Just finished my first shave, nick free!

I started out really slow on my right sideburn. Once I started getting confident with it, I did a slightly larger portion of my cheek. The best part about my first shave was that I only had to use my clubman styptic pencil on Mach3 cuts!

A couple things:
1) how do you keep your grip when stretching? I was using the Mocha scented Classic Shaving soap and it was difficult to stretch my face really well.
2) I picked up a bottle of Break Free CLP (gun cleaner, lubricant, protective) to coat my DOVO postshave as I'm assuming it's a carbon steel blade (the basic 6/8 white scale available on ClassicShaving.com). The ingredients are not listed but it has a warning involving petroleum distillates (the warning is for ingestion, skin contact isn't covered). Any thoughts on this?

Thank you for taking the time to read this!

Welcome and congratulations on your first shave. Try rubbing your fingers on an alum block for traction when stretching. Best of luck!

You can use a small washcloth in your hand to get purchase on your skin for stretching.

I use CLP as well. Mainly when I get a tarnished look on the shank I use clp and some 0000 steel wool to clean it up. When it comes to post-shave razor protection, I use a silicone gun cloth -works great.

In regards to stretching, I find that I only need to stretch that part of the face that I've previously been over with the razor, and i find I can get a grip on that area with my fingers. What I HAVE found important, for me, is using only two fingers to stretch my skin. When I was using four, I would often mistakenly bring the blade in contact with my finger nails, which would not have been good for the edge.

I use Eucalyptus oil each morning on the blade after shaving. I strop (10/10) to clean and dry the edge, and then just 'up-end' the bottle on a piece of tissue paper and wipe the razor with that. I have used something called RP7 on one razor, as I found evidence of rust on the pivot, but I myself wouldn't use something that harsh (for the skin) consistently...

Hi Ace, YOU made my morning, I have not heard anyone use the word "purchase" to describe grip or traction since my Dad passed away in 1990. I do not think my kids would know that definition.

Thanks for the responses everyone!