Thread: Hello from Dorset

Welcome Mike, Nice part of the world you live in, and Dorset tea is my favourite.

Check out the library, lots of great info to set on the right path. https://shavelibrary.com/

Welcome to the forum.

Welcome aboard!

My suggestion is start with a good shave soap, and a nice big badger brush. Learn to prep properly, map your face, and shave according to the growth direction of your whiskers. Your shaves will improve greatly, whatever edged weapon you use for the actual shaving part. Without good prep, meaning whisker hydration and a nice slippery lather, your efforts at taking up the manly way to shave will not go well.

Once you have your prep routine sorted out, it will be time to look for a razor and strop. It is important to start out with a proper shave ready razor. By that, I mean actually ready to shave with, not "internet shave ready". Be wary of online sales because "shave ready" has become a buzz word tacked onto fleabay listings because it sells razors, but most sellers do not even know what it means and do not shave with a straight razor. Some are of the fairer sex and do not shave their faces at all. Never trust someone who does not shave every day with a straight razor to hone the one you will shave with.

In time, you can certainly learn how to hone your own razors, but in order to evaluate your edges, you must be practiced and knowledgeable at shaving in the manly fashion. It just doesn't work very well, the other way around. Start with buying a shave ready razor or having one honed by a respected honemeister OF RAZORS, not the village knife guy. Learn to shave. THEN think about touching up the edge when stropping before the shave is no longer enough to keep the edge going. Or send it out a time or two more, while you soak up knowledge.

Ours is a small-ish community. There are only a few straight shaving forums and most of the key players know each other at least online if not in 3D. There are reputations at stake. A long standing member of this or of another forum is generally a good person to buy from, if he is selling a razor. There are, outside the forums, a very select few sellers that are well known in the community. Buy within the community if you want your shave ready razor to actually be shave ready. You can't learn with a dull razor. Well, you CAN, and I did, but it took years instead of weeks. This was pre-internet and I didn't have a "shave daddy" to mentor me. If I had, he would have insisted that I let a pro hone my razor instead of trying to do it myself.

I suggest not improvising a strop. Especially I advise against using a belt, particularly a worn one. They will not be flat, and not be wide enough. A basic strop can be had for well under $50. Avoid Pakistani or Chinese strops. They are made for sale and profit, not for use. I seem to recall the name "Scrupleworks" or something similar, making strops, and an Illinois brand strop is also plenty good enough. Don't even bother trying to shave without a strop and without watching a few stropping videos made by members of the community. It's not complicated, but you must do it correctly or you will hack your strop to bits and roll your edge instead of align it.

That's enough for now. Do your research on prep, get a good soap and mug or bowl, and a proper badger brush, any grade above Black, which is very scritchy. Boar is also scritchy and holds less water and soap, but at least boar eventually gets broken in and the tips soften up a bit. Silvertip is the finest common grade and a brush of at least 24mm up to 30mm in Silvertip badger will serve you well. If you can't find something for under $200 in UK, check out Larry at www.whippeddog.com. Great value in large silvertip brushes, without rolling the dice on a Chinese one on fleabay or aliexpress. You might also find a vintage one, and a vintage razor as well, on the Buy/Sell/Trade sub forums on this or other forums. Just remember, the good deals go fast, and the ones that don't get snapped up in a couple of days or less, maybe the seller is just a little too proud of his treasure.

That should have you pointed in the right direction. Good Luck, and Happy Shaves.