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Hello All,
Another silly question but I thought it important as so much care seems to be taken with a stropped shave ready edge.
When shaving what is the correct way to clean / rinse off the lather on the blade during the shave ?. Wipe it on a towel, rinse under hot water ?. which way without damaging the edge ?.
Thanks
Gary
Gary,
It's not a silly question. Either way is just fine. If you rinse
try and not ding the edge of the blade on the spigot ( fawcett,
tap). If you wipe pinch the blade from the spine between your
thumb and index finger. I wipe my blade instead of rinsing.
Why do I do this...... :shrug: Just do. :)
Just make sure you get the razor good and dry though after
use.
Hope this helps a little.
Terry
If rinsing doesn't get the whisker/cream off the blade and I've already given it a swish in the bowl I'll strop it on the meaty part of my palm (the outside edge on the opposite side of my thumb).
I never touch the blade with my fingers as I have trouble keeping track of 6 moving things at once (one blade and 5 ((still)) fingers)
I always just rinse mine off with hot water. If anything sticks, I'll rub it off as described by wvbias. Nothing ever has. After shaving, I'll run it under the hot water for few seconds, wipe it off, and let it dry. I'll usually run it 10-15 round trips on the strop, too, just to make sure the edge is completely clean and dry.
I prefer rinsing b/c every soap, no matter how good it is, leaves a bit of residue. You'll have a cleaner and better-shaving edge if you do this. I also test it for residue with my finger, but always with a motion from spine to the edge so I don't get cut.
I always rinse my blade, then "back hone" over a wash cloth rather than shaking the blade to remove excess water.
RT
OK I get the picture now. I remember my grandfather cleaning his by back honing on the palm of his hand whilst shaving.
Thanks..good topic for discussion I thought.
Gary
I use the hotwater rinse routine also. Using a bowl of water gives too much chance of nicking the blade. After I finish I just wipe it down good with a cloth and let it sit open an hour or so before putting it away.
I take the washcloth I used to wet my face, wring most of the water out, fold it in half and lay it on the counter. As I shave I wipe using a spine-leading stroke on the washcloth. When finished shaving, I rinse the blade under hot water, then try it by pinching it between a folded towel, being damn careful not to accidentally get a finger in the way. The razors then lay open on my table in my office to air dry the remainder of the day.
As the other fellas have stated, whatever you choose will work. Here's one more method: I wring out the washrag I just hot-toweled my face with, fold it in half to double the padding, and place it flat draping over the edge of the counter. Between each stroke, I carefully wipe the blade on the "ridgeline" of the washrag, where it falls over the edge. When I've covered the edge with soap and whiskers, I simply pull a little more of the washrag up onto the countertop, thus exposing a new ridgeline. After my shave is complete, I thoroughly rinse the blade in warm water, pinch-dry it as Terry mentioned ~ on a very old and soft towel I have reserved for this, then Sterol and put her away. I rinse the wiping washrag and toss it in the hamper. Not as ritualistic as it may seem, I tend to get wordy now and again.
Jeff
It seems Kyle is a faster typist than myself, although I DO like his methods!
Jeff
I agree with three putt,after each pass, I wipe blade on washrag...it cleans blade plus I get to see whats coming off my face...I also use wet but rung out folded washrag to help stretch skin whenever possible...it gives me a firmer grip on wet slippery skin
Ah many responses again. Nothing like having our own way of doing things is there?
I rinse under hot water and then wipe the excess on the towel in a stropping motion.
At the end of the shave I wipe the whole blade except the edge on both sides very well gripping the blade3 with the towel from around the spine. I then wipe the whloe blade including the edge with rubbing alcohol and strop.
X
I was just contemplating this very subject tonight while shaving, so I'm glad you asked the question, Gary.
I have been rinsing under hot water between each pass and then again thoroughly at the end. I then wipe the blade with tissue. I keep thinking I see what will be permanent spots, so I was trying to decide what to change. I don't think I can rinse more thoroughly than I am, and it seems like several people are doing it this way...so I guess I'll just keep it up for now.
The spots don't seem to be accumulating or getting bigger, but they weren't there at all when I got the blade.
Thoughts?
Jordan,
After your hot water rinse, wipe the blade down with rubbing alcohol. See if that makes a difference.
Randy
I wipe the lather off on an old diaper. I can see what I've taken off and not risking nicking blade on anything.:cool:
I'll once again add another approach (I'm beginning to wonder if I use a 'standard' technique for anything straight razor related). I wipe lather off with my thumb and then dunk my thumb in the sink to rinse. I don't want my razor getting close to either the faucet or the sink as that strikes me as a good way to nick the blade. I guess the folded towel would work, but I don't want to wash towels every day either.
In answer to the wiseacres out there, no, I've not yet drawn blood wiping lather off a razor :p . Although sure as I've written this, it will happen soon :eek: .
Just another data point,
Ed
Makes me glad there's plenty of clearance to work with when rinsing my blade. When I install the new sink and the danze satin-finish faucet, I'll have even more. :D Hopefuly I'll get around to it this weekend.
I saw another discussion on this and if you're seeing black spots appearing on your blade, chances are you're storing your razor with your styptic pen\block. You need to stop doing this as that's what's causing the spots. If at all possible, seperate the two or put the alum in a ziploc bag. I hope this helps your situation.Quote:
Originally Posted by senorswiss
I do own a styptic pencil, but I don't store it anywhere near my razor...not even in the same room. I guess it's possible that I could have gotten some of the residue on the blade somehow, but I try not to use the pencil until I'm done shaving. I'll be extra careful to make sure of this now.
Thanks