Thread: Straight Blade Care

Originally Posted by Euclid440

BTW, there are different quality of Micro Fiber, cheap ones do not do much, good one suck up water, you have to experiment to fine good ones, try some of the Automotive Finish maintenance web sites. I buy several and toss in the wash with regular towels. They say not to put in dryer, but I do. .

I do the same. Have yet to see degradation in the absorbency.

Hirlau pretty much said all of it.

Remove the moisture on the blade with toilet paper. According to Robert Williams' site, this also polishes it slightly
Insert a piece between the scales to dry the inside of them, just in case
Rub some kind of water-repellent on it. Oil (any kind), vaseline, renaissance wax, etc

Some people also strop their blades after using them, but others say it's unnecessary. One has even said that too much stropping can be damaging to an edge, although I don't really think this is valid because a strop is very soft on the edge, not like honing.

After shaving I wipe with stropping motion (to remove crud) on wash cloth I used to soften beard then run hot water over blade to heat up blade and promote drying. Next I wipe on dry towel, stropping motion, followed by 20 felt and 50 leather and finally run a piece of toilet paper between scales to dry and moisture there. Leave the razor lying out in open air for several hours before putting away.

I don't leave my str8s in the bathroom. Instead I keep some in racks that I made in the bedroom and the rest in rolls (from Whipped Dog) in the closet. Been doing this for the past 3+ years and no problem with rust.

When I first started shaving with a str8 I kept a couple razors in a coffee mug in bathroom cabinet. One day I noticed some rust on one of the razors, that was the last time I left one in the bathroom.

“Some people also strop their blades after using them, but others say it's unnecessary. One has even said that too much stropping can be damaging to an edge, although I don't really think this is valid because a strop is very soft on the edge, not like honing.”

The purpose of stropping is to polish the bevel and edge, it will not damage it, unless you do it wrong, it will clean and enhance the edge.

So, do a simple test. Look at your razor with magnification after you shave.

What you will see is soap, hair, skin, blood and oxidation (rust), all of which will hold moisture and eat your edge. All that has to come off…

Wiping with a cotton towel will get most of it off. Wiping with a Micro Fiber will get more, wiping with tissue will get 95 percent off.

Stropping will get 100 percent off.

So do a test and see what, it will take to leave your blade dry and clean.

Hand stropping is quick and after 3 rinses and wipes with a Micro Fiber works for me.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

“Some people also strop their blades after using them, but others say it's unnecessary. One has even said that too much stropping can be damaging to an edge, although I don't really think this is valid because a strop is very soft on the edge, not like honing.”

The purpose of stropping is to polish the bevel and edge, it will not damage it, unless you do it wrong, it will clean and enhance the edge.

So, do a simple test. Look at your razor with magnification after you shave.

What you will see is soap, hair, skin, blood and oxidation (rust), all of which will hold moisture and eat your edge. All that has to come off…

Wiping with a cotton towel will get most of it off. Wiping with a Micro Fiber will get more, wiping with tissue will get 95 percent off.

Stropping will get 100 percent off.

So do a test and see what, it will take to leave your blade dry and clean.

Hand stropping is quick and after 3 rinses and wipes with a Micro Fiber works for me.

Never saw that number before. Thanks for posting.

Razor- Dry it well. Set it down. Walk away. The next morning it goes into a silicon saturated sack up and goes to sleep for a couple weeks until it's turn is up again

Face- Balm, shower, aftershave.