first few days of wet shaving

I'm new here, have 2 SR shaves under my belt, and almost a week now wet shaving with either SR or DE. I have been doing single pass with the SR WTG, not being too worried about how good I'm getting everything, and cleaning everything up with the DE.

I am finding the Proraso red cream is leaving a film on my equipment that needs more than just hot water rinse to remove. Normal, or is this an indication that my lathering is still subpar?

I'm still not doing 4 pass, even on DE only. My face needs to ramp up to that. With my edge gel & dull fusion setup, I was a very infrequent shaver. I would often go 2 weeks without shaving, just using the beard trimmer to keep a constant look of having shaved maybe 4 days prior. I've also shaved my goatee but left the mustache, so that hasn't been shaved at all in a year or so.

Is it normal to think, at 4pm, "I could probably shave again"?:rofl2:

Griff, welcome to the world where 'Joy' and 'Shaving' occupy the same universe again. Your description of an unhurried entry into wet shaving sounds really great - there's no rush. Enjoy getting the feel of it.

On Soap film on the blades - what you describe sounds quite normal. Your lathering may or may not have anything to do with it. What will be important to the life of your blades is to get that soap film off of them and hopefully finding an easy way to keep oil on them between shaves. The big deal about the soap film is that it initiates corrosion & pitting. I'm in a super humid area, where some of my blades can start to rust literally within minutes. Soap film just speeds up that process, and its a PITA to have to polish out water spots or rust - which usually then require the blade be touched up - brought back to shaving sharpness.

I've had to do 4-5 super gentle wipes of the blade on a wet cloth or sponge to get the last soap film off. If your lather gets very dry - this won't be enough. How to tell when its too dry? When running water won't rinse off the lather. When lather is this dry, its also a setup for nicks & cuts. Its not enough to paint water over the dry lather - the water has to reach the skin level. Just dip the tip of your brush in some water and work the water into any remaining lather and keep going. I took so long in my first shaves (sometimes still do) that no lather could reasonably be expected to stay hydrated - so this technique of re-wetting the lather will become a regular part of a long shave.

Since you don't have to shave daily, its more important to have the blade in good shape when put away for a few days.

'Hope you enjoy your journey. 'Good to have you here.

It's pretty normal, the film part. I don't let it bother me. It might be a water issue, but I'd focus on the shaving comfort. I'm sure there are guys that focus on having a minty clean blade when done.

I strop on linen after my shave to clean the edge

I agree with with the previous statements. I would think very hot water will remove the soap scum and try a paper towel instead of tissue. The paper towel is a bit more abrasive.

Good Luck