First Smooth Shave (THANK YOU)

I would like to thank all who have post on this site. The information has been very useful! I had the first smooth full face shave today. I had purchased a razor locally that was not shave ready and was a bit lost with what to do next. Once I found this site I was able to determine the problem was not the the manner in which I used the strop, but the razor not being shave sharp. Again thank you all as I have been reading the post for a couple of weeks.

Last week I ordered a razor from SRD (Dovo Special) it arrived Friday. I did shave yesterday and was able to have a good shave, although it was not great. Only 3 nicks on that first attempt. I did not follow Lynn's advise of just doing the sideburns at first. I felt so comfortable that I went ahead and did a complete shave!

Today I went ahead and shaved again, full face. Had the 2 nicks in the same place as yesterday. I think it is due to a scar on my neck from an operation as a child. The great thing was that I was able to get a BBS on parts of my face. I was unable to get smooth on my neck, must be the angle.

I do have a question concerning stropping prior to each shave. Should I be using the fabric part of the strop each time or just the leather portion until the razor is not as smooth?

By the way I am planning on buying a stone and learning to hone. I will be using the locally bought razor for that purpose.

Thank you in advance for any other guidance.

Lu

Welcome to SRP. I use the linen first with 50 round trips (back and forth each side) and then the leather for another 50. When I finish shaving I rinse the blade in hot tap water and then wipe it with a tissue and strop another 20 on leather.

IMO this will remove any micro gunk from the bevel. Then I wipe it down with a rust preventative. Here is a barber manual excerpt on stropping and honing from the SRP Wiki that I have found useful. You might give it a look and review your stropping technique and see if it conforms to their suggestions.

Welcome to SRP and congrats on your shaving!

If you're finding the neck a difficult area, I stuck a post up a while back now that has tips on how to get your neck BBS. Give it a read and hopefully it will help you!

http://straightrazorpalace.com/shavi...eck-shave.html

In terms of the strop, I do 25 canvas and 50 leather before, then 10 of each afterwards. As Jimmy says, this makes sure the edge is free from soap and is totally dry.

Good luck and enjoy!

You'll see a wide varity of stropping routines.

Mine is 20 on linen + 50 or 60 on leather before shave.

After shave I don't strop, but I clean off the razor by running it under really hot water and then wipe if off with a tissue (the heated blade helps evaporate the water). Then I put a dap of mineral oil on another tissue and "strop" the edge with it to get some oil on the edge to ward off any rust there.

The general theme is- you must at least strop with the leather before each shave, and you must clean and dry the razor when you are done (some folks use the strop to to this).

-Chief

All great advice, as usual, in the preceding posts. I might add the most important thing about stropping is to make sure the strop is tight and take your time. It will help not rolling an edge.


Take Care,
Richard

congrats -

I agree - stropping fabric and than leather before shaving is good practice.

The other thing I would say is to strop a few times after shaving - my sink drain builds this film on it that my wife hates after I shave each time and needs to be cleaned up with a cloth to get it off - not sure what part of the shave cream is causing it but either way, passes on the strop will help remove any residual from the blade itself and keep it shave ready for your next round.

Thank you all for the advise and the links to even more information. I will definitely follow the advise on my next shave. I had already read of stropping after finishing the wipe down after a shave and had incorporated that into my routine.

Well I followed the advise given this morning before my shave. Had skipped yesterday due to time constraints.

Had the strop very tight, scared to roll the edge!

Would it be ok to strop the night before in order to save time in the morning?
Could this be detrimental to the edge?

Thanks All!

I don't think it will be detrimental but part of the reason for stropping same day is to allow for time between lather on face to settle a few minutes before getting down to business.

Usually lather face - strop - relather if necessary - shave

no hard rules but sometimes guidelines help you sort out what you like/dislike and in what order works for your shave routine

Andy

Thanks for the quick response and advise. I will try that routine tomorrow.

Oh by the way, today's shave was much better, no blood just a small amount of razor burn. Of course on the neck.