Thread: The Importance of Lather

Check YouTube for the video Japanese Feather Razor Destroys 6 Month Old Beard.

Here's the link

Japanese Feather Razor Destroys 6 Month Beard - YouTube

I'll always go back to an old member here at SRP I'm told.

It was this video that sparked my interest in straight shaving...at first I thought he was going to shave with the big knife hanging on the wall. This is an example, IMO, of how it's done, clean and simple.

Originally Posted by Steel

Here's the link

Japanese Feather Razor Destroys 6 Month Beard - YouTube

At about 1:37, I thought he was going to get a nick at the top of his cheek for sure.

No sure whether I would want to emulate this if I had a 6-month old beard.

Am I the only one to believe that if he had moistened and lathered his beard properly, the entire experience could have been much smoother?

If the old "facial hair is like copper wire wire" saying holds any truth, then a proper moistening and lathering could have made the first, crucial pass less irritating to the skin.

I have only removed a full beard twice in my 61 years, but each time I took great care to soften my facial hair.

That's a good question (and thanks to Steel for the link). I've tried to answer it through experimentation. I can only experiment with my own whiskers, which I would characterize as average. I have to shave every day and can grow a good start on a beard in a week.

What I have found is that for my whiskers and my shaving technique, preparation seems to have no effect whatsoever.

I'm not "against" pre-shave preparation at all. Sometimes I'll do it for the fun of it and to add to the meditative experience of the shave. I love straight shaving, have a nice collection of big straights, and I love shaving with them. If I thought, based on my experimentation, that preparation, extended or otherwise, would improve those shaves, I would gladly do it every time. That has just not been my experience at all.

I take great care with my edges, recently adding CBN and Diamond Sprays to my sharpening regimen with great results. With a really good edge, I can get a fine shave without any preparation at all and by just using water without lather. I almost always do use lather, but I do it because I enjoy the experience not because it softens whiskers or any of the other alleged benefits of it.

I don't mind preparation, but I don't have the time for doing things before or during the shave that my experience has shown have no positive effect on it. Age, experience, and even experimentation show us what works and doesn't, what matters and what doesn't. I just don't have the time anymore for doing things that don't matter. I try to concentrate my time on the things that matter these days, and, for me, as much fun as pre-shave preparation might be, it doesn't positively affect my shaves so I don't waste my time on it when I don't feel like it. People can shave however they like, but I believe that if they find certain parts of their pre-shave routine boring, they might be surprised to find what happens if they eliminate them. That is how my experimenting began, and I'm glad I did it.

Sorry Ace, unless the glass of brandy in my hand this evening obscured my view of the video; do you mean by saying "What I have found is that for my whiskers and my shaving technique, preparation seems to have no effect whatsoever" that you get equal shaves with water alone, and no soap whatsoever?

That would certainly not be my experience.

I was referring to the video described in the first two posts of this thread. I cannot say what your experience might be, nor can I evaluate the edges you have been using, but that indeed has been my experience. I'm not trying to promote it, just describing it as it is.

If in fact he did lather up a storm, how much of the lather would in fact contact his skin or his whiskers close to where the cutting is happening? Not much probably. His first pass did the heavy lifting, it will be, beard or not, the second and third pass that brings the shave up nice and tight.

Whether it's using water and a razor for the first pass or just dry with a beard trimmer, I'd break out the brush and soap for the second and third pass.

For a much thinner beard like in the Manliest shave video, sure, lather makes sense, but in the Feather video, can't really see lather making that much difference. Now, if he used that Feather and did a dry shave...you might get my attention.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - how does the razor know what length of whisker it is cutting? Six months, 6 days, 6 weeks, 6 hours - the blade is taking off whiskers at skin level.

As you can see, once through the initial long growth, of the sideburns, nothing changes. However, I do believe that some shaving soap would make a difference. - even though most of it would end up in the sink - anyone who goes over an area already shaved, knows that the razor drags some lather back and helps lubrication.