Thread: Sweaty Hands

My razors are here so I'm planning my first straight shave tomorrow (and yes they came in shave ready off of the classifieds here).

So I held one in my hand just to get the feel for it and for some reason it made me real nervous. Just looking at that thin slice of metal that could easily slit me open. I'm getting sweaty hands and knot in my stomach just thinking about it.

Tomorrow morning is my first go! I plan on only doing the cheek down to jawline area....send some steady hand thoughts my way.

Just curious...has anyone died doing this before that we know of?

Hi,
I don't know of anyone who's died, but treat that razor with respect.
Be confident and use really light pressure, start on cheeks for now.
Learn how to look after the razor (from this site) and keep it sharp. If in doubt use a shavette to train.
Make sure there are no distratctions and keep kids out of your way during shave, and razor out of reach of kids.
Above all have fun and luxuriate in the shaving ritual.

PS when I started out my palms were sweaty for ages (we've all been there)

What?!......You've never heard of Sweeney Todd !? You'll be just fine. Remember liiiiiggghhht pressure,strop slow n easy n keep the strop taught. Lather well and light pressure..once again. Good luck,you can dooeet !!

People have lost limbs, digits, and maybe even the dreaded decapitation....

No, Seriously, Take deep breath and relax. It looks intimidating, but it isn't. It's just a razor...Do whatever you would normally do to relax...
Deep breathing exercises, Scotch, Valium, Xanax, or you can do a combination....

Do a small area first, I think it recommends that in our WIKI..Maybe from the sideburn down, just to get a feel for it..Make sure you hands are dry, wet or sweaty hands are not safe....

Rich

Definitely take it slow and easy. I just started shaving with one and got a few nicks but nothing real bad. When you start I would suggest placing the back of the razor on your skin first if your nervous, I placed the razor to my skin and got my first nick that way. Take a few deep breaths if needed and enjoy.

Oh yea and get use to the WTG before attempting anything else, my neck got some bad razor burn from trying ATG to soon. Just get use to the feel before going any further and you will be just fine.

There's this thing we refer to as the sweet spot.
It's the blade angle, I think spine on skin might tug whiskers a bit unless edge is scary sharp (or ATG). If you're angle is to aggressive (high) you will scrape the skin and could get a nasty burn, or get a nick (but no worse than any nick you have ever had).
Understand it's not like splitting the atom, there is plenty of lattitude here, just relax and go with what feels natural but go light.
At the end of the day you just have to do it, I'm sure you will have a few bad shaves but the good shaves do come, it's all learning. The sooner you start, the sooner you will get it.

The razor isn't an inanimate object, it's really alive and has a soul and it's starting to play mind tricks on you. You need to sit down and have a conversation with it and tell it who the boss is or it will be your boss.

Just take it slow and easy and you'll do fine (as long as you made that autologus blood transfusion)

Like everyone says, go slow. After your first try at it, go slow. Read the Wiki and heed the advice. Don't try to jump in. Go slow, a bit at a time. Soon enough you'll be on your way.

And don't forget to enjoy!! Oh, I highly recommend the Scotch AFTER you shave.

As they say........SPEED KILLS!!

What keeps me from getting overwhelmed by the thought of holding a sharp piece of steel to my face and throat are that with as little pressure as we're putting on the blade and with as low an angle, it's actually pretty hard to do serious damage to yourself.

It's like working with anything "dangerous", respect it, but don't fear it.

Just relax when you begin your shave. Concentrate on what you are doing and your nervousness will likely go away. Focus all of your attention on your shave, distractions will end up in cuts. I don't think anyone has died from the straight except for Sweeney Todd's victims, but that might be just a myth! Best of luck to ya'.