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HI!!
My name is Daniel and I have been trying to do my first shave. I don't think I have the right hone and I think I am stropping the right way but am not sure. I don't even know if the blade or strop are any good. Does anyone know how I would know if the razor/strop are any good and if I'm even doing it right?
Stop.
Send your razor off to one of the guys here. You can't learn to shave with a razor that's not been made shave ready. You'll just get frustrated & give up.
There's a lot to learn & i really recommend you take honing out of that for now. Use the time to practice whipping up lather & just enjoy the improvement that makes!
When it comes back, use the blade without stropping.
You'll hopefully have good lather by this time, & a sharp razor, but you'll have plenty to keep you busy learning to shave & strop correctly.
Had to remove my post, as Ben had a much more concise and much more helpful one- I did mean the "Welcome" part, though!
Good advice from Ben. I would also suggest bringing your razor to your barber before sending it off. He may find that it's already sharp enough and give you some tips on improving your shave. And welcome to the site.
leadduck, if I took a straight razor to my "Barber" he would look at me as though I had just shown a dog a card trick.
I wondered where it had gone! Thank you.
I forgot the "Welcome" part myself. :o
My barber wouldn't know his arse from his elbow when looking at a proper razor, but leadduck is obviously very fortunate.
By sending it off you'll also get a good benchmark of how a well honed blade should behave & feel.
Meantime, alongside learning to lather, read the Wiki. There's a lot to take in, but some of it will stick!
I remember my first botched attempt at straight shaving. I bought an old razor from an antiques shop, got an old belt and tried to strop it as in the movies then proceeded to have a realy bad shave. I thought it was sharp and it was but not razor sharp. All I got was a sore face and a bad experience. Several years later I found this place, got my razor a lot sharper and had a lot better shave. Then I bought a honed TI from the classifieds and my shaving went to a whole different level.
I now look forward to having a shave, once over it was just a chore..