Thread: Hi guys and galls!

Greeting from sunny Sydney,

I'm new to the forum and new to th world of straight razor shaving. Been lurking here for a while and what a wealth of fantastic information and advice!, thank you all for your contributions, it makes novices like me feel really comfortable having a go at this art.

I just received my first straight razor today, a DOVO "Special" 5/8 which came professionally honed, also a badger hair brush + soap and a leather strop. Although i'm anxious to start shaving asap I'm leaving my first shave for the weekend, in the mean time I'm gonna practice my stropping technique with a butter knife until my hand gets used to the motions.

Forgive my totally n00b question, but my razor came with a film of oil on the blade, should I wash it of before my first shave?

Thanks in advance!

Welcome to SRP.

It sounds like you have done a fair amount of reading already, excellent.

You are correct, the oil on your blade needs to be wiped off with a piece of tissue or something prior to your first shave/strop. It is wiped on by the retailer to prevent any rust or spotting from developing during its travel from his place to yours.

Have fun with your new toys. I started with a Dovo 5/8, and I still love it.

Maxi

Originally Posted by Maxi

Welcome to SRP.

It sounds like you have done a fair amount of reading already, excellent.

You are correct, the oil on your blade needs to be wiped off with a piece of tissue or something prior to your first shave/strop. It is wiped on by the retailer to prevent any rust or spotting from developing during its travel from his place to yours.

Have fun with your new toys. I started with a Dovo 5/8, and I still love it.

Maxi

Hi Maxi!
Thanks for your quick reply, I will wipe the blade before my first shave!....really looking forward to the stat of this journey!

Hi palmag;

Welcome to SRP. Maxi answered your question about the oil. It does sound like you've done some research, that's a good thing. You have some guys down there that have much experience with Str8s. I would reccomend you get to know them and listen to what they teach. Have fun.
Mike

Originally Posted by MODINE

Hi palmag;

Welcome to SRP. Maxi answered your question about the oil. It does sound like you've done some research, that's a good thing. You have some guys down there that have much experience with Str8s. I would reccomend you get to know them and listen to what they teach. Have fun.
Mike

Thanks Modine! I'm looking forward to my first straight razor shave this weekend!

Hi everyone,

Just a quick update, I had my first SR shave on Friday night, I did the hair test on my razor to see if it was truly shave ready and it passed, I then worked the lather to a thick lathery foam, applied it to my face in circular motions until thick enough to shave with, then the scariest part of all was putting the razor to my face, as I knew how sharp it was I wanted to be as careful as possible.

As I ran through all the tutorial videos I watched on youtube and all the material I've read over my head, I took the first stroke....a clean shaven exposed area of my cheek was exposed, this encouraged me to keep going, perhaps with a steeper angle, second, third stroke, flawless, nice, I'm getting the hang of this.

My first shave took me approximatly 1 hour and half...yes I was taking my time and doing it very slowly so as to not cut my face, but I put down to mainly 'first time' nerves.

My second shave took 45 min but was not as clean as the first one, I did not strop my DOVO after my first shave so I felt a lot of pulling and tugging, still a pretty good shave but not as good as the first one, a lot of stubble was let behind.

My third shave on the other hand came in at about 30 mins, after stropping my DOVO it came back to its original sharpness, this time I was a little more adventurous and shaved across the grain and against the grain aswell. Once I finished this shave I realised this was my best shave ever, I'm really impressed with the results achieved thus far, and I can't wait to see the results as I keep on improving!