Thread: I am on the fence now after the first DE shave.

Tell you the honest truth ..... it is very rare that I shave with a DE in the past few years. Not that I didn't like them, I have a fairly large collection of vintage Gillettes and vintage slants which are my favorite DEs. The reason I rarely shave with them is I am way more likely to nick myself with one of them than with a straight razor. That and .... once I developed my skills... I do get a superior shave with the straight. Keep shaving with the DE until you feel the call of the straight and then start rotating between the two. You'll eventually find which is best for you .... or continue to use both. You can't lose.

+ 1 on what jimmy says.A wise man.Well said.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Tell you the honest truth ..... it is very rare that I shave with a DE in the past few years. Not that I didn't like them, I have a fairly large collection of vintage Gillettes and vintage slants which are my favorite DEs. The reason I rarely shave with them is I am way more likely to nick myself with one of them than with a straight razor. That and .... once I developed my skills... I do get a superior shave with the straight. Keep shaving with the DE until you feel the call of the straight and then start rotating between the two. You'll eventually find which is best for you .... or continue to use both. You can't lose.

I can get a fantastic shave from either a straight or DE, they both deliver the goods in that department. However, shaving with a straight is just so much more enjoyable, plus it connects you to the past in ways few other activities can. If a "perception" of safety is a concern, along with time (a lack thereof) then perhaps a DE would be a better option.

BTW - straights really aren't as dangerous as some people make them out to be, they just require due respect and attention.

I use a DE when I have less time. I do find a better shave that always seems to last longer with the Str8. I also agree that with the str8, it is the "Me" time I seem to enjoy also.

Enjoy the day.

Hello, remingtonmarlin:

The straight razor is not for everyone.

To master the art and craft of it demands patience, tenacity and, yes, taste for adventure. It's not something you can force upon yourself; rather, you have to want it badly enough to embrace it.

For me, the straight razor is not just a shave. It's a ritual of preparation, stropping, shaving and, finally, slapping my Hollywood face with a fragrant aftershave. That's how I start my day — every day. I would not have it any other way. My daily ritual takes about an hour or so. It's my time, in my shave den, where I am king and citizen.

Yet some days I prefer to use my double edge razor, especially when short on time. Sometimes I just feel like using the double edge. I'm sure my straight razors understand — to me they are living instruments. On such occasions my morning ritual is the same except for the tool I use to give myself a shave.

I have 25 straight razors and five double edge in my modest collection. I enjoy each for what it is. Both types of razors give me a good shave — my 5 O' Clock shadow usually shows up at 10 O' Clock at night.

Since you have found the perfect shave with the double edge, why not stop right there? Be satisfied with what you have. Yet, since the straight razor still floats in your thoughts, you will always wonder why you did not give it a try. I suggest, therefore, to give it a good try — but only if you want to.

When the day comes that to feel the straight razor is not for you, at least you will walk away satisfied that, yes, you did give it a try. On the other hand, you might decide you do like the straight razor after all and that you want to rotate it with your double edge. Imagine how much richer your morning shaving experience will be.

You will never know until you try it.

Either way, you are welcome here at Straight Razor Place.

Regards,

Obie

WOW. Thank you for all the replies. My mind has been corrected by those great responses.

I have tried the two vintage I bought off ebay on my face followed suggestions in Wiki for beginners. The first one is good. I tried it again after stropping when I woke up this morning, those started to pull and wont shave.

I figure that my stropping (with no class and skill) might have damaged the edge. Is this a good time to start hone my blades? on which stone?

I have Chinese 12k water stone, Naniwa(?) superstone 1k, 5k, and 10k.
Or I may just try to strop the edge with some DOVO red paste on a leather?

Thank you very much.

Welcome to SRP, remingtonmarlin.

First, I must commend you for the energy and effort that you clearly put into this. You are diving right in from the start, and there is much to learn. Face preparation, lather building, stropping, the actual shaving, and honing. You are not making it easy on yourself Just remember this when you are judging the quality of your first shaves.

It might very well be your stropping technique that has dulled the blade. Stropping, particularily on a pasted strop, certainly has the potential to ruin a sharp blade. This applies doubly to honing. If at all possible, try to get a razor sharpened by one of our honemeisters, and keep that tucked away as a reference for when you are wondering if your knives are sharp. But yes, if your razor is starting to pull, a small treatment with a pasted strop or a barber's hone is the first go-to to mend the problem.

Generally, if your knife has been properly set up, you would want to start with the mildest possible treatment - that would be a strop or a barber's hone. If it needs a honing, try with the 12k. Read all you can in the wiki, and remember it is very easy to ruin the sharpeness if you don't know how to sharpen. If at all possible, send your shavers out and get a cheap razor to practice honing on. If not, and you decide to do your own honing, don't get disheartened if your razors decide to act up and pull a bit in the beginning. Remember it takes practice.

I recognize a lot of my own personality in your description, I am also a dive-in kinda guy and started much like you - with everything. Knowing this, I did not judge my shaves much in the beginning, at all. I only tried to get a shave that looked presentable, and let the quality and comfort come as they would, in their own time. I also did my won honing right from the start, (I did buy one to hold as a reference) and this had a funny side effect: I was having trouble deciding which razor was my favourite, until it dawned on me - my favourite would always be the one I honed last, as my honing skills picked up

Best of luck!

Hi， str8fencer
Thank for those advices. I think we do have some in common in terms of
habits of doing certain things. For example, I did order one DOVO from SRD for reference, and one Gold Dollar from star shaving for honing practices. However, both of those are still on the way.
I will keep trying for sure as shaving with a shiny blade is much cooler than
using a little "ugly" disposable DE.

Originally Posted by str8fencer

I recognize a lot of my own personality in your description, I am also a dive-in kinda guy and started much like you - with everything. I also did my won honing right from the start, and this had a funny side effect: I was having trouble deciding which razor was my favourite, until it dawned on me - my favourite would always be the one I honed last, as my honing skills picked up

Best of luck!

I had a good laugh when I read this. I am getting to the point that my favorite is 3 honings ago!

I too jumped in with both feet to straights. After this weekend I am glad I did. I decided to do some experimenting. Saturday I tried a Star SE. I bought a honing jig and of course I had to get a blade dull to try it out. I am yet deciding if I will give it a chance to get dull. I have never seen so much blood/razor burn. You might think that would be enough to stop my experimenting but then I got out my Rolls Razor and honed that up today. I irritated all the spots from yesterday and added a few more. I don't know how they could sell these "New and Improved" things.

Then to add insult to injury I cut my pointer finger while repairing the scales on a W&B. It cut so quick and clean I have had a tough time getting it to seal. I had a bandaid on it for three hours or so and it came loose and then started bleeding again.

Oh well, If this is the worst that will happen I will be happy. I think in the morning I will use that W&B.

Tim

thebigspendur is absolutely correct. A DE razor shave will certainly deliver a superior shave when compared to a multi-blade razor. If you think that's a good shave, though, compare it to a straight razor shave--once you have mastered the technique.

Beleive me, there is a difference. My straight razor shaves are not only close and smooth, but tend to last longer, for example.