Learning to shave my balloon

I was talking to this old barber and said I wanted to try straight razor shaving and he gave me a good tip. I thought I would mention it here bc I have not seen it mentioned under any learning to shave threads, but I may have just missed it.

He said that when he was in barber school, they had to shave a balloon before they were allowed to shave a person. They would lather up a balloon and they had to shave off all the shaveing cream without popping the balloon.

Have any of you guys tried it? Souds pretty cool, and pretty frustrating all at the same time.

Save your money and shave your cheeks. Here is Lynn Abram's recommendation. ;)

Yeah, I am not that skiddish and I will probably not have the patience to wait too long before I start shaving my face once I do get a straight.

I just thought it was a cool idea, even if it is probably more suited to learning to shave someone else's face.

I was working with a fella recently & we got talking about razors. His girlfriend was at college studying hairdressing & they do the same still. I suggested he let her have a go on him & he looked at me like i was mad. She hadn't managed to not pop the balloon as yet!:rofl2:

I always thought that shaving a balloon was more suited to learning how to shave another person rather than yourself. Because you do not have the sensory feel of the blade on another person's face (only the feel through your hands) being able to move the razor with just the right amount of pressue would be important. However, when you shave on yourself, you would have instant feedback and easily adjust angle, speed, etc. :hmmm:

I've heard the same thing and didn't believe it for the longest time. I think barbers are instructed to do this because shaving another person is different than shaving oneself. When you shave yourself you've got a tactile perception of the blade on your face which is absent when you're dealing with someone else's face.

X

I did that before my very first straight shave. It seemed to work OK. Helped with my head, if nothing else. I found it a confidence thing more than anything else - shaving the balloon without popping it makes you realise that maybe you won't cut your face to ribbons if you are careful! :)

Give it a go - balloons are not that expensive. And for extra skills development, get those novelty balloons shaped like animals or whatever. That will test you out!!

James.

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Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Save your money and shave your cheeks. Here is Lynn Abram's recommendation. ;)

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I have always found that an angle of 30 degrees or less works best for me.

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I wish I read the "or less" bit before my first few shaves, would've save me some grief.

The balloon trick would be higly dependent on how the razor was honed more so than the handler's skill. I imagine a toothy edge would pop those balloons on contact.

I say skip it all and shave your whole face the first time, also don't mind the prep. I did just that, and only got like 10 cuts, some 2-3 inches long :) They heal in two days so it isn't so bad, and you learn REAL quick to be careful. Next time I only cut my ears, so it was a 500% skill improvement in less than 12 hours!!! :D

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Originally Posted by Morgoroth

I was talking to this old barber and said I wanted to try straight razor shaving and he gave me a good tip. I thought I would mention it here bc I have not seen it mentioned under any learning to shave threads, but I may have just missed it.

He said that when he was in barber school, they had to shave a balloon before they were allowed to shave a person. They would lather up a balloon and they had to shave off all the shaveing cream without popping the balloon.

Have any of you guys tried it? Souds pretty cool, and pretty frustrating all at the same time.

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That's good, but if your angle is backwards or way off and You'll think You're shaving it off . The cutting edge wouldn't be right. You could learn bad habits.

This has got to be fantasy propagated by the Balloon Lobby in Washington. They know they’d sell lots of balloons it I engaged in this practice.
:chop:

Were it not for the danger of handing a str8 to a drunk, I would suggest balloon shaving as a ****tail party event.:tu

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Originally Posted by mysticguido

That's good, but if your angle is backwards or way off and You'll think You're shaving it off . The cutting edge wouldn't be right. You could learn bad habits.

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What you mean backwards? Like a stropping motion? How the heck would you develop a bad habit like that.

I still say just go for it and abrade your face, humans heal much more quickly! ^^ As long as you have you styptic all nicks you can achieve by mistake with a straight will heal in a day!

when I shave my chin the blade is almost 90 deg's. I know that sounds bad, but it works on me. So going by that if your blade is say 89 deg's backwards ( the spine being the 89 deg's forward) You'll be pulling the lather off. With no pressure on a 90 deg's edge on a ballon you won't pop-it. Also Your face isn't shaped like a ballon so how would that be able to help.

Now I maybe wrong, & I hope I am.

My 87 year old father suggested the "baloon method" for learning how to use a straight razor, indicating that's what was done in barber schools in the early part of the 20th century.

I think it was just a way to mess with the newbie barbers... "Hey kid, you want to get good? Shave about one hundred ballons" wwhile we watch you pop lather all over the place...

As was said 3 years ago that was a method for teaching you how to shave someone else. Shaving yourself is very different.

I used to go to a barber who demonstrated the baloon shave for me one day. It's pretty impressive to see it.