What went wrong ?

Hello,

I'm KLF, from Israel. I shave with an DE for 5 months now and I'm comfortable with it. Today I received my straight razor from whippeddow, it's an Fromm Bros, I guess it's an "5/8?!? I shaved with it now and something went wrong...I can't explain why, but the razor would skip and also "stick" to my face, it would not "glide" like I saw in all the videos. I thought it's maybe the lather, I changed creams and lather again but it didn't improved...
I had a 2 days growth and the shave it was painful, my face got irritated like hell but I didn't even nick myself. In the package I reveicev from Larry it said I don't need to strop the razor as it was already stropped.
Now, before shaving it may be that I did something stupid and dulled the blade, I don't know. I cleaned the razor with some chemical solution metals, it says "Cleans and shines without scratching: stainless steel,chrome,nickel,bronze,pewter brass,etc." . It's some kind of white liquid paste, I used cotton swabs, I tried not to touch the blade but...can it be and I totally dulled the razor ? Also I used 3M Stainless steel cleaner(3M Stainless Steel Cleaner/Polish | Gracious Home | Product). Can it be that I ruined it ? The blade felt dull and the tugging was unsupportable, a truly disaster. I don't know if I need to send the blade for re-honing or should I try to strop and improve my technique...Help !!!

KLF,

I would contact Larry and explain to him what is going on. I have dealt with him on several occasions and found him to be a great guy to deal with. I'm sure he will do right by you.

Wellcome to SRP,I would think you destroyed the edge by using two differant cleaners,try stropping it and see what happens.
I think what most Newbs fail to realize is your dealing with a shaving edge on a microscopic level.
Is very fragile and delicate.

I've killed edges with metal polish before, a good stropping could help.

I think considering the fine edge of a razor, the polish may have indeed dulled the edge a little. As Rd says, stropping may bring it back. I tried forcing a patina on a blade the other day using vinegar; and of course that dulled the edge.

However, if it's not the polishing, it could be that your lather is too thick. Try adding more water. I find is my lather is too dry I get exactly the symptoms you describe.

I think it's just a lack of skill. This is pretty common. My guess is that things will get slightly better over each shave. The DE causes all kinds of skill degradation. I'd be willing to bet you've lost all shaving skill.

Do a little extra stropping. Use light strokes at exactly 30 degrees when shaving, and give the razor a chance to settle down. Forget all about the polish and cleaning you did, but don't do it again.

In the beginning guys are so bad at stropping that most find improvement by shaving a few times, essentially stropping on their face.

Thank you all for the answers ! I used the balsa wood strop that came from Larry, I did 20 times on green and 20 on the red side, also did 40 times on the leather strop. I'll try again in the evening to shave. Maybe I was expected too much from me to shave a 48hours growth on my first-time-ever with a straight. I'll update my progress :)

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Originally Posted by KLF

Thank you all for the answers ! I used the balsa wood strop that came from Larry, I did 20 times on green and 20 on the red side, also did 40 times on the leather strop. I'll try again in the evening to shave. Maybe I was expected too much from me to shave a 48hours growth on my first-time-ever with a straight. I'll update my progress :)

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IMHO don't do anymore on the balsa for now. That is reserved for 'touching up' once in awhile. Just do the leather for now. If you have linen/leather do the linen first. Paste on balsa , or whatever, can be helpful but there is also 'too much of a good thing.'

All the comments about the razor/edge are +1 .... How about your prep? Don't scrimp on the hot towell and Pre-shave routine or you make the task that much harder. Stretching and beard reduction passes are much more important with a Straight, don't try to get a BBS shave in one pass.
I started with a pair of Larry's razors and now I'm "all in"....you will do fine if you ease in to the process.

Added the link for skin stretching http://straightrazorpalace.com/shavi...-how-do-4.html IMHO the best one I've seen and a real help.

KLF sent me a private message, and we are conversing there. But, for anyone else reading this, my two bits in addition to what was said above is to shave a section of your face to short stubble with a safety razor and shave just that section with a straight razor. You are more likely to have problems of your own bad technique making early in the shave. By shaving with a safety razor to reduce the length of your whiskers you avoid a lot of potential for problems.

Of course, if it goes well, on subsequent shaves leave increasingly more whisker (after the safety beard reduction) for the straight razor.

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Originally Posted by LarryAndro

But, for anyone else reading this, my two bits in addition to what was said above is to shave a section of your face to short stubble with a safety razor and shave just that section with a straight razor. You are more likely to have problems of your own bad technique making early in the shave. By shaving with a safety razor to reduce the length of your whiskers you avoid a lot of potential for problems.

Of course, if it goes well, on subsequent shaves leave increasingly more whisker (after the safety beard reduction) for the straight razor.

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Truer words are rarely spoken. I started with a shavette and a couple months later I got a razor from Larry. I thought I knew how to shave but that thing either bounced around my face or stuck to everything. Larry gave me the same advice. Fast forward two weeks and I was in heaven. Now, almost two years later I'm still amazed at the difference between the factory DE blade and the straight. I use a DE regularly noe but I can tell it's been too long when I start nicking myself or get razor burn when using the straight.

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Originally Posted by LarryAndro

KLF sent me a private message, and we are conversing there. But, for anyone else reading this, my two bits in addition to what was said above is to shave a section of your face to short stubble with a safety razor and shave just that section with a straight razor. You are more likely to have problems of your own bad technique making early in the shave. By shaving with a safety razor to reduce the length of your whiskers you avoid a lot of potential for problems.

Of course, if it goes well, on subsequent shaves leave increasingly more whisker (after the safety beard reduction) for the straight razor.

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Thank you Larry and everybody else for your help. After all the polish yesterday, today I did some stropping on leather and on the balsa and the razor got back in shape, I did the hair cutting test and it went straight away. Today, on my second shave I used a DE for the first pass and the straight razor for the second one. It was much much better than yesterday. I did nicked myself twice but not important :) I didn't went for an BBS either, just to test how it works. I now realize that it will take a long time to master the angle and everything else. Yesterday I thought of the straight razor like it was some kind of DE variety but today I fully realized the difference :) and I begin to realize I sub-estimated the learning curve :)
I'm looking forward to the new challenge and I know that I have a lot of great people to help me when needed.
Thank you all !