New here, looking for advice in general.

Hello there boys, this is my first post, I am looking forward to learn a lot from you in the following months.

I have a Mühle hollow ground black 5/8 razor, two cakes of Col. Conk shave soap (lime and almond), a Mühle badger brush, a regular mug, an incredibly inconvinient two inch strop and of course a styptic pencil. I am an absolute beginner, just shaved with my razor for the second time moments ago, getting a kick out of the "My face was mauled by a bear and is clean shaven" look.

I know all the basic stuff like leaving the razor in the bathroom is a nono, start by adding little water and as you go add more, stretching the skin, have a bath or a hot wet towel on your face before shaving, doing an "x" pattern when stroping and those kinds of things all newbies find out about.

I would GREATLY appreciate any general advice you can give me, and, of course, this is a forum, so those "must read" links, particularly interested in those dealing with stropping and rust spots removal, but anything helpful in general will be greatly appreciated. I may end up embracing the spots anyway though, those things tend to grow on me, besides they don't disturb the razor's main function.

Also, this may sound like a dumb question, but does "practice make perfect" really apply whenever dealing with straight edge razors? I am willing to spend as much time as it takes to learn to do it properly, I just do not want to waste my time "practicing" when I don't really know if I'm doing it exactly right. Links regarding that would be lovely as-well.

Thank you for everything in advance.

Hi Pony,

Welcome :).

IMO a little spotting doesn't affect shaving unless the edge has them. The general advice is: Read the wiki, especially the parts on the first shaves and techniques. What really helped me was watching the video's from jockeys on youtube.

Most importantly, light pressure and correct angles is key!

Enjoy and :gl:!

Hello, and welcome! BrickBag gave you some really great advice. I would like to add that Lynn's video was really helpful for me when I started. It is available in the classifieds, and it provides a lot of really useful information. Also, just a tip I picked up from the forums. I added an alum block (got mine from Art of Shaving) to my shaving routine, and it was a great addition. I always follow my post-shave rinse with a pass with the alum block, and it has really reduced my irritation after shaving. Most of the shaving supply stores sell them. If you are having irritation and little nicks and cuts, the alum block can really help. They are pretty cheap, and a block will last you a really long time. I've been using mine for over a year, and it still has a lot of life left. All in all, it sounds like you're off to a great start. Keep up the practice. You will intuitively adjust your technique to avoid cuts and irritation, so practice really will improve your shave experience. Once you're comfortable with your razor, you can purchase more razors and start learning the ins and outs of new blades...that's the fun of the whole thing. Well, welcome again, and thanks for posting!

Hi pony,
As a newbie myself I can only confirm what the others have said. I regularly read the Wiki, watch the vids here and my technique is improving all the time. Its still a long way short of perfect and it doesn't seem as easy it looks in the vids, but day by day, shave by shave you find a new angle or something and GRADUALLY things start to fall into place. So take it slow and yes, practice does make perfect, but it doesn't happen overnight. Enjoy the journey! Ryan

+1 on Jockeys videos and alum blocks! The videos are a great tool to help observe and improve one's technique.

Practice really does "make perfect" when it comes to straights. The process may not be the most pleasant, but you will instinctually adjust your angle and approach with time. You will find your razor "sweet spot" and everything will improve dramatically. Take it slow, use LIGHT pressure (as in none) and you will achieve shaving nirvana!

Welcome!

In addition to the advice given I would also say make sure your razor is shave ready. A poorly honed razor will not deliver a good shave regardless of how good your other areas of prep and technique are.

Where did you get the razor from?

As you know stretching is veeeery important so I highly recommend that you wipe your stretching fingers on that alum block as it gives you this uncanny and unnatural grip on your skin. Makes a huuuuge difference. Another great piece of advice I got was that the angles listed out in Wiki are only GUIDELINES. Each razor has it's own sweet spot so use that advice as a starting point but adjust as you "feel" it cut.

The other thing I've learned is don't tie your feelings about a shave to the result. The BBS will come...but don't forget to enjoy the process. The process of shaving IS the point...

Big +1 to what others have said. I'd just add that, IMHO, you might be better advised not to tolerate those rust spots--active rust can eat into your razor and ruin it or at least shorten its useful life. Many members of this forum (myself included) apply a very thin coat of mineral or camellia oil to the blade after thoroughly drying and stropping the razor post-shave. This keeps moisture out and prevents rust.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Stubear

Welcome!

In addition to the advice given I would also say make sure your razor is shave ready. A poorly honed razor will not deliver a good shave regardless of how good your other areas of prep and technique are.

Where did you get the razor from?

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This was my first thought.

Of course, every beginner will have sub par shaves in the beginning because they lack good technique, but that doesn't mean the razor should be tearing up your face. I'm suspecting that your razor may not be shave ready.

I agree with markevans and stubear here. I'm new too and I too found an old razor, restored it and started shaving. I went at it on the cheap so I can now see that alot of my early struggles were due to the equiptment I was using. I started out stropping on some old bench leather I used to use on knives and some old sharpening tricks I had learned over the years. I actually even passed the hanging hair test before my first shave. While those things worked in theory, they left things to be desired. As I've now replaced all my own tecniques with the time tested ones found here (and a proper strop and hone) I can see the difference in the shave. Really sharp (shave ready) does = less irritation, cuts and a comfortable shave. But so does practice. I think you'll find that your own personal growth pattern will require to tweak your routine and method from what others do. That is something that you'll only be able to recognize and develop over time. Just keep at it. Run back to the wiki as much as possible and enjoy the experience.

What do you mean by having an incredibly inconvient 2 inch strop??

Is it junk, or what?

As far as stropping goes, I've read a lot of threads where guys nick their strops, and I just don't get it. If you have a problem with this, after a taking a stroke, STOP! Flip the razor on on it's spline. Slide the razor up so that the heel is at the edge of the strop. Flip the razor down and take your stroke. Repeat process. If you do this, I don't see how it's remotely possible to nick or slice your strop.

Someone posted this link last week of a tutorial Sham gives on stropping (I don't remember who your are, but thanks!!! And, thanks to Sham for making it!!).

Doing what Sham shows here has increased my stropping speed by at least 50%. Most guys showing stropping move so fast, I can't see what their hand is doing. In this vid, Sham slows it down and shows you how it's done:

YouTube - straight razor stropping

There's a lot of threads on how hard your water is, versus how good a lather you can produce. I would have to say this is correct. My water is so hard, I'm amazed it doesn't crack the sink when it comes out of the faucet!

I find "uber lather" helps--50% soap, 50% cream, and 5 drops or so of glycerin. The glycerin has to be adding something here, but I'm not sure what.

Because of the hardness of the water, I also use a shaving oil (about 5 drops or so, rubbed into the whiskers, followed by splashing water on your face); I use "Shave Secrete" for around $2 plus change from Walmart.

I think it was Glenn who said to try and rub the lather into your face with your fingers after the initial application from the brush. I do this and it seems to work out really well for getting the lather down into the base of the whiskers and on the skin. I then apply a second application of lather before shaving.

Because I use the shaving oil, I find in trying to stretch the skin, my fingers slip accross my face. I don't remember the web site, but the dude in the vid giving a shaving tutorial used a small cloth folded over and placed it against his skin with his finger on the cloth for stretching. I cut out a 3" square to use for this purpose and it works really well for me.

I personally don't care what my shavers look like. Stains, spotting, scratches, etc., I don't care. All I care about is how it shaves.

But active rust?? Man, I don't think that's good. Remove that before you have to get a tetnus shot!! (I"m not a doctor, so I don't know, but shaving with active rust seems like a REALLY bad idea, IMO. I don't know if that's what you're saying, or if it's just spotting and staining you're referring to).

"Practice makes perfect":

When I was younger, my martial arts instructor told me the Chinese have a saying, "Do it 10,000 times, and it's yours."

I've pretty much adopted that in all aspects of my life. The Wiki says do one cheek, finish with DE (or whatever). Next day, do both cheeks, and finish as the day before, etc., until you complete a straight shave.

I guess that works for a lot guys, but that philosophy just doesn't fit my personality. When I do something, I jump in the deep end of the pool. So, when I started with a straight, I did my whole face. Results? Pretty dismal for about 2 weeks.

As far as wasting your time before you understand the "correct" way to shave with a straight, let me pose you a question: Until you have practiced with a straight and learned your face, how will your determine what the "right " way is?? The right way for you is what works for you! And what someone else does might not work for you at all. It's your face, after all, and it's unique to you and only you. Even the way you hold your razor and all the angles of the blade will be determined by your face, your razor, your hands. The only way to find this out is to use a straight and experiment. (Having a styptic pencil on hand might be a good idea, too!).

Moreover, I didn't do just one pass, or two passes, but up to 6 trying to learn my face and how to handle a straight.

Did that produce irritation? YEAH!!! And LOTS of it!

But, that's me and my process. I was willing to have that happen in order to shorten my learning curve.

Whether or not you should do the same depends on your perspective, how long you want to take to learn a straight and your face, how sensitive your skin is, etc.

I came off a DE, so my face was already "toughened up." But, if you're coming off a cartridge or electric, then what I did might not be something you want to do. And, stop when your face says, "AAARRRRHHHH..."

But, again, that's just me. No one can determine what is right for you, but you.

Kent