Thread: A Beginners Questions

Hello SRP,

My name is Joshua and I have just purchased my first straight razor and some other essentials to begin shaving a more traditional way. To help get better feedback and information, I will list what I have purchased thus far.

1. Razor: 6/8 Dovo Red Bismarck Razor
2. Strop: 3" Mountain Strop with Handles
3. Brush: Rooney Shaving Brush "Silvertip Badger"
4. Shaving Soap: Classic Brand "Vanilla scented"

My first series of questions have to do with shaving.

Is a straight razor recommended for shaving ones head?
If I use it to shave my head, how often will I need to strop/hone the blade?

My next series of questions are more about shaving creams, oils, soaps, etc.

With so many different products being applied to your face and head, should you choose something that is unscented or at least make sure all the products are of the same scent? It would seem to me that using to many different scents would overpower anyone you would encounter.

What brands of creams/soaps give the best results?

How do you, or should you, warm your shaving medium?

I would like to thank everyone for their feedback in advance.

Hi, Joshua, and welcome to SRP! You've come to the right place for answers.

1. A straight blade CAN be used to shave anything. That being said, caution and patience are the key words in your endeavour. Some members here have shaved their heads with satisfactory results.
2. You will need to strop your razor prior to each use for best results, and you should strop it immediately after each use as well. Honing is another matter entirely. You may get away with honing it once per year or you may need to do so once per month. YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary)..
3. Scents have always been, and always will be a matter of personal preference. Again, YMMV.
4. That is one of the questions this site debates ad infinitum. Again, a matter of personal preference. What one shaver likes, another may not.
5. Many SRP members have invested in scuttles with amply satisfying results. Others (myself included) merely nuke their shaving mug filled w/H2O in the microwave prior to whipping up a lather.
Hope this helps you out, and I'll see you in the trenches!

Good setup...

-You can shave your head with a straight.. Some of our members do without any issues
-I'd strop before shaving and restrop after each half of the head... Touchups with abrasive - Depends on your hair thickness and density - could be a couple of shaves, could be 15 shaves; when the performance deteriorates
-Those scents air out and really, all you need is a shaving soap and an aftershave, so it's not like a bunch of things that'll stink up the place forever
-I've had great results with The Gentlemen's Quarter by Colleen Hurley, but she's on a hiatus now. Creams - Crabtree & Evelyn Nomad is great (but their soaps suck donkey testicles - dry out too quick but the lather still looks like normal lather even though it's dry powder), also love Williams Menthol but I've only seen it in South America
-I just run the brush under a bit of hot water between passes
-YQW

Joshua - bravo for jumping in.

I'm ignorant about head shaving in general, but a number of guys here use a str8. You might try to connect w/ Mikael and Birnando on it. They're both a pleasure to talk to and quite knowledgable. 'Hope you enjoy the journey.

I just wanted to add another note:

By "touchups with abrasive" I don't mean a full-out honing. It's a couple of passes on a paddle strop or leather bench hone, pasted with a fine abrasive. Doesn't take much time or skill and it maintains your blade's sharpness for about a year (typically) before you need to take it to the hone or send it out to be honed.

Hi, and welcome to SRP!

Yessir, a straight can most definitely be used for head shaving.
I do that myself every day.
It will take a toll on your razor, but a proper stropping will get it back to form again.
A number on how many shaves you will get out of each razor before honing is impossible to give, there are just too many factors that will affect that.
For me, I tend to need a honing about 1/3 as often or thereabouts.

I would recommend getting the face shaves down first, then go to the head shaves with a bit of experience and confidence.
Once you have that, it is an enjoyable and doable task that will be surprisingly easy to learn.

I would like to thank everyone for all the feedback and information. I hope that my razor will be here in the next few days. I will hopefully have a good shave and a positive experience when I report back in.