Thread: First shave and some disinfecting tips

Just finished my first shave with a straight! Only two nicks (one from the spike, one small slice), not much blood at all. The spike one I felt immediately, the slice I didn't even notice. It took me a LONG time, but I did two passes with the grain and one across. Shave quality is pretty bad right now, not too smooth, but by the last pass I had the blade gliding nicely, it almost looked like I knew what I was doing.

I thought I'd put some tips together on how I got everything in place:

1. Getting the Razor: Genco Master Barber 6/8 spike full hollow

I got this from the buy/sell forum, I looked around and didn't see anything that seemed right for me, so I posted a wanted to buy (WTB) for a first razor. Got lots of private messages with generous offers and guidance, and Ivo gave me a great deal.


2. Cleaning the Razor: Soap, alcohol, and Cidex

The razor looked clean when I got it, but given its age it probably shaved more than a few people, and blood borne pathogens aren't readily visible. I gave it a good (careful) scrub with soap and water to remove any debris, then got the small details with a cotton swab, alcohol, and in the real tight places a toothpick. Rinse and repeat, and then dried it and left it out. Left it to sit for a week, and then gave it a 20 minute soak in Cidex plus. 20 minutes (for Cidex plus, not regular) is the high-level disinfect time specified by the manufacturer. The scales were not hurt by this, and I'm pretty certain they're celluloid, and the blade wasn't hurt either. Rinsed every thing off (take it out of the Cidex, and at least 3 full water changes). The only thing that would be left after this process are spores that weren't washed off. A 3-10hr soak would take care of them, but I'm not sure how the scales would do. Anyway, this entire process is probably over the top considering that anything harmful either dried out and died or was washed off, but it makes me feel better.

3. Creams and Brushes

I normally use a double edge razor, so I already have brushes and creams and stuff. My only comment on them would be you don't need to spend a lot to get a good result, I do use a super badger brush but besides being a little softer its not much different from the crabtree one. That said, I do like Castle Forbes lime cream, even though its way overpriced, and do like Trumpers lime skin food, but also do just fine with QED's stuff. Its all about personal preference, if I had to do everything over again I'd just get the crabtree brush and some QED stuff, and get just as good of a shave.

4. The shave

It was hard at first, and my first time with the grain pass took a long time. My tips would be to pay attention to your pointer finger, when it was guiding the spine everything was smooth, when it was just holding it nothing worked. I lathered up and did a second with the grain, and it was much easier this time. I tried a pass across the grain, but stopped after my cheeks because it was getting too irritating. I splashed on some witch hazel, and for the first time ever it BURNED, and put on some skin food.

All in all, not too bad. I'll probably use my DE for a day or two until the irritation goes away, but I like the straight.

Congrats mdf! Keep at it with patience. You'll get there.

Jordan

Matt,

I've heard some accounts of stellar first shaves but I think they were only a couple. You did very well, I think. And in my experience it gets better and better from the first try.

Keep us posted on progress

Cheers
Ivo