Thread: Am I being unrealistic?

Hi, I hope you don't mind me dropping my humble opinion in here. The reason I wanted to add to the thread is that I am also one of those guys that has thick and heavy stubble and have suffered the side effects that you spoke of earlier (chaffing of shirt collars, blunting safety razors quickly, four o'clock shadow before 10AM etc.)

The one thing that I've found has helped my shaving - apart from some of the obvious things (i.e. good technique) - is really good preparation. I almost always shave only after a hot shower. If that's not possible, then I use very hot water with a thick flannel (or face washer - as it's known here in Australia) and then wring it out lightly and then leave it on my face to 30-40 seconds and repeat this three or four times. This really helps to soften the beard. If I don't do the prep then I can feel it in the shave and it shows in the results - some small nicks and razor burn with stubble patches.

I'm really glad that you've had a great result based on your last post.

Yes, it seems like a happy ending...

I'd like to know if the OP could go for one or two weeks before touching up the edge. I mean, to chew up a cartridge in one use? Let us know how a single, stropped, hand-held razor blade works out for longevity with the stropping.

Hopefully the longer beard prep works out, too. Then, he can go back and try using a cartridge with all the beard-prep and directions and stretching and see how that goes.

The newly honed edge has been really fantastic. I shaved with it 6 times before I began to feel a little pulling, so I gave it 5 laps on my Swaty and it was good as new. I shaved with it last night and it cut through my beard like butter. I was discussing it a while back with the kind fellow who honed it for me and I think what happened is that I stropped it wrong, rolled the edge, and when I tried to bring it back with the hone or a pasted strop I just made it worse...to the point that I couldn't use it anymore.

I don't want to go back to cartridges though. I have saved so much money these past 4 months that it makes no sense to try anything other than my straight with teh occasional SE thrown in there. Since I started in August (minus the startup costs) I've spent $6 total in supplies. Can't go wrong with that.

I was intrigued by the subject, so I made the decision to read this from the beginning, mainly just to find out if you ever had a comfortable shaving experience. I must say, being someone who honed from the get-go, it really can be a process. I hone my own razors and I have a couple (two exactly) that I just have found almost impossible to get an edge on. All my other razors hone up nicely and hold an edge just fine. I've come to believe that this is owing more to particular design of a razor than anything related to technique. That being said, it's not really rocket science. All my working razors shave just fine. Some are so stinking sharp that initially they scared the heck out of me. One in particular gives me the best shave of all (believe it or not, it's a Lion Brand by Yankee Cutlery made in Germany). Why such an outstanding shave? I haven't got a clue! But at the end of the day, all I really am interested in is a close, irritation free shaving experience, and most days that is true. I rarely - if ever lately - nick or cut myself, but I would imagine that is more with improving technique. Anyway, I'm glad you're sticking with it. I would imagine, if you do stick with it, you will save many dollars over a course of a lifetime. As an aside, I just gave a "shave-ready" antique razor to my brother for Christmas. I sent a letter with it explaining to him how steep the learning curve is. So, we shall see. Good luck.