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I just watched a video where the guy wipes off his razor on a sponge in the sink. I wipe mine off on a folded tissue on a towel but I use my finger underneath the tissue for stability. I do run the risk of slicing my finger but so far, so good. I am hesitant to run the razor under the tap for the fear of chipping it on the plumbing. What other methods/techniques are out there that I might not have considered?
occasionally I'll wipe the razor on a hand towel that I have hanging near my sink. I normally just run the blade under hot water but that doesn't always remove all of the cut whiskers from the blade and I like to have a nice, perfectly clean blade for each pass.
The towel needs washed often, the lather makes it a bit 'stale' when it drys.
I've never understood the rationale of this fear. You have enough confidence in your hand/eye coordination to place a piece of metal that is sharp enough to leave a scar on your throat which houses the main artery to your brain but don't think you quite have the talent to place it in a stream of water without banging it on the faucet? To keep from getting cut you have to have your blade angle/pressure and position in a very small window when shaving but somehow it takes too much concentration to place this same razor anywhere in a water stream that requires no particular angle or pressure and around 10 inches of travel between banging on the faucet and the drain??Quote:
Originally Posted by steveg
And your method makes even less sense with your finger underneath....just run it under the faucet.
Opps. Sorry for the post. I'll just run it under the faucet and thanks for the advice.
Just be careful not to ding the razor on the faucet and try to keep water out of the pivot area.Quote:
Originally Posted by steveg
No need for apologies.Quote:
Originally Posted by steveg
Running it under the sink is a decent way to clean off the lather.
I, however, do not use that approach.
I'm not afraid of dinging it, but I just don't want my carbon steel razors to be more wet than needed.
I use the sponge approach, and have found that to be safe, relatively dry, and without risk of dinging it or getting water in places where it will do no good.
I know the video you're speaking of and in my honest opinion it probably takes more (concentration) to not tap the blade off the bottom of the sink when using the sponge than it does to not hit the faucet. Again, I don't think it'd be difficult either way, it's just a preference thing as is almost everything else in this shaving world.
I bet we are thinking of the same video. Chimensch, right?Quote:
Originally Posted by ats200
One small observation though, the sponge thing is a great idea, leaving it in the bottom of the sink, not so much.
In other words, my sponge is put on the side of the sink:)
Flat area, and without objects to ding anything against.
Ah well, variety is the spice of life, eh?
I use either a sponge or a washing cloth that I put on the edge of the sink and wipe the lather of with a stroping-like motion and rinse the blade under hot running water when I'm finished.
Gentlemen:
I rinse my blade under hot water at the beginning of my shave and at the end. During the shave the razor is wiped on a microfiber cloth. Done and no worries.
I also rinse my razor under hot running water, but I am VERY careful to never 'flick' the razor. I keep a flannel beside the sink to wipe the razor if I so choose or to rest it on if I want both hands for something. I don't worry about water in the pivot as I heat the razor up when I'm done with the hot water and then blow out any water in the scales/pivot area before letting it dry open under the heat lamps while I clean myself up (wash, lotion etc).
I've been running mine under warm water. I'm afraid that if I run the blade under really hot water it'll roll the edge a little bit. Don't know if that's true or not. Any help?
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Are you the real Kerry Wood? I'm only kidding. Hot water won't roll the blade. I could be wrong, but I doubt it.
I always wipe the lather off on a stretch of toilet paper that I have hanging form the shelf, anchored by anything heavy enough. I'm not afraid of dinging my razor, but my method keeps me in rhythm with my shave better than rinsing. When I'm done, I just flush the old lather and whiskers. Easy.
and now for a slightly different method. During my shave I rinse under hot running water and after I wipe on a clean soft towel. then I make 10 passes on a clean pressed felt strop that is only for this task. After that comes a quick wipe down with oil and tissue paper and I'm ready for storing it and pulling out the next days razor. Not sure how many I have but it is over 70 and I have no flaws or water spots on the blades... It may be slightly more work but if I take care of my tools they take care me...
I agree with Birnanda (and others too) about keeping the blade as dry as possible. I'm also a little paranoid about dinging the razor, JUST before I start shaving I dip the blade in the sink to wet it, but I wipe the blade on a towelling face cloth to remove the lather as I shave. After shaving, I wipe it on a dry bath towel. I only have one razor at present, so can't afford 'dings'. Also, my razor (a Burrell Top Flight) tends to easily get some rust on one particular spot on the tang where the 'blueing' is rubbed off a little (unfortunately I added some more to it my trying to remove a mark with some abrasive) so I want it as dry as possible. I ensure I dry between the scales when storing it; I wipe it over with Eucalyptus oil after shaving and after drying...
I prep with a hot towel and use it for wiping the blade between passes. After that, in the washer it goes.
I put it back on the brush.
I like to keep my straight as dry as possible. While shaving, I wipe the lather off on the back of my hand using a stropping motion.
When I'm done with a pass, I wash the lather off and dry my hand for the next pass. When I'm done shaving, I wipe the blade off using a couple of squares of tissue paper.
Ernest
I have found that running the blade under cold water works the best for me. I feel that running the blade under hot water will bend the edge on a microscopic level. Whether there is any truth to that statement I do not know. However, when I shaved yesterday all I did was run in under cold water and it worked great. Like others have said, just be careful not to hit the razor against the sink.
KWood34
Kerry hot water wont roll or bend the edge but it can reduce the sharpness of the edge,i'm not sure exactly what happens but if the water is too hot to hold your hand in it will begin to effect the edge about 90 degrees c,most household taps aren't really hot enough but commercial ones are and it just takes some of the keenness the longer in it the blunter they are but i've never seen any big change to edge geometry,leave the blade in there for a good length of time it can break when you bring it out specially at higher temps,most people don't believe it until it happens to them and some will be adamant the hot water didn't do although they did themselves,as for wiping i have a hand towel over the edge of the sink full of water and wipe the gunk off then dip my blade in water then do another stroke,there's no danger of hitting anything and i save water too
The hot water heater in your faucet does not get hot enough to effect the edge of the blade. The microstructure of the steel won't begin to change until it reaches around probably 300 to 700 degrees depending on what temperature the blade was tempered at. If your faucet is getting to 300 degrees F, then that is a beast of a water heater you got there! By the way, I just finished a class on alloys in my engineering program so this is all still fresh on my mind lol.
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Not only a beast of a water heater but water that defies physics by still being a liquid at 300c plus! :D
By the way, while we are on the hot water subject...I have found that if I use water that is too hot the blade will heat up and when I put it to my face to make a pass, the hot blade almost feels like the blade is cutting me. I guess since I am still new to all of this, it is easy for me to mistake a burning sensation for a slicing sensation. For this reason, I rinse my blade in cold water. Has anyone else experienced this?
yes.... this is the reason i use a sponge and a towel... i wipe the lather off on the sponge... then dry the blade on the towel and take another swipe.... sometimes i have cold/warm water running and i will do all 3.....Quote:
Originally Posted by ladavis89
I read somewhere here that the old barber training manuals recommended rinsing the blade in warm water before starting the shave. I'm guessing this was only a consideration for the comfort of the shavee. However one gets the used lather off the blade is a matter of choice and convenience for the shaver. So long as you don't run the edge into something, it's a moot point: fine for discussion, but for the blade, it matters not.
I prefer to dip the blade in water as it warms the blade which I like (not super burning hot). However, since the plug in my sink leaks, water will only stay in 2 minutes tops. So I just wipe it on a damp towel to save on the water bill :)
I wipe the razor on the back of my hand like I'm stropping. I got this from watching barbers on youtube. If they don't need water to rinse the razor then why would I?
But if you use both hands to shave, wiping the blade on the back of one hand creates a mess when you switch sides.
Only a small mess. The spent lather stays in place on the back of the hand until you finish a pass. After I finish a pass, I rinse the back of my hand off, dry it and lather up again for my next pass.Quote:
Originally Posted by pcg
Ernest
I usually have a small microfiber towel draped over my shoulder. I just wipe the blade on it after each pass. It's basically the way my grandfather showed me how to shave with a straight.