Thread: the new guy

Hello
I can't remember if I did an intro post so here I go. I just recently started with a straight razor. I was tired of the cost of the disposable razors. So I went to the Art of Shaving and purchased one of their razors. I am still trying to figure things out. I did purchase a scuttle to warm my brush in. I now have the issue of what to build my lather in. Hopefully I can get some good guidance on here. I am a medically retired Army guy so I don't get to splurge much but shaving is a good excuse to do something for me. Hopefully one day I can give advice or help someone that is starting out.

It IS a good excuse to do something for you! Nicely worded, and welcome.

I started with AoS as well. I mix in my scuttle if I use it at all... and I refused to save any other way than with my straight for a full year to mater it!

Again, welcome. Look forward to reading about your journey.

Welcome to the forum. It is simple and complicated at the same time. One step at a time and you will be fine. I mostly face lather. Soak the brush, load it with soap, let it sit for a couple of minutes while I strop, add a little water and swirl it on my face.

Welcome to SRP. The best place to learn the details when it comes to shaving with a straight.
If you have a real scuttle, then you can soak your brush in it, then after a shower, dump the water out, refill with hot on the inside and make lather in the outer bowl of it. I use a scuttle often. Be sure that you get your razor properly honed as I've felt the edge of a razor from AOS. It is a factory edge and not even close to what can be done by hand by the guys around here. A truly shave ready razor is the most important thing when it comes to learning.

You need to know that when you have a bad shave that it was NOT the razor. Normally it's the operator if the blade was honed properly. Or there the lather to blame. It's been said many times that it takes 100 shaves to understand what you're doing and to start getting good results on a regular basis. Yes, you can get lucky now and then. But after 200 shaves you will find that when you hit 100 you really didn't understand as much as you thought you did.

Slow and easy! If you change ANYTHING in your shave (Razor, Soap, the direction of the shave) only change one thing! This will help you to know what worked and what didn't. If you grab a different razor, a different soap and then try some different directions of the shave, you won't know what caused the good or bad in your shave.

Glad to have you in the group. Best to have a couple razors and you can find some on the buy/sell/trade thread for a low cost if you watch for them. And if they say shave ready, you can bet they will be! Not a factory edge. I won't go into detail, but the one time I was at AOS the guy told me the razors only needed to be stropped. Stropping was never going to bring the edge I was feeling up to what I use to shave with.

Welcome, I would advise you to drop the scuttle from your shave for the time being, you are naturally going to be slow and cautious being new to the Art of straight razor shaving, so the last thing you want is a warm soap and brush that lather will start drying quicker than you can shave it off, use a brush loaded with cool water and make sure your lather is not to thick use a pre shave before you lather.

Welcome!

I like to build the lather directly on my face, so that's an option too . With time you will try many different things and you may end up going between them or stick to one or few.

However, as you're starting you may find it useful to just take some time building lather over and over and figure out what is a good method to get good results. Soap/cream is really cheap so you can make lather ten times one after the other and use just a few cents worth of product. The idea would be to get that part largely out of the way so that when you then start shaving this is one less factor you have to wonder if it's right or not

If you want to use a container to make the lather any bowl you think is appropriate will do or even a large coffee mug. As you know a scuttle is supposed to keep the brush/lather warm so it has smaller opening to minimize heat dissipation and is thus not very practical for swirling a brush around it. Although some so called 'scuttles' are basically large bowls and work better for building lather than storing it warm.

Enjoy the jorney and feel free to post some pictures!

Hi and welcome aboard. Sounds like you have plenty of time for shaving so take it and go slow. Work up ro a full shave and just start with what you are comfortable with. It will come but does require practice so stick with it and it won't be long till you start having great results.

As said definitely get the razor honed properly. There is a big difference between able to shave and shave ready. Good luck.

Hi Erik69

All great points thus far.

Also check out the library https://shavelibrary.com/w/Shave_Library
It's a great source of info and will put you on the right path.

I agree with celticcrusader, using a preshave is very helpful. Softens the beard and makes the lather work better. My daily routine is to apply the preshave then let it work while I strop my razor. Makes for a great shave!

Pretty new here too. I focused a lot of time on lather when I first started. For me I lightly dampen my cream then soak the brush in running hot water while I shower. WASH YOUR FACE. Pre shave wash and prep is huge. But, back to lather. Post shower I build my lather. It still takes me a while so I really work it. Once the lather is close I strop my razor. After that I swirl really quick lather up and get to business. Take your time and have fun. Thanks for your service and welcome to the group.