Thread: First shaves

First time caller here.

I've been using DEs for a few years and decided to try a straight after using a very aggressive Muhle DE razor. If I was exposing myself to that much of a safety blade, why not try a nekkid straight?

I had to wait a few days between the razor arriving from a private party and the strop coming from SRD. USPS tracking had the strop arriving on Wednesday so I thought I would have a huge long holiday weekend to get started in this sport. Wednesday's mail delivery came and went with no boxes so I had to wait until Friday evening to get my hands on the leather.

Saturday morning rolled around and I got my preps done, gave the razor some stroppin' (answered for myself the question as to what kind of buffoon could nick a strop) and set to work. I followed the advice of doing a WTG pass of only my cheeks and aside from a little pulling and tugging there were no adverse results. So I kept going. Down the neck, under the chin (I cheat... a goatee exempts me from some challenging spots) and again, no blood. No problem. I had so much fun I lathered up and did it all over again. I had been practicing with my left hand with my DE so it was not quite as scary to use the straight left handed but that skill will come. I started to preview some mock angles for the XTG and WTG passes. I think another joint in my arm would be helpful.

Sunday morning arrived and no nicks in the strop today. I spent more time on the strop in hopes to smooth the blade out a little. I remembered that the sharp side of the blade is the one that cuts so no nicks today. I was brimming with overconfidence so I paid careful attention not to treat my face like the strop. Lathered up and gave an uneventful WTG pass. Now... how to get across the cheeks, under the jaw and across the throat? Kind of a mish-mash for the second pass. I had watched some videos Saturday night, now with some context as to what it is like with a blade in hand so things made more sense. I have a left to right growth pattern so I made a "WTG" left to right pass, juggling hands and grips to see what felt best. The major lesson of that event was that the square toe of the razor is sharp and when concentrating on the heel, one must be cognisant of the toe as well. Aside from that epiphany the rest of the lather came off with some whiskers as well. I couldn't figure out a good solution to the neck so I took a breath and went ATG. Again, a little rough but not abusive. I rubbed down with the alum block, didn't scream like a girl and considered the day a success.

In preparation of today's shave I spent some time on the cloth side of the strop last night, then more on the leather. The strop was unscathed. The razor I'm using was not sold to me as being perfectly honed and I have another razor en-route from a vendor here that should be fresh from the stones so i am looking forward to seeing how that blade handles. I am happy that I have gotten borderline acceptable shaves with no major irritation and no nicks/cuts for my first attempts. I was in production mode this morning and the WTG pass was fine. Hand positioning and grips are falling into place there better than I had anticipated. I was feeling the time pressure on the XTG pass so it was not elegant and a bit clumsy but aside from a not so great shave, again, no nicks. I've been careful of pressure and the ATG on my neck and throat is not bad, but if I was doing it with a DE I would call for a new blade as the present one is dull. The straight is far less uncomfortable than a DE that is over the hill. Maybe the confidence of getting a DE started against the resistance of the whiskers is greater than the push to get the bare blade that is resting against your bare skin. I skipped the alum and went straight to Clubman for some feedback - no worse than I've had from DE shaves, but I think a sharper blade will naturally exfoliate more than I've experienced yet.


Brent

You're doing better than I did, Brent. I'm called pinklather for a reason. Should you wish a touch up on the less than well honed blade, pm me. 'Just shipping costs. When I started, I was degrading my edges w/ my stropping. In the absence of natural talent, I used the reliable brute force (not pressure), just doing thousands of strokes practicing my stropping. One recent member had the sense to do several thousand strokes (not all at once) before taking a shave ready blade to strop. I sent him a razor to try, expecting to have to refinish the edge when it came back. The edge came back in such good shape, I wondered if he had used abrasives on his strop - but he didn't. 'Sure wish stropping had come that easily to me. Anyway, keep going. You'll soon find that str8 will exceed your DE in closeness and definitely in how long the shave lasts. Hollar if I can be of help.

Welcome! I’ve found that most Pro’s and others who I’ve tried edges from send the razor pre-stropped and oiled and all you need to do is to rinse off the oil and give it a go. That way the edge is 100% all theirs and not dependent on you're ability or lack of with stropping. It will also give you a reference point as to how the blade shaves with a fresh edge as you continue to shave and strop.

If you give pinklather a chance on your razor, you will not be disappointed with his work. We’ve exchanged many a blade to have each other evaluate how we’re doing and his work it top notch!

Hang in there and as Lynn likes to say; Have Fun!