Thread: things I have learned in my first year...

1. Most new blade from the manufacturer aren't "shave ready"
2. Try to keep blade at about 30 degrees to the skin. Use long strokes.
3. Pull (stretch) the skin behind the razor with the other hand.
4. Relax, take your time, enjoy the shave.
5 Keep blade's pressure against the skin to a bare minimum. Light pressure = no irritation (even allowing you to go over rough areas multiple times). Imagine a snow plow pushing snow horizontally without the blade digging into the road, or imagine shaving a balloon.
6 a) inexpensive strop = leather scraps (Tandy store)
b) most inexpensive strop = newspaper
7. inexpensive hones = 3M microabrasive sheets (woodworking supply)
8. A few laps on a separate strop with stropping compound on it (woodworking supply) every 4 or 5 shaves extends the amount of time until you need honing.
9. Shave once over in the direction of hair growth using lather and then do a second pass across the direction of growth with only water.
10. Several(?) more razors, better brush(es), nice strop(s), and some quality hones = Still cheaper than disposables ($2 ea X 2/wk X 52 wks/yr = $200/yr )

Dave

Nice list. Two points:

Originally Posted by dgstr8

2. Try to keep blade at about 30 degrees to the skin. Use long strokes.

1. The blade angle depends on which pass you are using. 30° would be way to steep an angle for an ATG pass, at least for me, cf. Wiki (click for context):
   
2. I use short, confident strokes. Maintaining a proper angle across a long stroke seems hard to do.

Regards,
Robin

Originally Posted by BeBerlin

Nice list. Two points:

1. The blade angle depends on which pass you are using. 30° would be way to steep an angle for an ATG pass, at least for me, cf. Wiki (click for context):
   
2. I use short, confident strokes. Maintaining a proper angle across a long stroke seems hard to do.

Regards,
Robin

Thanks for the diagram. As a newbie its the first tim I have seen that.

Hey thanks... see, I'm still learning things!