Wiping the Blade

Hello all, I've been reading a bit but this will be my first post.

I've been shaving with a green holder shavette for a couple months now, and my first razors and strop are one the way at this moment.

I know there's probably no definitive answer, but I'd like to hear thoughts on wiping the blade during a shave.

Should wiping with a cloth be avoided?
If not, what kind of cloth is preferable, and what technique should be used? i.e. stropping motion
With what frequency should you wipe the blade, or if it's just preference what are the common results of higher or lower frequency wiping?

Appreciate any thoughts, and look forward to talking with everyone.

Thanks
glenn

I'm new to straights myself, but I like to use a wet washcloth to wipe the blade during my shave. I just lay it on the counter edge and wipe as needed. Seems to work ok for me.

I rinse and then wipe in a stropping motion on any ordinary towel. Never had a problem.

X

I rinse the blade in running water between strokes. When I'm finished, I dry with a stropping motion on a towel.

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Originally Posted by iamjackscolin

Should wiping with a cloth be avoided?
If not, what kind of cloth is preferable, and what technique should be used? i.e. stropping motion
With what frequency should you wipe the blade, or if it's just preference what are the common results of higher or lower frequency wiping?

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I don't think there are any hard and fast rules about wiping.

I'm not sure if I'm in the majority or not but I rinse (VERY cafefully!) the blade under running water when it gets to the point of dripping or when I need to clean the blade to get a better view of what I'm doing or sometimes when I'm doing the upper lip so I don't push lather up my nose. The main reason I rinse is I'm lazy and it's just one less thing I have to clean up. If you rinse I can't stress enough how careful you have to be...it's real easy to put a ding in your blade (or worse your skin) with a moment of inattention.

I don't think what you wipe with (cloth or tissue) is important as being careful not to cut your chosen medium as it will dull the blade.

I flirt with potential disaster to the razor and rinse periodically under hot water in the sink. After shaving I flirt with potential disaster to my fingers by pinching a dry towel around the razor's spine and draw the towel from heel to toe slowly and with some pressure. Then I strop on leather 30-35 times and put the razor away.

Chris L

I typically clean the razor with running water while I am shaving. When I am finished however, I use a towel to remove the excess water from the blade, strop it a few times and leave the razor open until it dries. When the blade is completely dry, I close the razor. I like the way I do it but could not think why other ways of dealing with this would not be equally effective.

Al raz.

Mostly, I wipe the bade against a cloth on the edge of the sink. But I only allow the spine to make contact, I keep the blade edge 1/8-1/4" above the cloth. This removes the bulk of the lather without risk of damaging the edge. Also the remaining lather on the blade helps lubricate the strokes that follow.

I rinse the razor and wipe with a hand towell after every stroke with the razor.

Never had a problem.

Lynn

I just wipe it off on the towel I am wearing after the shower, trying to avoid getting the carbon steel wet or banging the blade on the faucet.

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Originally Posted by Chris L

I flirt with potential disaster to the razor and rinse periodically under hot water in the sink. After shaving I flirt with potential disaster to my fingers by pinching a dry towel around the razor's spine and draw the towel from heel to toe slowly and with some pressure. Then I strop on leather 30-35 times and put the razor away.

Chris L

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I'm with Chris L. except I don't strop after.
After I wipe the blade I set it aside open to air dry some more while I rinse and dry my brush and scuttle.
Also I don't keep my razors in the bathroom where the humidity might cause problems.

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Originally Posted by nun2sharp

I just wipe it off on the towel I am wearing after the shower, trying to avoid getting the carbon steel wet or banging the blade on the faucet.

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Ditto's, except that I shave um, commando, and just use a dry washcloth to wipe the blade. :eek:

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Originally Posted by freebird

Ditto's, except that I shave um, commando, and just use a dry washcloth to wipe the blade. :eek:

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You are a braver man than I!

Commando Huh? There's something delightfully serial killer-ish about it, maybe I should give that a shot.

Thanks to all for your comments.

I may be courting disaster but I have taken to carefully wiping the blade with the thumb, obviously avoiding the edge. My reasoning is that it keeps the heel area of the blade free of the running water of a rinse. My thumb is immediately wiped against a smallish facecloth draped over the sink, so my thumb stays dry to keep the razor in an overall dry condition and a good grip on the tang. The risk is no more than that of cutting the face and I have found that it gives a little psychological reminder that care is needed throughout!

Has anybody learned a hard lesson from this technique and am I pushing my luck?:nono:

I had the same question today, so thanks for everyone's help. The cammando image makes me cringe...no wiping there please.

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Originally Posted by freebird

Ditto's, except that I shave um, commando, and just use a dry washcloth to wipe the blade. :eek:

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You've seen RichZ's sig, right?

"Be a real Man- Shave Commando"

I'm not a real man, except briefly occasionally by accident.:w

I've been wiping the blade with a dry washcloth after every few strokes, but I like Moggs' idea and will be giving it a try: wipe the spine between the thumb and index finger, drying the fingers off on a cloth that rests on the sink.

Reading this thread suddenly makes me realise how cavalier I've become with my straights. Sometimes I shave commando and will put he razor on the counter just inches away from my naked manhood. :eek: Sometimes I wear only a towel and then I strop/wipe right on my thigh. :eek: I also wipe the blade after, but will do so quite quickly these days. I've even swiftly strop/wiped the edge on my thumb.

I think I'll slow down and think about it a little.

X

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Originally Posted by deepweeds

You've seen RichZ's sig, right?

"Be a real Man- Shave Commando"

I'm not a real man, except briefly occasionally by accident.:w

I've been wiping the blade with a dry washcloth after every few strokes, but I like Moggs' idea and will be giving it a try: wipe the spine between the thumb and index finger, drying the fingers off on a cloth that rests on the sink.

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Oh yeah, RichZ's the commander of commando, I'm just a buck private. :w

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Originally Posted by Chris L

I flirt with potential disaster to the razor and rinse periodically under hot water in the sink. After shaving I flirt with potential disaster to my fingers by pinching a dry towel around the razor's spine and draw the towel from heel to toe slowly and with some pressure. Then I strop on leather 30-35 times and put the razor away.

Chris L

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Me too. Rinse with hot water during the shave and do the towel pinch afterwards. I think this is pretty safe actually and I suspect less likely to do any damage to the edge compared to "stropping" it on a towel. I rotate through 5 to 7 razors so I'll paint a thin coat of WD-40 on the edge and blade before putting it away. WD-40 has a No-Mess Pen with a magic marker chisel tip that's perfect for this.

I've also been wondering about this, and it's great to read all your replies!

I've been washing/"waving" the blade briefly in the water I have in the sink, and then lightly wiping the blade against the side of my palm. I figured that as long as I don't cut myself, I'm doing any harm to the edge of the blade...
:chop:

I used to rinse the blade in running water, but I stopped doing that after I accidentally dinged my Helje 31 into the faucet! :gaah:

I'm new to this and have been wiping the blade on some paper towel between strokes. in typing this, i just realized i should probably being using a cloth towel?

I'm a little cavalier in wiping more than the shaving stroke, as this gave me two "reminders" while shaving this week. On my middle and ring fingers, one not bad and the other not so bad.

I usually either rinse under some running water as the sink is filling or wave it around in a sink full of warm water a bit then if any hair/lather is still stuck on there wipe between my thumb and index finger careful to leave the edge itself alone and then will dry it off with wiping with a towel between my thumb and index finger again staying away from the very edge more often I find myself drying the tang/heel end of the spine where I hold the razor on that towel before each stroke after just dipping in the sink of water


As for shaving commando I stopped after I dropped a razor and wear a bathrobe now

i always just wipe with the towel i used to hot towel my neck, because i usually dont shower before i shave. wiping in a stropping motion is a good idea though

I rinse the blade under hot tap water when it fills with lather. Probably 4-5x for one pass, depending on the blade width. IME, if I leave lather on the blade to long, it dries and I have to deal with stains later.

In between passes, I leave the wet blade open on a rest. I just took to placing it edge up in between the bristles of my hair brush.:w

I only wipe, with either washcloth or folded toilet paper after the shave. Wipe the edge on washcloth with a few stropping motions. Strop 20x on leather. Then a thin coat of mineral oil unless I plan to use it again within a few days.

I use a little rubber cup that was made specifically for wiping a straight razor. Barbers have used these for years. This dramatically decreases the chance of hitting the edge on the faucet which often occurs during repeat trips back-and-forth from shaving to rinsing. I always finish with a final rinse under hot water and then wipe with a towel. All of the spent lather and whiskers go down the drain, not on a towel, and I haven't dinged my blade since I started using the razor wiper.


Scott

I like to keep my tools clean while using them and so I rinse and wipe with no problem resulting. Am currently experimenting with the ShamWOW for this purpose.

I just use a paper towel folded in half and wipe away from the edge.

I just rinse under the sink to take the whiskers and lather away, sometimes if I find a buildup of dead skin cells that don't want to rinse away I will wipe it quickly against my palm in a stropping motion. When the shave is complete I rinse the blade with hot water, strop wipe on a microfiber towel strop on leather a few times to ensure the edge is dry, fold and place in its stall.

I always rinse under running water, and in the end I wipe the blade dry by wrapping the towel around the spine and running it down the length. Then I strop a few times to clean the edge.