Thread: Eye Candy!!

Dang!! I would love a family straight!!

Hi Ken,

Nice gear, and your travel box sounds interesting. I'm eager to see it.

I've had trouble with drying lather (live and shave in the high desert), and got two bits of helpful advice from other users here. The first was to add a little glycerine (5 drops tops) to my lather, which I make in a bowl. The other was to monitor how easily the blade rinses. Once the lather and debris starts sticking to it, your lather is probably too dry on your face.

I also developed a shaving routine in which I lather the whole area to be shaved, sideburns to neckline, then do all of it but for my mustache and the rectangle of chin between mouth and jawline. At that point I rinse off the old lather and reapply fresh. These are the zones with the stoutest whiskers for me, so it helps for them to have that preliminary treatment.

What sort of work do you do?

I'm an API inspector. I work for a 3rd-party inspection company & travel to various chemical plants, refineries & paper mills to inspect their equipment (piping, storage tanks, pressure vessels) to make sure it's safe to operate or make recommendations for repairs. I also inspect upstream equipment & tank railcars.

After what you said, my lather is definitely too dry. I'll be going at it again in an hour or two & will pay extra attention on the lathering.

On your next batch of lather, plan on throwing it away. That way you can experiement with it. Start with your normal amount of water, then add a few drops more and mix them in, and see how much you can push into it before it collapses into bubbly slime. Then throw away the bubbly slime and start again, to make the wettest lather you can get away with. Next time you're at the drugstore, get some glycerin--it might be with the laxative sorts of stuff, or you might have to ask the pharmacist for a bottle from their compounding stock--and tinker with that too. It really helps up here when the humidity drops to 8 or 9%.

Interesting sounding work. I'm an electrician, and just finished up a run of industrial work at a big power plant--most recently in the building where they distill the water before sending it off to the boilers. There were a dizzying amount of gages and suchlike poking out from pipes and vessels. Made us extra-careful as we manuevered conduit and cable tray from the floor to its final destination.

Best wishes

I'll pick up some glycerine after work tomorrow & give it a try. FWIW, humidity is generally pretty high in east TX.

Originally Posted by KenWeir

I'll pick up some glycerine after work tomorrow & give it a try. FWIW, humidity is generally pretty high in east TX.

And the water is harder than nails lol - the glycerin will do you wonders!

Oh geez, now you've got me thinking about distilled water & hot plates...

Hey no worries! I still get excited when I pull my razor out of the box and get ready to strop before a shave. Sometimes I wish my whiskers would grow faster so I could shave more!! haha. I don't mind it though because I am that much more excited when I do shave!

Welcome, and sounds like you're on the right track. When I travel, either by car or plane, I take a shave stick, when is simply soap shaped like a stick. You just rub in on your face/whiskers, then lather it up on your face with your wet brush. Super easy to pack and use. I have two, one from Mama Bear Soaps and an Arko shave stick. There are others. Try one sometime, and you can leave the mug at home.

As for my straights, I have five, so I strop them all before I pack, place them in the leather pouches they came with, and the throw them in the suitcase. So far, no issues. I do have one straight that does not have a pouch (although I plan on purchasing one from SRD), so I place a rubberband around the blade and scales to keep it closed, and either place it in the suitcase, in a shoe in the suitcase, or in the tioletries bag in the suitcase, all of which have been fine.

Just some ideas. BTW, your shaves WILL get better, give it time and have fun.