Thread: Advice for a Barber converting from injector to a 'real' straight razor ...

Any reason for staying away from stainless? My dad and I used to both work in a health-food/pharmaceutical plant, and stainless is the only way to fly for something made out of metal that has to be rigorously cleaned/disinfected regularly.

Do you currently shave with a straight? I think maybe a good starting point for getting the hang of stropping and prepping the face may be to shave with a straight yourself. I mean then you'd have to strop your razors, keep them sharp and you'll know about how much pressure and all that you need from shaving your own face as well as preferred lather and brushes. I suppose santization of the brush could also become an issue between customers if you used one. Some of the stuff we have to deal with today seems ridiculous.

Well, here is my advice:

- first of all, learn to shave yourself with a straight, if only because that is the only way to know if a blade is sharp or not.
- UV sterilizing is great, but beware the material of the scales. certain plastics / celluloid scales might deteriorate under intense UV exposure.
- use quality strops from Tony www.thewellshavedgentleman.com he is also a member here and his strops are the best. contact him to help you with choosing one
- buy a second strop from tony which is pasted with chromium oxide to help you keep the razors sharp.
- unless you want to learn everything at once, have your razors honed by one of the experts here. at least in the beginning. Learning to do it yourself is useful, but you also want to know that your sutomers get good shaves. Once you are set you can still learn how to hone them yourself. And if you have a pasted strop and learn to use it, your razors won't need to be honed often.
- for sterilizing what you can also do is hang the razors in a jar of alcohol / barbicide / bleach. If you fold the scales all the way back, then you can hang the razor over the edge of the jar with the edge safely pointing away from the jar, and with the scales outside so they don't get hurt.
- invest in no-nonsense but good steel quality straights. you'll be using them a lot.

Welcome Joe!

I would suggest shaving yourself for a little bit as the variances in honing and stropping take some getting used to.

Personally, between barbicide and stropping a razor I think your well ahead of the curve, hygenically, with a straight. I wouldn't even give such concerns a second thought. I assume you don't use a brush.

Once you learn to hone and strop the only variance that comes to mind is that it'll be easier and that a traditional requires atleast a full extra minute of prep lather "set-in".

Due to your variety in customers I'd suggest a 6/8 blade as well.

You'll be much less likely to nick customers so don't let that get you complacent.

Don't forget that you'll need to always go against the grain under the bottom lip and you should always pull the skin off the adams apple. With a traditional straight its easier to forget that.

A scything motion is more important with a straight when your up against multiple customers.

I think the hardest transition is to know when the blade won't pull on the skin. After honing and stropping I take the blade and run it over my arm hair and ensure that the blade obliterates the hair on instant contact. Failing that, I know its not perfect. I would learn and embrace the thumb pad test. PM me if you need full details.

And of course go to the main page, look in the Permanent Archives under the library and read the 1961 Barbers manual.

There's nothing wrong with using a stainless steel blade. One of my better shavers (best looker, too) and another reguler performer in my rotation are made of stainless steels. With that being said, the rest of my rotation is made of carbon, but I haven't noticed a difference in performance. They are a bit more difficult to hone, but they hold their edge longer.
Feather AC will give your customers the closest possible shave, but it may be a bit harsh. However, the base version is autoclave-safe.

Originally Posted by kaptain_zero

Japanese Feather Artist Club razor?

+1 for the Feather, I use one of these as my travel razor. I like it quite a bit since I don't need a lot of extra equipment to use it.

You may want to check the with your State Licensing Board (and other states for that matter) about what they determine to be "Best Practice." I don't think any of them are going to like the traditional methods.

I, as a consumer, would never get a shave in a shop if they were using the traditional method. I love the old way of shaving and I love getting shaved but I would not love them together.

Before starting straight shaving customers I would if I were you check the health and safety regulations where you live. In many countries using a straight on different customers is against the law. I once read a report of a Sicilian village where almost all customers of one barber were infected with hep. C due transmission through straight razors.

I was thinking that I read on hear that wapis were made for medical use and can be autoclaved. Getting wapis and a small autoclave might be a good bet.

Originally Posted by AFDavis11

And of course go to the main page, look in the Permanent Archives under the library and read the 1961 Barbers manual.

WOW!! Just my ignorance, but I never realized such documents were available at SRP! These are fantastic reads, and have really shed light on some uncertainties I've had!

Anyway, Welcome Joe! As said before, it is nice to see a barber offering these services.

Originally Posted by Kees

Before starting straight shaving customers I would if I were you check the health and safety regulations where you live. In many countries using a straight on different customers is against the law. I once read a report of a Sicilian village where almost all customers of one barber were infected with hep. C due transmission through straight razors.

+1 I wouldn't be surprised if there were laws/regs saying you need to use disposables - or use proper sterilization techniques and equipment. That equipment would probably need to be maintained and inspected regularly - like at a dentists office. I'd check this out before doing anything.

Jordan