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Hi everyone I have just bought a straight razor off eBay and have been looking for advice on how to use it so I don't kill myself. Everywhere it says to use a badger brush and special oils and soap to soften the beard my question is , cant I just use shaving foam from a can ? :thinking:
You may want to look at this thread http://straightrazorpalace.com/newbi...-bad-idea.html
Most of the members posted that they figured it was O.K. For myself, I tried it once with a cheap foam and would not care to repeat the experience. If you are new to straight shaving then my advice would be to use a good cream and get the cut and the glide that you are looking for. If the foam does not work for you then you are likely to blame the razor. Why make things even a little more difficult than they need to be when learning?
Oh, and it does not need to be expensive: a cheam ($5.00) brush and Williams soap ($2) or prorasso and you are on your way. Likely down the road you will want something else, but that will get you started.
This more or less answers your question (the only answer I could come up with was it felt a bit crappy and I swapped it for oil long before I succumbed to the lure of straights and so just went along with the conventional wisdom unquestionly, odd because I rarely play that particularly dangerous game, the reason for my thanks) and this is probably worth a read too (if you haven't already).
Well, it's a bit more involved than just this foam, or that soap or cream. A lot of it involves face prep, as with any razor. Straight or otherwise. I don't use a hot towel because I like to shave directly after a nice hot shower. However, for a small investment you can get a perfectly acceptable brush. You don't need to spend $150 for a silvertip. Plus you can visit a local import store (or department store) and pick a rice bowl, tea cup, or whatever suits your fancy to hold soap or cream. Look at it this way, for a very inexpensive investment you are going to have the great feeling of putting on your soap/cream with a hot brush. That is almost a religious experience!. I think you are going to find the cost of these two items modest compared to what you are going to spend on hones, strops, and more razors...:tu
Dan
It's a complete different championship.
Foam is used by people who don't want to waste time preparing a good lather, nor preparing the skin of their face before shaving. People who use foam don't expect a good shaving experience, dispite all the ads you see on the TV. They just want to get the hair off their face as quick as possible, without knowing what the skin on their face went through to have the hair removed.
These little details make all the difference in achieving a great shave.
Personally I don't think what foam/lather you use is as important as making sure your razor is properly honed. Who was the seller? Did they describe it as "shave ready" ? What kind of razor is it? If you don't get a good razor that's properly honed you will never succeed at straight shaving.