Lubrication

Howdy all,

Over the last couple of weeks I've gotten in a few shaves with my new straight. It's been tedious ofcourse, but thats the way it goes with new implements. It's similar to what I went through with my DE but now I love that bad boy and weild it like it's an extension of my arm. I'm sure the str8 will be no different in time.

However, lately I've been noticing that my regular lather isn't doing what it used to. My razor will hit a patch where the cream has just been lifted for another quick pass and the blade will not move smothly...rather, it will skip on the skin like there is no lubrication. In the past, this has never been an issue. It might even be something with the water locally. It's not the greatest...not even close, and I don't have a softener. With my DE I can work through the blade skipping a bit but on the str8 it's just a disaster! I relather quite a bit, but for those little additional passes, it's just killing me

Anyone experience something similar? Any suggestions here?

Thanks!
Bill

Howdy Bill,

I experience similar effects only when I used too little water to make up my lather. Especially with the Str8 I'd rather prefer a not-so-thick lather which is well watered and lubricating over a very thick and creamy one which can dry out on me.

Another thing that helped quite a bit in getting a good-skid surface is that I add a few drops of oil (Olive or Sweet Almond) on my soap before making the lather.

My 2 cents :),
-Axel-

As you've suggested, hard water kills lather. Although I've not tried it myself, you might want to try using some shaving oil before lathering up. That should give you some base lubrication for those dry patches.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by askbill

Howdy all,


However, lately I've been noticing that my regular lather isn't doing what it used to. My razor will hit a patch where the cream has just been lifted for another quick pass and the blade will not move smothly...rather, it will skip on the skin like there is no lubrication.

Anyone experience something similar? Any suggestions here?

Thanks!
Bill

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Hey Bill, strangely, but I too was experiencing similar thing, almost like the soap or creme are doing too good of a job, and leave face underneath like "squikey clean"! At my home, I have perfect water for making lather, I can get cream like lather out of any soap I use... And when lathering I use all the water my brush can hold. I was thinking this morning it might be my pre prep technique... I always shower before shave, and when showering, I wash my face first with whatever shampoo I am using, then with a good face soap. I think I might be overwashing the face, stripping too much of skins oils, so when shaving, the razor has no lubrication from the skin itself. The skin lubrication must not be overlooked. That's what the hot towels are for at the barbershop, to get those glands going and produce more skin oils...

or maybe it's UFO making the razor jump, don't know :)

cheers,
Nenad

p.s. boy, this new Logitech UltraX slim keyboard types like a dream!!!

I think you'll find that a quality pre shave gel or oil will solve those kinds of problems. You might also try one of the more premium shave soaps like trumpers. Their coconut oil soap makes for a real smooth shave.

Bill,

If you don't have any of the pre-shave oils handy, try applying hair conditioner to your face, and layering your lather on top!

RT

I took a couple of days off. With the recommendations of using various oils, I decided to switch over to using Proaso today with eucalyptus oil today. The results, amazing. My shave is back! I even got a little over agressive because the shave was so smooth.

This ofcourse was with my DE. Now that I think I've solved the problem, I'll jump back over and try with my str8 again.

Thanks for all the help. I'm going to keep all the tips and tricks in mind here incase my problem comes back. :-/

Bill