Surprised by his response

I went to a newly owned shave shop not from where I live..this place had all the fancy bells n whistles in it from strops to shaveguys who give ye a straight shave (so I thought)..they did have TOBS in every flavor ;-)...
Anyways...I was chatting with one of the shaveguys and the owner of the store and educated them a bit from what I have learned from this site and a few others about blades n cremes n such..I was shocked that the shaveguy shaves his customers first down with a straight razor then finishes with a Mach3 (I cringed little)....I asked him he doesnt get a straight and teach himself so he can shave customers completely..he told me didn't have the "huevos" for it nor to get his own...I laughed....he also showed me a feather replaceable blade and he told this would be better than any straight..I simply replied..well...average is a year before someone gets good at a straight razor...his reply was.."have a nice day"...boy o boy...whatta conversation!

pcdad

If this "shave guy" is scared to shave with a straight, well then is he really a "shave guy"?

Scared is kind of irrelevant. A replaceable blade is pretty much the only legal option in most of the country.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Utopian

Scared is kind of irrelevant. A replaceable blade is pretty much the only legal option in most of the country.

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Where are they legal?

The shavette looks like a potential germ magnet compared to a straight.

In Australia its illegal to use a straight commercially. Its supposed to be an OH&S issue.

Honestly, I'm not surprised. There are many barbers out there, including some old timers who were around in the glory days, who think that straights are a fools game. We hear about them here quite often.

Disappointing? For sure, but not really surprising.

I've not yet been able to find a prohibition against straight razors in barber shops in the US - does anyone have anything specific? My curiosity only :p

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jeffegg2

Where are they legal?

The shavette looks like a potential germ magnet compared to a straight.

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Shavette - Disposable blades... Much more hygenic, especially with blood-carried infections taken into account.

And a real straight shave is legal in Ohio if you have a barber's license (I believe that's the stipulation... I know that Ohio allows straight shaves with the right license)

I think part of the problem is the stuff, if think it is called barbasol, that they soak their tools in. I honed a razor for my barber and it shaved pefectly. She has quite a few on her wall that people have given her over the years. I came back about two weeks later and it looked like hell. She only used it for a few days but it sits in that blue stuff all the time. The blade was black and completely dull and the horn handle had swollen and delaminated, actually peeled apart. She said by law it has to be in the barbasol. I don't know how much better a stainless would have fared, this was an old wedge, but that stuff is harsh. I had never seen a handle do that.
Kurt

I always wondered if infected blood was the problem couldn't they use and auto-clave. Although i guess they cost a bit of money. All the tattooists here have them.

An autoclave would destroy just about any scale material.

+1, you cant use an autoclave on a straight razor as you'd wreck the razors scales. You might get away with it with a Wapi as they have metal scales, but thats about it...! Anything organic would be ruined.

Shavettes are the usual thing you see in barber shops here in the UK. Trumpers use them for sure, and my barber uses them as well.

The next time I go for a shave I'm going to take one of my straights and ask the barber to use that..!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HNSB

An autoclave would destroy just about any scale material.

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:OT Man you gotta quit doing that with your pics, it really creeps me out.

I asked my local old time barber about honing straight razors. He just chuckled and said that nobody wants to waste their time doing that any more.

Personally..I wold have him talk to Lynn and Max..ask em how long their turn around time is..you're gonna wait a few weeks to get blade back

pcdad

I've heard these kind of laments before about straights and barbershops.In this day n age yer just better off being yer own barber IMOHO. The world is too squishy n soft for such manly things it seems. It kills me to hear old school barbers react with the why bother anymore attitude when someone really wants to know the art. Long live the straight blade !! :medvl:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nightblade

I've heard these kind of laments before about straights and barbershops.In this day n age yer just better off being yer own barber IMOHO. The world is too squishy n soft for such manly things it seems. It kills me to hear old school barbers react with the why bother anymore attitude when someone really wants to know the art. Long live the straight blade !! :medvl:

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Im a barber that takes pride in straights. I own, maintain, and use several straights. There is not a day that goes by in my life where I don't interact with a straight in some way. I have several guys that come to the shop with interest in the old art of straight shaves. I love to talk straight razors with them and try to convert them from a Multi blade disposable. I even go as far as to invite them for a lesson at the house where Ill teach them step by step how to shave themselves. Im doing my best to bring it back into the mainstream in my area, one customer at a time. Long live the Straight.

Then you sir.....Rock !!:tu

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ryan82

Honestly, I'm not surprised. There are many barbers out there, including some old timers who were around in the glory days, who think that straights are a fools game. We hear about them here quite often.

Disappointing? For sure, but not really surprising.

---

You are so right...at least with my barber. My barber is the one who gave me my first haircut...I'm 39 now. He had no interest in even talking about straights. I asked him why he quit giving shaves & it was due to the blood-born pathogens. He quit in the mid 80's. He gave all of his razors away around that time...

(Snif) That is sad to read .:(

And here I was thinking that plain old isopropyl alcohol would be an effective sterilizer of a small surface area such as a straight edge razor. Hmph. Oh well, back to the hones...

:mace:

Hello. I have been lurking these forums for some time, and now I have something to say.

As a Norwegian resident, I have been asked by several hairdressers to lears them how to use a straight, and due to "popular demand," I sat down with some of the more experienced piercers and tattoists of norway, to write down some guidelines for straight razor shaving in commercial enviroments.

In norway, there is no formal law against the use of a traditional straight, (yet.) However, since the straight razor is on the rise here, I assume it will soon be.

The reasons for using a shavette these days are closely related to the use of autoclaves in all enviroments where "cross-contamination" is a possibilty.

Not only are there several forms of diseases you can get, but due to overuse of antibiotics in agriculture and medicine, there are a great deal of bacteria who are now immune to common treatments.

Long story short, Piercers and tattoers are generally appalled with the low standards of hairdressers when it comes to healthcare precautions.
(especially with piercing guns, for making holes in the ears, which leads to infection way more than it should.)


THE POINT OF THIS POST:

I took two different approaches to this problem, and they were as follows

1: The shavette
Piercers and tattooers suggested this as the easy way out, and i agreed, with the exception of regular customers who brings their own equipment, or keeps it at shop.

Basically One man, one strop, one razor, shavette for everybody else.
(the old barber's i know of who are still active use this as a rule of thumb.)

2: The straight razor.
After testing out the gold dollars and finding them usable, although not exactly the cream of the crop, I responded to the suggestion of buying some 20-25 GD's and autoklaving, rotating razors within a shop, always having a sterile, nearly shave-ready one ready for stropping.

This is the result:
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...6_248858_n.jpg
this was newwhen autoclaved, only honed and shaved with once for testing purposes
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t..._8215445_n.jpg
as you can see, it is in poor shape
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t..._2957522_n.jpg
it kept quite a good edge, but i assume the discoloration would cause material fatigue over time
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t..._6478620_n.jpg
as you can see, not only the handle suffers....
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t..._7957223_n.jpg
I cannot even begin to imagine what this would do to a nice vintage
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t..._1712878_n.jpg
an option would of course be to change the scales to metal, but to average Joe haircutter that would probably mean more work than it's worth....


Of course I am only playing Master of the Obvious right now, but I thought you would like the picture material for future reference.

tl;dr: I autoclaved a cheap razor and it looked like xxxxx, just as i was expecting

The problem with autoclaving straight razors is, as seen above, the scales.

What about interchangeable scales? If scales could be designed so that they easily came apart, allowing the blade to be autoclaved and then re-inserted into the scales, we'd have a system that worked better.

Another possibility would be, of course, steel scales.

Does not solve the contaminated strop problem, though.

What did they look like after you put them in the autoclave..........:)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 1313wang

Hello. I have been lurking these forums for some time, and now I have something to say.

As a Norwegian resident, I have been asked by several hairdressers to lears them how to use a straight, and due to "popular demand," I sat down with some of the more experienced piercers and tattoists of norway, to write down some guidelines for straight razor shaving in commercial enviroments.

In norway, there is no formal law against the use of a traditional straight, (yet.) However, since the straight razor is on the rise here, I assume it will soon be.

The reasons for using a shavette these days are closely related to the use of autoclaves in all enviroments where "cross-contamination" is a possibilty.

Not only are there several forms of diseases you can get, but due to overuse of antibiotics in agriculture and medicine, there are a great deal of bacteria who are now immune to common treatments.

Long story short, Piercers and tattoers are generally appalled with the low standards of hairdressers when it comes to healthcare precautions.
(especially with piercing guns, for making holes in the ears, which leads to infection way more than it should.)


THE POINT OF THIS POST:

I took two different approaches to this problem, and they were as follows

1: The shavette
Piercers and tattooers suggested this as the easy way out, and i agreed, with the exception of regular customers who brings their own equipment, or keeps it at shop.

Basically One man, one strop, one razor, shavette for everybody else.
(the old barber's i know of who are still active use this as a rule of thumb.)

2: The straight razor.
After testing out the gold dollars and finding them usable, although not exactly the cream of the crop, I responded to the suggestion of buying some 20-25 GD's and autoklaving, rotating razors within a shop, always having a sterile, nearly shave-ready one ready for stropping.

This is the result:
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...6_248858_n.jpg
this was newwhen autoclaved, only honed and shaved with once for testing purposes
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t..._8215445_n.jpg
as you can see, it is in poor shape
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t..._2957522_n.jpg
it kept quite a good edge, but i assume the discoloration would cause material fatigue over time
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t..._6478620_n.jpg
as you can see, not only the handle suffers....
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t..._7957223_n.jpg
I cannot even begin to imagine what this would do to a nice vintage
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t..._1712878_n.jpg
an option would of course be to change the scales to metal, but to average Joe haircutter that would probably mean more work than it's worth....


Of course I am only playing Master of the Obvious right now, but I thought you would like the picture material for future reference.

tl;dr: I autoclaved a cheap razor and it looked like xxxxx, just as i was expecting

---

:rofl2::rofl2::rofl2:

It takes a minute…but…good one!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lynn

What did they look like after you put them in the autoclave..........:)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 1313wang

Hello. I have been lurking these forums for some time, and now I have something to say.

As a Norwegian resident, I have been asked by several hairdressers to lears them how to use a straight, and due to "popular demand," I sat down with some of the more experienced piercers and tattoists of norway, to write down some guidelines for straight razor shaving in commercial enviroments.

In norway, there is no formal law against the use of a traditional straight, (yet.) However, since the straight razor is on the rise here, I assume it will soon be.

The reasons for using a shavette these days are closely related to the use of autoclaves in all enviroments where "cross-contamination" is a possibilty.

Not only are there several forms of diseases you can get, but due to overuse of antibiotics in agriculture and medicine, there are a great deal of bacteria who are now immune to common treatments.

Long story short, Piercers and tattoers are generally appalled with the low standards of hairdressers when it comes to healthcare precautions.
(especially with piercing guns, for making holes in the ears, which leads to infection way more than it should.)


THE POINT OF THIS POST:

I took two different approaches to this problem, and they were as follows

1: The shavette
Piercers and tattooers suggested this as the easy way out, and i agreed, with the exception of regular customers who brings their own equipment, or keeps it at shop.

Basically One man, one strop, one razor, shavette for everybody else.
(the old barber's i know of who are still active use this as a rule of thumb.)

2: The straight razor.
After testing out the gold dollars and finding them usable, although not exactly the cream of the crop, I responded to the suggestion of buying some 20-25 GD's and autoklaving, rotating razors within a shop, always having a sterile, nearly shave-ready one ready for stropping.

This is the result:
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...6_248858_n.jpg
this was newwhen autoclaved, only honed and shaved with once for testing purposes
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t..._8215445_n.jpg
as you can see, it is in poor shape
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t..._2957522_n.jpg
it kept quite a good edge, but i assume the discoloration would cause material fatigue over time
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t..._6478620_n.jpg
as you can see, not only the handle suffers....
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t..._7957223_n.jpg
I cannot even begin to imagine what this would do to a nice vintage
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t..._1712878_n.jpg
an option would of course be to change the scales to metal, but to average Joe haircutter that would probably mean more work than it's worth....


Of course I am only playing Master of the Obvious right now, but I thought you would like the picture material for future reference.

tl;dr: I autoclaved a cheap razor and it looked like xxxxx, just as i was expecting

---

---

ha!................

Could always get rid of the scales altogether. As far as I know the only reason besides tradition for scales is portability, for a barber this is not very important there's no reason not to use a one piece, entirely metal razor such as the Japanese style which AFAIK was traditionally intended for barber use.

Would the Wapis with their stainless scales be autoclavable? I'd assume so (I think that was the reason for the heavy stainless scales in the first place).

Still, given the current litigation-happy environment (especially here in the states), I'm not surprised that most barbers are not willing to use straights.


Even things like the Shavettes and Feather AC system have nooks and crannies where germs could reside without 'proper' disinfection. A smart lawyer would have a field day with these things.


Not saying it's right, but you have to look at other people's perspectives as well.


I have a friend with an indoor swimming pool. He makes his buddies sign a disclaimer before he'll let them use it. Distressing, but smart.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ryan82

Honestly, I'm not surprised. There are many barbers out there, including some old timers who were around in the glory days, who think that straights are a fools game. We hear about them here quite often.

Disappointing? For sure, but not really surprising.

---

I got the same response from my barber.

He claimed he cut a person really bad one day during a shave and gave up shaving customers.


A sobering reminder for me, thats for sure.

for me it's easy.
i tell everybody they get shavette-treatment until they can provide their own razor and strop.

I do not however follow up on the last suggestion of the other people dealing with blood on a daily basis, vinyl glowes.

Shaving someone with a shavette is impersonal enough as it is already, and although gloves would make it a good deal safer for both parts contamination wise, it's just against the basic principle of what having a shave is all about.

relaxing and having someone treating you to a moment of zen

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LawsonStone

The problem with autoclaving straight razors is, as seen above, the scales.

What about interchangeable scales? If scales could be designed so that they easily came apart, allowing the blade to be autoclaved and then re-inserted into the scales, we'd have a system that worked better.

Another possibility would be, of course, steel scales.

Does not solve the contaminated strop problem, though.

---

1. price of autoclave: starting at 2500$, the new standards for steam sterilisation is out of the question if you have 2-3 shave's a day.

of course, if you work next door to a tattoo studio

2. number of razors needed with stainless-steel scales. who knows?
this might be quite the investment for a venture that, let's face it, is for a group of people with special interests verging on the eccentric.

and if youre considering attracting the SRP crowd, you'll have to invest in more than GD's, furthering your expenses just to please customers who are able to bring their own goods anyway....

as for no scales at all, japanese style, good call, but how do you keep the hone when you're demanded by law to keep the sterilized equipment in those little bags?

3. Contamination is still a problem. you cannot sterilize strops.

In fact, it was suggested that i tell the hairdressers inquiring about this, that they sterilize their brushes completely. I can imagine what residue of barbicide would do to your lather....

Of course, as by my original post, there is NO LAW where i reside against the traditional straight, but there sure will be the day a customer gets hepatitis.
I'd rather have "Straight Razor Shaving by appointment"

As per se, I am not a barber, nor have I any intention to be one, but due to the fact that I have taken an interest in this, I have been asked to do monthly shavings on others with similar interests.

If i where to charge money for this, It would already be at a price deterring most people anyway, in the age of disposables, so the only real customer to be had will be people who have the same kink.....

sorry for the double post