Thread: Stupid Swaty Tricks

I’m not a honemeister nor do I play one on the internet. However, I offer the following for your consideration:

The following details the novel use of a common hand lotion as lubricant for a Swaty barber hone to improve an already usable straight razor edge.

I use a Swaty barber hone for keeping my sharp razors sharp. Used within this limitation, it has served me well. I have used the Swaty dry, with water, and with shaving lather each to good but equal effect.

More as an excuse to play with razors than anything else, I pulled out my Swaty and coated the honing surface with some Nivea hand lotion the wife keeps in the bathroom. I made the usual 3-4 X-pattern passes with a JA Henckel’s 5/8 Friodur.

Expecting the usual post-Swaty improvement, I found the edge performed the hanging hair and standing hair test much more vigorously than previous work with a dry or lathered hone. But the proof is in the shave.

The test shave was a single N-S pass shave. The result was much closer than I am used to getting with a single pass.

Over the next week, I tried the hand lotion Swaty combo on my remaining razors and found this extra degree of improvement in 4 out of my 5 razors (including the Henckel’s.) No adverse events occurred.

I offer no explanatory mechanism for this incremental improvement. I encourage others to experiment with these methods.

Methods:

Coat the honing surface of barber hone with a thin layer of Nivea hand lotion. Coating should be translucent not opaque.

Perform 3-4 X-Pattern passes with minimal pressure with the heel leading. The lotion will appear to suck the blade to the hone. Use just enough pressure to guide the blade through the X-pattern. Build up of lotion on the upside of the blade will indicate complete or incomplete edge contact with the hone. There is no need to wipe the lotion from the blade before rolling and reversing direction.

When 3-4 passes have been completed, rinse hone and razor with water and dry.

Assess edge and shave.

I remain &C,
LG Roy

Good stuff Roy, I don't see any reason why we shouldn't use different products to aid in the quest for the perfect edge, I am finishing on a Carborundum 200 at present and hold my hands up to having used spit and washing up liquid in the past to complete the honing process, both to good effect.
As long as it is not damaging and works I say go for it .

Originally Posted by Library Guy

Coat the honing surface of barber hone with a thin layer of Nivea hand lotion. Coating should be translucent not opaque.

Is that a Nivea pomade, the stuff in the standard round blue tin, or something more liquid?

thanx,
Nenad

Good info, thanks!

I have been using liquid hand soap with no added water. It to seems to add to the suction of the razor. Isn't it fun to experiment! Thanks for the information.

Glen