face :p .....I continue this way and then repeat on the left side (interesting holding a blade to my face with my left hand). I then move to the neck and shave WTG, chin bottom-to-throat. I don't do the chin, as I have chin whiskers. Then I move to the moutache area under to nose...tricky, but I get through it.

I then repeat this with another lathering and go at an angle. I am not comfortable enough yet to do a full XTG stroke.

4. Finish - Hot towel 10-20 seconds, then a cool towel/ Alum block across and nicked or irritated areas, then some face moisturizer.

Results: Varied. I have done 2 shaves so far, but the second was worse than the first, with some areas looking untouched. The blade felt like it was dragging in spots. Under the nose, I still have whiskers, as well as along the jawline and throat to the point that they can catch on my shirt collar. Some irritation, but no real redness.

Blade angle?
Not enough "soaking time" for the towels or lather?
More stropping?

All feedback is appreciated. I want to get the "baby-bottom smooth' finish that I get in the barbershop. I know there is a practice factor, but i want to get the techniques correct before I ingrain a bad habit.

Greg (WireBeard)

Commenting on a couple of things that stood out for me:

I use 20-30 both way strops before shaving.

I would describe the angle of the blade as closer to 20 degrees than 30 - remembering that the width of the blade takes up part of the angle.

I don't rinse the blade between strokes, I just wipe it against my thumb.


Apart from that sounds pretty good; you certainly seem well equipped for the job!

IIRC there was a study done that said 60 round trips on the leather side of the strop was the optimum. I've been following that with good result.

YMMV.

J.

Stropping is a good conservative approach to what you should change first. I'd continue doing what your doing, then add 15-20 more strokes, maybe even more if you think its helping. So linen, then leather, linen again, then finish with 15-20 on leather. That should help get the razor feeling sharper again.

Be careful when you strop, you can really mess up the edge.

If the linen is hard and knarly drop that instead and use only leather.

Its much more important to strop right than to strop a lot, honest.

i might increase the hot towel time

what i do is wrap a hot towel while i work up a lather, remove the towel and lather up my face then cover it up with the towel for 2 about minutes (after soaking it again), wipe the lather off, relather, then shave

if it starts feeling cool sooner than two minutes, i wipe off, relather and start the shave

nice and soft

also, i haven't tried it ever, but a recent thread here:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/showthread.php?t=12533

links to a site here:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpos...73&postcount=1

that recommends rubbing the lather in with your fingers for 2 minutes before the hot towel wrap

for wire beard - all prep pays off tripple

rubbing in with fingers, couple of towels sessions, relather - should soften the hairs very well. I don't have the parience for this most of the time but get great results when I do it

Cheers
Ivo

FORGOT: DO NOT WIPE THE RAZOR DRY! -

I'd recommend wiping the lather (or whatever else you do to get rid on the build up on the blade) - and then actually dipping the blade in the full sink. This improves glide and should minimize the skipping that might occur with a dry blade, and also should reduce irritation. Warning - watch out because careless dipping can lead to a chip on the faucet or some other similar disaster

good luck

:y
So, some improvement made, thanks to the feedback here, Lynn's vid, and reading the Art of the Straight Razor Shave.

Still not up to 3 passes w/out razor burn...jawline seems to be the hardest area.

Lessons Learned (so far)

1. Hot water, more hot water and don't forget the hot water
2. More stropping - 20-30 round trips. I think that my first technique was off and I may have dulled the razor a touch, so I'm sending it back to Lynn to hone, along with an old Hoffritz razor from when I was in the Army.
3. Hot towels, lather, rub the lather in with your fingers, another hot towel, and more hot water and hot towel between passes.
4. Slow and steady, short strokes, pay attention and don''t get cocky - the shaving god demands blood offerings for getting too big for your britches - and you want everything where it was when you started (except the whiskers)....[Curley from the Three Stooges in a shaving skit..."Were you wearing a pink bow tie when you came in?...No?...Oh, here's your lip."]
5. Don't stop moving - it is amazing how sharp the razors are, even if ou aren't getting an optimal shave. Don't adjust your facial tension with the blade moving.
6. Finish with cool water or even iced water, styptic pencil or alum block for nicks, and an astringent (I'm using Witch Hazel), then a face moisturizer.

Thanks again to all those who commented and any further advice is appreciated.
:bow

Happy Shaving!

Greg (WireBeard)

Thats great! Good to hear things are getting better.

One of my big fears is letting go of stretched skin while shaving. :)

I've got to agree on icreasing the strokes on the strop. I was making forty passes and got good results. Sixty gives even better.

Martin

I have also experienced better shaves by using 60 round trips before the shave and 10-12 round trips between passes. It has really smoothed things out for me. YMMV