First shave tonight

Today my first straight showed up in the mail after being honed by Glen. I was going to wait until tomorrow to try it out but...... I had lathered up some MWF and tried the razor on my sideburns and cheeks. Wow, Ive never used a straight and this little kamisori is rad! I was hasty in my prep though it went fine. WTG on each cheek and that was it. I used the blade in the traditional method except for two strokes. A few questions...

I noticed that the blade felt 'suction-cupped' to my face more than a few times. Is this a normal sensation?

I dipped the blade in the sink in between passes, looks like this is an easy way to damage a blade. Im guessing a towel to wipe it on?

Anyways, thanks all. Im sure Ill be here for awhile with lots of questions.
g

Monk,

Kudos for doing alot of things right. I've not heard of starting w/ a kamisori, and haven't used one myself. But getting a pro edge was VERY smart. It sounds like it went well. You're likely few day away from the best shaves of your life.

Swishing blade in sink. (shudder) I'm too scared of dinging a blade. I would rather have a plastic bowl or cup to swish in, which I did when electric power was lost to our area last week. Normally, I'll rinse under running water (for those using western folding razors, I have the pivot up and the blade almost vertical so as to keep the pivot dry), and if that doesn't rinse it perfectly clean, 2 things are needed. 1) a sponge or face cloth to wipe lather off on safely. 2) your lather is too dry. When it won't rinse easily, its too dry. When lather dries, it causes alot of pull on the cutting edge, and its a setup for a nick or a cut. Its not enough to paint some water over the top of the dry lather. The lather in contact w/ the skin has to be wet. Dip your brush tip in some water and work the water through the dry lather all the way to the skin surface. You'll thank yourself. There are a number of reasons I'm called pinklather. Dry lather is one of them.

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Originally Posted by gigglemonk

Today my first straight showed up in the mail after being honed by Glen. I was going to wait until tomorrow to try it out but...... I had lathered up some MWF and tried the razor on my sideburns and cheeks. Wow, Ive never used a straight and this little kamisori is rad! I was hasty in my prep though it went fine. WTG on each cheek and that was it. I used the blade in the traditional method except for two strokes. A few questions...

I noticed that the blade felt 'suction-cupped' to my face more than a few times. Is this a normal sensation?

I dipped the blade in the sink in between passes, looks like this is an easy way to damage a blade. Im guessing a towel to wipe it on?

Anyways, thanks all. Im sure Ill be here for awhile with lots of questions.
g

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Congrats on your first straight shave. You did a whole lot better than I did. My first one was a bloodbath.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gigglemonk

Today my first straight showed up in the mail after being honed by Glen. I was going to wait until tomorrow to try it out but...... I had lathered up some MWF and tried the razor on my sideburns and cheeks. Wow, Ive never used a straight and this little kamisori is rad! I was hasty in my prep though it went fine. WTG on each cheek and that was it. I used the blade in the traditional method except for two strokes. A few questions...

I noticed that the blade felt 'suction-cupped' to my face more than a few times. Is this a normal sensation?

I dipped the blade in the sink in between passes, looks like this is an easy way to damage a blade. Im guessing a towel to wipe it on?

Anyways, thanks all. Im sure Ill be here for awhile with lots of questions.
g

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I've had the razor feel like it "suction-cupped" I believe this is indicative of lather that is too dry. I add re-lather with a touch more water and it usually solves the problem.

I'm sure a veteran will correct me if wrong :-)

You should never swish a blade around in a sink to clean it off. It's an open invitation for disaster. My first razor only made it two shaves (and it shouldn't have gotten that far with the way I was sloshing it around) before it was dinged on the sink. Had to send it back to have it fixed. Now I use a towel instead.