Thread: First Shave

Tried my first straight shave today. After a shower, lathered up and gave it a try. Did my neck and difficult places and the side of my face with the straight. Got a smooth shave, no blood , so that's a good thing. The sound off the straight was kind of skritch, skritch, skritch as I shaved. . Didn't seem to pull, but a little rougher than a safety razor. Normal? Need more honing and/or stropping or just more practice? Thanks, Rick

There are a number of variables at play during your first bunch of shaves. The fact that you did the sides of your face and the hard parts makes it sound like a successful shave regardless. Sometimes the hollow ground razors are quite vocal when they cut, however, IME, a steep angle (over 30 degrees) will also create such a sound.

Do your best to control your angles on your next shave, and see if that will make a difference. A steep angle will also result in very quick razor burn, so that will be an indicator as well.

Good luck with number two.

Congrats on the first shave. Many blades make noise as you remove the whiskers, hollows specifically. If the blade did not pull and you had a comfortable shave it is fine.

As Jeff said, it's normal to hear noise as the razor does its work. I remember during one of my early shaves my 7 year old daughter came into the shave den and said "cool dad, I can hear it cutting your whiskers". Despite having relatively sparse beard growth I still hear what many describe as the sound of a knife scraping dry toast when I shave. It's one of the many things I love about straight shaving.

Enjoy your new passion!

Knife scrapping toast is a good way of saying it. Knd of feltr a little razor burn last night though. But the razor seems to cut through arm(and stomach, running out of hair on my left arm) hair like butter.

As others have said angle is incredibly important. Also, don't use a firm grip. As Obie taught me, pretend the razor is a bird. Hold it firm enough so it doesn't get away, but gently enough so you don't harm it. Also, check out JimmyHAD's sig line - it says the same thing basically. The point is to use a very light touch and NEVER push/force the razor.

I remember my first shave, I was so nervous that it took me 45 min. to shave. I didn't
cut myself so I was happy. The second time it took 20 min. I fear had deminished but
I was still very cautious. Now it goes real well. I take my time because I enjoy it, not
because I am scared, its just cool. Take time to wash and prep you face and it will
work ALOT better than just lathering up and shaving. I nerver thought shaving with a
straight razor would be this fun.