about taking care...

Hey,

I was wondering if i should be doing anything else for my brush apart from thouroughly washing it with water after every use and letting it dry on its holder? 'cause i've noticed it never gets completely dry and stays a bit moist in the center, is that normal?

Also, for my blade i read somewhere you should pat it dry instead of wiping it dry, why would that be? Is the difference between patting and wiping really important?

One last thing. Can I use desinfectant alcohol to wipe the blade with every now and then? Is that recommended?

Greg.

Thats what I do with my brush, though it does dry completely day to day. Don't know what else I would do?


I do wipe my razors dry, just very very carefully, and not at the edge. Two things can go wrong when wiping the blade too close to the edge. You could cut your towel to ribbons, fingers included free of charge. In so doing you will dull the edge causing you to have to re-sharpen it before re-use. I don't really know which is worse.

What I do is gently wipe the back of the blade and the flats to about a eighth of an inch from the edge to dry the blade. Then I strop four or five times on the towel to dry the edge.

You could disinfect with alcohol every so often if you think you need too.

Are you in a humid environment? Maybe why your brush doesn't completely dry? Unless it's getting moldy or smelling funky (I know, new badger brushes tend to smell funky anyways) I wouldn't be overly concerned.

I think the patting as opposed to wiping the razor advice is more of a safety issue. I always wipe my razor after shaving. And it's definately not to prevent damage to the razor since you are wiping the heck out of your razor each time you strop.

Oh, and alcohol is fine. I started using a shot of Clippercide on my razor after each shave. It contains alcohol as well as other disinfectants and a rust preventative to boot. After all these years, I still learn new stuff.

I would make sure you shake as much water out of the brush as you possibly can. I find if I do this the brush is completely dry by the next day.

As far as the razor goes, I usually wipe it on a thick terry cloth towel and then use a stropping motion to dry the edge and then let it sit about 20 minutes before puting it away.

I don't worry about disinfecting razors unless its one newly acquired. Then the usual chemicals and honing and cleaning will take care of any bug.

Yeah, me too. I wick it almost dry and it's bone dry shortly after that.

X

Greg,

Your brush won't dry overnight. I've noticed some of mine take up to 3 days before the center is dry. Make sure you leave it in an open air environment, i.e., don't store it in the medicine cabinet. Leave it on the counter. A brush stand won't make any difference. The only way to let it dry completely is to stop using it everyday. So I suggest picking up another two or three brushes. It's not necessary, but it is more fun!

RT

Thanks guys for all your advice!

Hey btw my (first) razor is a Dovo. It hasn't got all the fancy handiwork on the handle...actually the handle's just plain plastic ;) but hey it's about the blade, right?

...not that one of these days I wouldn't mind treating myself to a razor with a really neat looking handle made out of carved wood or something like that, but for now the one i got seems fine to me and it most certainly gets the job done!

I've only shaved 3 times with my straight razor but I must say the progress i've made from the first to the second time is gigantic and the same is true from the second to the third time (not a single cut and as smooth as a baby's butt!)...not that i don't still have a huge learning curve ahead of me...

I read quite a lot on soaps and stuff here...personally i bought "L'Ome" shaving soap and after shave balm from Durance (it's french) with sea buckthorn extract which is really nice. When i run out i think i'd like to get the Nomad set (soap, balm and cologne) by Crabtree & Evelyn, i took a whiff at the store and the smell's sooooo good! (but it's a bit more expensive too)

One thing i don't have anymore since switching from the electric razor is small "spots" which i got now and then and irritation. I read somewhere that it had something to do with the straight razor removing dead cells more efficiently thus allowing the skin to breathe better.

That's it for now,

Cheers.

Hey,

anyone got anything to say about Dovo blades or Durance soap ==> did a research on the forum and didn't find anything.

Bye for now :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by InjunJoe

Hey,

anyone got anything to say about Dovo blades or Durance soap ==> did a research on the forum and didn't find anything.

Bye for now :)

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A little :OT from your original post ;)

But I will answer a part. For myself, I do not have any Dovo Razors, but have heard all good things about them. If you are going to get a new straight I would suggest getting it honed as well by a member here.

I have a DOVO. All stainless steal, so I'm with you in the not-so-grand-looking department. When I get a new razor, I plan to get one that has nice scales (thinking of the new Thiers-Issard coming out in like a month). When I get that, I plan to send my DOVO to someone to get it rescaled with, maybe, snakewood.

For the brush, what I do is I squeeze it and flick it a bit. Probably not the best thing for the brush.... It's a great brush, but only something like $70. So if I do damage this one, I'll just buy it again. Next summer I plan to be a Shavemac, and possibly another brush. With a rotation system I should be able to let these brushes to dry without squeezing or flicking them.

I wick my blade, wipe it a little, and then strop. The thing about the wiping vs. patting thing, I always thought the wiping mimicked stropping and might possibly do damage if not done properly.