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Welcome!
Both those kits you got are excellent and the vendors are well known and respected, so no worries there.
If you live in an particularly humid place I'd recommend oiling the blade, or if you live near a lake or the sea, but you dont generally need to oil the razor unless its going into longer term storage.
What I do after the shave is rinse the blade (taking care to ONLY get the blade wet), wipe it with tissue then strop 15 laps on fabric and 30 laps on leather to get any remaining micro gunk off the edge.
Then I put a piece of tissue between the scales to dry in there and make sure no water got in there (a very common cause of rust) then wipe down the whole razor, scales and all, to remove any finger grease before storing it.
If you do oil the razor, make sure you've wiped it all off before stropping and shaving. The razor should only be oiled for storage, nothing else, so make sure its oil free for stropping, shaving and, when you get to that point, honing.
In terms of how much to strop and on what, I do 30 fabric and 60 leather before the shave, then 15 fabric and 30 leather afterwards. This works very well for me.
Have a read of the Beginners Guide linked in my sig line below as this will answer a lot of your questions about the first shave and care of the razor. Anything you're not sure about though, please feel free to ask..! :)
Welcome to the site, and to a better way of shaving!
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Thank you. I have started reading the Beginners Guide and I am finding a lot of interesting info there. Have to read somethings twice for it to sink in however, nothing against the way it is written that is just me.
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Just a recommendation on oils. Use something specific for steel not cooking oil etc .
Don't laugh, it happens :)
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TSasser,
Welcome to SRP.
Those are some excellent choices as far as straight and de razor purchases. As for oil, a small bottle of mineral oil should do just fine for now. Oiling the blade every 2-3 days will work just fine. Later you can purchase some Camelia oil to maintain your razor.
Also consider stropping your razor after your shave--15-20 times on the fabric and 15-20 times on the leather--to remove any remaining shaving residue on the blade.
Take care--and smooth shaving.
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Thank you, I am trying to have a nice smooth shave but no luck so far. 1ST shave I used regular shaving cream and could feel the pull pretty good, plus I cut my cheek by all fault of my own.
2ND shave I tried to use my brush and soap I got with my D/E but it just looked like soapy water on my face, although it did not pull like the last time it just was not full lather like I read about and see on the videos I have watch. Oh and I cut my other cheek some how.
The D/E razor gave me some nasty razor burn on my neck but I am betting I was at a 45 degree angle more than a 30 degree angle or less. I just have to figure this out, my triple-antibiotic tube was my friend tonight.
Such is life.
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Ease up on the pressure for both the DE and the Straight.
I also had to learn how to use shaving soap and brush.
Now I hold the bristles with my fingers and rub them on the soap about 20 swirls or so. Then I swish it in my mug until the lather is set. If too thin, gather more soap, if too thick add water. It takes some practice to know when it is just right. I am told that the soap should rinse off the blade with hot water easily to check if it is too thick.
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Welcome!
Its worthwhile having a practice lathering - without the shave. Just experiment when the time suits.
You may even find it worthwhile practising straight shaving with a blunt butter knife - just to work out directions you are going to take. Many of my cuts were when I paused the blade on my face while I thought of what I was going to do next.
I still think about and plan my shave - I'm looking for ways to improve it and make it more efficient and comfortable. Can make a difference thinking before doing!
+1 on keeping pressure light for both DE and straight - let the blade do the work. (Even if takes a couple of passes).
Keep re-reading the Wikis and watching the videos. Eventually it all starts to click.
All the best,
Michael
