Thread: Progress report and thoughts after ~9 months

Hi folks,

I introduced myself way back in this thread and have been essentially a lurker since then. I'm sitting here on New Year's Eve, counting down the hours (ok not really) and decided to share my thoughts on my straight razor experience so far. Much of what I will say is undoubtedly in one of the faqs somewhere, but hey if the repetition helps motivate other newbies to stay the course then it was worth it.

I started about nine months, with a three week hiatus in the middle somewhere after a really bad nick on my chin. The nick was no fun, but returning to my "old-school" Gillette Trac II was a great chance to compare the results of the two methods. Bottom line for me is that when my skill level is "up" and all the tricks and tips are clicking together, I definitely get a more enjoyable, smoother, and longer-lasting shave with the straight. And best of all - I have a freaking huge amount of fun doing it! My beard is pretty heavy - I get five o'clock shadow around 2pm - so when things work out I can enjoy a smoother face for longer into the day. (My wife likes it too since I'm more willing to experiment with nice AS's.)

The thing for newbies like me to remember is that you're learning about six or seven skills simultaneously when you first start to use your straight-razor. Lather mixing, face prep, stropping, shaving, honing, etc. On any given day if you fall short in one of these activities, there's a good chance it will impact the quality of the shave. Frankly in the beginning I was overly harsh on myself for each not-so-good shave. Now I know I was just in the middle of slowly increasing my skill levels in each activity and all that was needed was time and practice.

1. Lather mixing - I started with and have stayed with Mitchell's Wool Fat. When I do a good job of lathering, it is a great soap. Only trouble is that the sweet spot in terms of amount of water can be very hard to find IMO...I still often get too much (start over) or not enough (better, just add slightly more). I've considered switching soaps but am afraid to start learning all over again on a new one.

2. Face prep - this is very important and I had to learn not to rush it. I shave before my shower, so a single splash of water just doesn't cut it. More like 6-10 splashes of water, with lots of soaking attention on the thicker parts of the beard. One more thing - I switched from hot water prep to cold water about 2-3 months ago. Cold water definitely wins in my book - much closer shaves, and the coldness no longer bothers me, it's just a nice waker-upper in the morning.

At some point I tried a home-made shave oil based on a recipe someone posted, with marginal improvement in shave quality, but had to stop after my wife discovered that I was leaving a film in the (post-shave) shower. Bad news there buddy...

3. Stropping - IMO proper technique on this is more subtle than it appears in the descriptions & diagrams. In hindsight I am pretty sure that I was using more pressure on the edge than required and it was adversely affecting my razors' edges. I also don't think my stroke speed was fast enough to really strop the edge properly. With time, lighter strokes + faster speeds have resulted in some super keen edges. I am also getting pretty religious about performing a minimum of 40 passes on each razor I'm about to shave with (actually I strop in the evenings after work - it's relaxing after a stressful day).

A couple of my razors have very loose handles, those are annoying because it's hard to securely flip them after each stroke....I may send them off to be tightened.

4. Shaving - ah, so much left to learn here and I don't want to sound overconfident... What I've learned is that a light-touch (see JimmyHAD's signature which says it best) is not only the safest, but will also result in a great shave IF the razor is capable and good face-prep was done. Skin stretching is also all-important... My darn upper lip still doesn't get very smooth though. On the positive side, with a light touch and sharp razors I rarely see nicks anymore.

5. Honing - this is still where I'm the weakest, simply because this skill doesn't get as much practice as the others. Due to a RAD-infection (see below) I've only honed about 3-4 times with my set of Naniwa stones. The last time the results seemed pretty good, but I think this might be more due to improved stropping? Time will tell. I bought one of the little magnifying loupes, plus a handheld magnifying "scope", but they were frankly a PITA to use. Am considering looking for a used microsope.

At some point I fell under the spell of RAD and my initial TI and Dovo razors gave birth to a collection of ten or so other razors. Most were bought used from Bob's Razors, but I also got a new Henckels Inox which to be honest has been disappointing so far - it just wasn't as sharp as some of my older ones. I am partial to the German makes (Boker, Reppenhagen, etc) but do have a Sta-Sharp and a Wade & Butcher. The Sta-Sharp seemed terrible at first but as my stropping got better it has really come into its own. Having too many razors is one reason my honing skills are weak. Makes me wish I had stuck with one or two used razors and honed them down to the nubs (exaggeration) until I had it down pat.

Anyway...I hope my ramblings helps motivate other guys to "stick with it"...sooner or later everything will start to click and that is a GREAT feeling that I'd hate for anyone to miss out on. Happy New Year to everyone, and Happy Shaving to all in 2011.

Jay