Thread: What did grampa do ??

I've found this site to be an excellent resource for the kind of info you are looking for:

RazorCentral - Home of the straight razor

Goog

Been there done that...not interested in manuals ,this is joe average homestyle not professional stuff. Remember...when we learned how to shave(cartridge razors not straights) we didn't use manuals or info sites.....so goes the same for when straights were commonplace and every man came up with his own just as well I suspect.

I daresay ingenuity played a large role in that sort of thing, If I was living in a rat infested trench in WWI for example, I might have coated my razor blade with beeswax from a candle and rubbed my stop down with a mixture of beeswax and kerosene or something to help prtect them from moisture and, in the case of the strop, the rats as well...Rats don't like the taste of kero I hear.
Just my thoughts there.

Mick

Now we are thinking on the right track.....good ol Mick,nice to hear from ya chap !

Not sure about most of that stuff but I do remeber my Grandfather storing a Straight in a Old Spice mug. Never remember him actually using it. My father is however is famous for his if it is cheap I will use it method, and for some reason he does get decent shaves. I should ask him for his secret besides the tissue paper on the cuts.

I'm not sure that SR care was nearly as important to our forefathers as it is for us. It was their razor, nothing more. Just take a look at some old razors on the 'bay and see if they look like they were well taken care of.

Sorry Nightblade, but I can't give you any definitive answer other than perhaps they used some gun oil and a razor pouch/box. We definitely treat our razors like babies nowaday. Some of us probably spend more on razors than they do on their children, too.......

Originally Posted by Ryan82

I'm not sure that SR care was nearly as important to our forefathers as it is for us. It was their razor, nothing more. Just take a look at some old razors on the 'bay and see if they look like they were well taken care of.

Sorry Nightblade, but I can't give you any definitive answer other than perhaps they used some gun oil and a razor pouch/box. We definitely treat our razors like babies nowaday. Sme of us probably spend more on razors than they do on their children, too.......

Big +1

Waterspots, draw on the strop, etc... is all cushy obsessive stuff we do as part of a hobby, not out of necessity.