Thread: Whoa, what a great shave tonight!

I just had to revel in the best straight shave I've ever had tonight! What a difference a nice HOT lather and a really well stropped blade can make. Go figure huh? I used a homemade scuttle using my shave bowl inside a larger bowl with really hot water. I finally found my niche in stropping too. I compare it to flying an airplane. You just keep bouncing when learning to land the plane until you accidentally land properly then realize how it is supposed to "feel". Same with the strop. My stropping has got me by so far, but with a less than par edge. I decided to just let loose, give the strop more slack than usual, then went to town until it sounded and felt good. Now I know how it feels to strop properly, all by experimentation. Like I said, what a shave!I also made an uberlather that was very superb!

Sounds great! Congrats.

Now that's what I call making excellent progress!

Way to go...

Nice job! In my opinion, stropping puts the final (real)
edge on the razor. Proper stropping makes _all_ the
difference.

- Scott

what was different about your stropping? Did it sound different than usual? I am starting to find out that my subpar shaves may be from bad stropping techniques.

Originally Posted by Disburden

what was different about your stropping? Did it sound different than usual? I am starting to find out that my subpar shaves may be from bad stropping techniques.

Well, I still have some high pitch sound when stropping but I can feel the draw. I didn't realize the guys were being literal when they said you can feel the draw. It's almost like the strop is trying to hold the razor back against you some. The main thing I changed is my technique. I let the strop have more slack, not too much, and I let my wrist feel dangerously loose when holding the razor. It feels weird at first but then it starts to feel natural. BTW, I read your other post. Don't give up on straight shaving due to the quality of the shave. I'm still a newb too and I realize it is going to take quite some time before all my shaves are consistant and really smooth. I'm going through the same thing myself. I'm trying to get a barber hone now because even with good stropping, my razor cuts well but is starting to feel a little uncomfortable when and after I shave. Keep at it! Jeremy-

Thanks for the information. I think I hold my razor too stiff and don't turn it over between my fingers also. Very weird, stropping seems so easy, but at the same time it isn't. I am not going to give up, don't worry, it's too much fun even if I go to work stubbly.

It really is amazing how quality stropping makes such a huge difference. I used to be a lazy stropper and had mediocre shaves. Spending some quality time can really make a shave buttery smooth.

Originally Posted by dkapp

It really is amazing how quality stropping makes such a huge difference. I used to be a lazy stropper and had mediocre shaves. Spending some quality time can really make a shave buttery smooth.

+1

I found that stropping really does make a huge difference too. Im still learning to strop, but I find my razor is getting sharper.