Thread: Barber Shave Breakin' The Law

Originally Posted by mrsell63

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Seems to me that there are far more nooks and crannys for germs, bacteria and viruses to congregate on a shavette than there are on the standard old fashioned straight razor. An old fashioned straight razor seems much easier to keep clean and sanitary.

This has always been my thinking. A true Straight Razor ought be a lot easier to keep clean and sterilize!

I'm not sure I'd want to pay $15-$20 for something I enjoy doing myself, especially if the person doesn't do it often enough to be truly skilled. Think how long it takes someone to really get the hang of shaving with a straight. I wouldn't want to pay to be someone's 25th shave.

Originally Posted by Moonshae

I'm not sure I'd want to pay $15-$20 for something I enjoy doing myself, especially if the person doesn't do it often enough to be truly skilled. Think how long it takes someone to really get the hang of shaving with a straight. I wouldn't want to pay to be someone's 25th shave.

Well said! My wife got me a straight razor shave as a gift, and the barber did a good job on the shave but left my goatee very crooked!

The barber shop I go to, in Cotati, will do a shave...using a shavette...for $25. I asked my barber if she would shave me if I brought in my own straight razor, and she said no.

Why not? "I know my razor, but I don't know yours."

She also said that nobody asks for a shave anymore, but they're willing to do one.
They get a lot of customers from the local state university, and sometimes a guy will
ask about a shave, but they never get one.

I don't know who it was that made the statement about straight shaving being illegal in Virginia but...the regulations as of March 1 2014 still required folks in barber's school to be trained in honing and stropping straight razors, as well as the art of shaving.

Now finding a barber that will actually do it may be a horse of a different color. But it isn't illegal. You just need to sterilize them between use same as you would your other tools.

My Barber is one that had to pass a test using a straight razor though he doesn't shave. I did buy a nice Wade&Butcher 6/8TH'S with a Barbers Notch, the handle has a silver inlay in it for $50.00 from him a while back though.

AIDS prevention I would assume

Originally Posted by Mike_ratliff

I finaly got some straight answers from my barber here in California.
Straight razor shaving is NOT against the law. There are no regulations that he is aware of restricting him from giving a straight shave.

He said that in the late 70's and early 80's barber schools removed straight shaving from the cirriculum because of the AIDs scare, and never put it back in. If a barber was licensed prior to that they can do straight shaves, but if they did not get some type of training or apprenticeship in shaving then it is out of their SOP for their barber's license.

My next question was "If someone wasn't licensed as a barber would there be anything illegal about doing a straight shave?" He said no.

So these shops that use cute young girls is doing it legally by using unlicensed girls, or by having them apprentice under a licensed master barber.
The shops that use feathers are doing so either under the incorrect assumption that they can't use a real straight, or because they don't want to sanitize or sterilize equipment.

So to summarize there are 3 ways that a person can legally give a straight shave...
1) be a barber with a license prior to 1976ish
2) apprentice under a master barber to learn shaving
3) shave people in the back of a tattoo shop...? This one is questionable, but hey if they can inject, pierce, and brand you in a tatto shop, why not shave?

So We just need to find a master Barber who will go around the country training barbers how to shave, and we're set...
Any Volunteers???

I'm currently in barber school in california and straight razor shaving is a regular part of the curriculum

So, when you graduate and get a job somewhere will the shop owner want to buy the gear to sterilize the razor after each use and will his insurance go up or maybe the company might say no. Then there is the question of how many will pay for a straight shave and then you have to buy and maintain a latherking machine which gives crummy lather anyway.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

So, when you graduate and get a job somewhere will the shop owner want to buy the gear to sterilize the razor after each use and will his insurance go up or maybe the company might say no. Then there is the question of how many will pay for a straight shave and then you have to buy and maintain a latherking machine which gives crummy lather anyway.

For the most part everyone in California uses disposable straight razors. They look the same as a fixed blade you can't really tell.