Thread: My first straight razor shave was an adventure...

Hi ya'll,

Thank you for all the wonderful tips and information you've provided. I just finished my first straight razor shave, and I have to tell you, it was quite a shave.

So my first straight razor just came in the mail. Needless to say, I dropped everything, tore open the box, and slid out the contents. The strop slid out with the satisfying leather *snick*, smelling like saddles and briefcases. Then came the entry-level dovo, its plastic scales gleaming enticingly. After fondling the razor for a few minutes, I tested the balance (not that I would know whether the balance is good) and tested the shave-ready blade (not that I would know whether the blade is sharp enough). Having scoured the shaving wiki for instructions and read everything I could find in the long days waiting for the razor's arrival, I rushed off to the bathroom and immediately commenced stropping. Although I thought I was following the handy instructional video to the letter, I was unable to pass the "hanging hair" test. I stropped again and again, until I lost count of the strokes and put numerous nicks in my new strop. My enthusiasm somewhat abated, I eventually concluded that a perfectly stropped razor is an acquired skill, and the razor seemed pretty sharp, even if it didn't pass the test (actually, I had to hold a hair in both hands and saw it back and forth to cut it) it was good enough; the stropping is a skill I must work on.

So I decided to start shaving. My first problem revealed itself promptly; the razor wouldn't cut. No, really; when I used smooth WTG strokes, the razor simply glided over the surface of my whiskers. Frustrated, I tried again and again, succeeding in cutting skin bumps, my thumb, large swaths of cheek, and a bit of earlobe, and the whiskers alone survived the onslaught. By now the lather was long gone, but unperturbed I pressed on. I added a little lather to my burning, stinging face, and attacked it again. I adjusted the angle in all directions, sampled some ATG strokes, but still the whiskers persisted. By now I was seriously dismayed and sat back to recoups and take stock of the casualties. Every single whisker on my right sideburn remained standing. Suddenly, my stubborn/stupid streak kicked in, and I decided that, despite the raw state of my face, and despite all of ya'll's kind warnings to the contrary, I was going to conquer those whiskers tonight and I would not surrender until my face was bbs. All I needed was practise.

So I proceeded to slash and saw, cut and slice, to scrape and scratch my way around my face. I tried every angle and approach, every stroke, trying to make the razor shave. When one area was too raw and shredded to touch, I moved to another area for more practise. After some effort, I sat back, rebuffed. The only part of my face that was unscathed were my whiskers. My brute efforts failed, I tried the scientific approach. I removed the lather so I could see what was going on, leaned in close to the mirror, and scraped my raw skin to observe the action of the blade on the whiskers. Sure enough, they slid right under the razor, and nothing I did seemed to make a difference. So I returned to the strop. After slicing large bits of leather off the strop and wearing out my arms, I decided it was now sharp enough (though it still failed the hanging-hair test) and got back to business. Since my face was now shredded enough to prevent any further scraping, I starting practising on my arm and leg hair. After having cut and sliced and razor-burned large portions of my body, I finally succeeded in mowing a large swath of leg hair... Turns out that whole 30-degree-angle thing is pretty important, as is the amount of pressure applied.

Overjoyed, I proceeded to practise my new-found shaving technique. Unfortunately, my face is so battle-torn it I didn't dare return to it, so I practised on my leg and arm hair (you understand, this is not my normal grooming habit; it was for practise purposes only ). My neck hair was the next to go as I perfected my technique, until finally only the facial whiskers remained. Feeling bald and battered, I have retired for the night. The whisker survived, but my technique has improved, and I have high hopes for my next shave, once my wounds have healed.

All in all, I wouldn't call it a pleasurable shave, but the battle is far from over! I may look like I just tangled with the county's meanest possum, but before the week is out I'll have that classic bbs look

-a newbie.

welcome friend glad you got to feel the rush!!!!!

If the razor is really shave ready, I find you'll tend to start with too steep an angle. This will cut clean and smooth but make the sound of velcro tearing... continue, slowly reducing the angle until the exact angle where this sound vanishes. That's where you wanna shave (for WTG).


Every time I try HHT, I am more disappointed with it. I pass it EASILY (silent fall) off 1.2k all the damn time. Polished/chroxed/stropped/absolutely PERFECT edges under 100x that could skin a bear without him feeling it and give me enough time to hang it out to dry before he even started bleeding can't pass it to save my life. I can run a hair back and forth for a minute on the edge, then randomly, as if by magic, it will catch and instantly slice through on a spot I've tried a dozen times before with the same angle and same hair. Utterly useless test imho.


However. If you hold the hair on BOTH sides, even a relatively dull razor should slice it the instant you press it to the edge. If you had to saw a hair you had held on either side of the blade then that razor is butterknife dull.

It might be worthwhile to send the razor out and get it honed proffesionally so you'll know what a shave ready razor should feel like.
You may have dulled the blade by stropping incorrectly. Good luck with the next shave.

Originally Posted by IanS

Utterly useless test imho.

I beg to differ, cf Hanging Hair Test, from trick to probing method - Straight Razor Place Wiki.

gitano, whatever you intend to do next, do not do it. Send that razor out to a professional, and have it re-honed. You can find some members offering such services here: Member Services - Straight Razor Place Classifieds.

Rationale:

1. It will take months, rather than days to get a BBS shave. Which, incidentally, is not a goal, but a side product of technique and preparation.
2. Having exposed the edge of the razor to high amounts of pressure (cf nicks in strop), it is likely dull already.
3. If it hurts, don't do it. You cannot force a good shave. You really cannot. The more pressure you apply (shaving, stropping, or honing), the worse your results will be.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

Regards,
Robin

Sorry to hear that your first shave didn't go like in the movies.

Let your face heal before attacking again, and listen to what BeBerlin said, especially point 3. Don't force it.

And when you get the honed edge, don't strop it before trying to shave. That ways you know it's not the blade...

I too had a razor that didn't seem pass the HHT when I first got it. But I knew who honed it and took it as a fact that it was shave sharp. And boy, was it... I just did not have a clue how to do the HHT with my hair. That is just another technique to learn.

Thank you all for your advice!

I should have made it clear that the razor was made "shave ready" and tested by the totally irreproachable folks at straight razor designs, so the probably is undoubtedly my poor stropping, shaving, and hanging-hair-testing technique. Although, I did test it with the HHT as soon as I got it to see whether I could get away without stropping it for the first time. It didn't cut the hair, so I figured I'd best strop it.

Is it possible that several cuts in the strop would make the razor need to be re-honed? If not, I'll wait for the cuts and scrapes to heal, practise stropping a little more, and go at it again in a few days. Or maybe I could try stropping it on the canvas? I really do think my technique improved and I might be able to do it now.

BeBerlin, thank you for the pointers. I'll try to remember to stop if I feel the pain It's a good reminder that like most good things, the perfect shave is a process happening over time with persistence and patience! Ursus, it's totally possible that I just don't know how to do the test. I hadn't considered that possibility. The blade is definitely sharper than a butter knife.. I look like I tried to cuddle with an angry badger! lol!

You got the razor from SRD? After reading your first post, I would've asked if it was truly "shave ready" when you first got it. Knowing it was from SRD, I have to think either your stropping or shaving technique is a bit off.

+1 to BeBerlin's advice. And I'd add to it Lynn's post "Anticipation."

I bought a Dovo from SRD and shaved with it twice without stropping. Of course, YMMV depending on a whole bunch of variables, but you should at least rely on the quality of the edge if you bought it from there. I didn't even bother to do any tests when I got mine, but that's just me.

Also, if you're using a really light touch you might be able to avoid a lot of nicks. Like BeBerlin said, "Don't force it."

Otherwise, welcome to SRP and straight shaving! Sounds like you've got a lot of enthusiasm. Study up on the wiki and before you know it the only thing you'll be cutting is whiskers. Good luck.

If the razor is from a reputable source, you take "it does not pass the HHT" out of the equation. None of my razors pass the HHT with my hair, either, because no amount of Dax will get the pomade out. Re-read the Wiki article to understand what the limitations of the HHT are (incidentally, I swear by it ever since Bart showed me how to do it properly).

Standard rules apply: if a beginner thinks it's the blade, it isn't. If a beginner thinks he's not used too much pressure, he has. And if a beginner thinks that the razor is still likely shave ready, it most certainly isn't. Lesson learnt by thousands of members here, so welcome to the club.

To answer your question, it is absolutely possible that either slicing the strop or using poor technique could have dulled your blade. But when you got it from SRD it was ready to go for sure... when you get your razors honed by the pros here, lots of these guys will tell you to just rinse the blade off the first time and shave without stropping because they have already taken the edge to perfection.

It may be worth your while to send it out for a touch up, then when you get it back just run some water over it and set it aside.

Take a nice hot shower and get your face ready with the hot water, really let the water soak in and open the pores. After that, get your lather going and take your time (treat yourself to great lather and you won't be cheapening the experience of a classic straight razor shave).

Once you have done all of that, now pick your razor back up and start going to work. Focusing on light but confident pressure, skin stretching, and your angles (but give yourself some slack if it isn't perfect right away).

I think your experience will be a much better one.

That's just my input, the stuff BeBerlin and others have said is spot on too... good luck!