Thread: Razor for thick hair.

Originally Posted by SLICKYINC

Im very new to using a straight razor. I just purchased one from ebay. It is a Geo. H. Weyer. (Henckels) I know I shouldnt have, but my compulsivness coulnt help but do it. I have read most of the stuff for newbies, and I bought it anyway. My question is this. I have very thick hair. Not just thick as a whole, but each strand is very thick. Is there a particular grind, size, maker, or anything inparticular that can be suggested for such hair?
....snip.....

The dancing guys tell me that you have a decent shaver.

As for your whiskers...
We are all different.... The key will be a correctly sharpened blade
and excellent beard preparation (and patience).

Prep is a mix of things for your face and whiskers.

Some folk "shave then shower".

Some folk "shower then shave"

Try Proraso Shaving Cream but differently. Try a splash of cool water on your face. Half a min later rub the smallest amount of Proraso on your face with a wet hand and bristle lather (No brush). While that is 'soaking' make a standard Proraso lather in a mug with a brush and then apply the lather wait two min and then shave. Try this
with your current soap if you do not have Proraso... Sort of a modified shave stick
face lather...

In my opinion beard prep is super important. To that
point I would direct you to the idea of a "standard" blade to evaluate how
your beard prep changes change your shave. A DE razor or a five buck bag of yellow handle BiC tossables works for me. It is important that it has
exactly one edge touching the skin, none of the multi blade things.
You want enough space about the blade to fully rinse all the whisker
bits and lather free.

For me the Proraso trick seems to soften the outside of whiskers
in a way that the blade catches and then shaves the whisker. Without
that catch even a Feather wants jump over the whisker instead of
making a clean cut. This is a "with the grain" "single pass" trick...

YMMV. so try different whisker and face prep... do keep the product list
short and simple.

Originally Posted by noggs247

That's a fine razor-good quality german steel.All you have to do is get it honed by a pro before you start shaving with it.
It's a spike point razor and will demand a bit more respect but should give you excellent shaves.
All the best

Noggs

Thanks Noggs. I felt for the price I paid I didnt do to bad. It was roughly 30.00 shipped. I have shaved with it once. It was my first straight shave. It did ok. It did fell as if it was pulling a bit, then again it could have been my lack of skills. I will send it out to get it honed by one of the pros on this site. Im just not sure who to send it to. I have a hone, but not a strop yet. Im looking for most of the tools that are mentioned in the list for newbies. Im just not sure on what to get. What I mean by that is, what brand, and what not. There seams to be so many options for everything. Im in need of a Brush, cup, and strop. I have checked the classifieds for most of this stuff. Im not seeing to much there. I have made my mind up that im going to go with Castle Forbes line of product. It seems to be very good from what ive read about it. Thanks so much for your kind comments. Its stuff like that, that keeps us new guys interested.

Originally Posted by niftyshaving

The dancing guys tell me that you have a decent shaver.

As for your whiskers...
We are all different.... The key will be a correctly sharpened blade
and excellent beard preparation (and patience).

Prep is a mix of things for your face and whiskers.

Some folk "shave then shower".

Some folk "shower then shave"

Try Proraso Shaving Cream but differently. Try a splash of cool water on your face. Half a min later rub the smallest amount of Proraso on your face with a wet hand and bristle lather (No brush). While that is 'soaking' make a standard Proraso lather in a mug with a brush and then apply the lather wait two min and then shave. Try this
with your current soap if you do not have Proraso... Sort of a modified shave stick
face lather...

In my opinion beard prep is super important. To that
point I would direct you to the idea of a "standard" blade to evaluate how
your beard prep changes change your shave. A DE razor or a five buck bag of yellow handle BiC tossables works for me. It is important that it has
exactly one edge touching the skin, none of the multi blade things.
You want enough space about the blade to fully rinse all the whisker
bits and lather free.

For me the Proraso trick seems to soften the outside of whiskers
in a way that the blade catches and then shaves the whisker. Without
that catch even a Feather wants jump over the whisker instead of
making a clean cut. This is a "with the grain" "single pass" trick...

YMMV. so try different whisker and face prep... do keep the product list
short and simple.

Thanks so much. These are very good pointers that I will try out. Im going to order some Proraso with the other stuff I order.

I have edited this thread and removed the mis-understanding,,

One thing we as the Mod team would like to stress, it is rather easy to miss something during an Internet exchange, and to take something the wrong way...

We ask that you all try and realize this can happen, and try and accept that if you can take a statement two ways, one being bad, one being innocent, try and accept that they meant it the good way...

PM's are always a good thing too...


Thanks
The SRP Mod-Team

I don't have thick hair nor ever shaved people with thick hair, however based on what I found here; all hair can be easily cut by a good shave ready blade (even DE or catridge), a bread preparation will help the process.

There is a learning curve, no doubt about it. My first shaves took me so long that I had to re-lather one side as the lather dried up by the time I got around to it. After about two or three weeks I finally got to where I could shave my whole face and neck without the DE doing the chin and mustache. I don't know how thick my whiskers are compared to anyone else but my chin, mustache and either side of the wind pipe will do until tough comes along.

Took many shaves with pro honed razors for me to master those areas. Actually after over two years of exclusively shaving with a straight daily I find I still hit plateaus and then find a new way to stretch or to do a stroke so my shaves are still improving. It is definitely worth going through the learning process to get to smooth shaving.