Thread: Disposable razor Blades (Feather Straight Razors?)

Originally Posted by dannyboy2005

A very very good reply. Many thanks!

I'm a carpenter by trade and sharpen my chisels on a regular basis so I know how to treat the steel to sharpen it.

I think I'll spend £100 or so on a 'all in one' kit and go from there. I'll keep you guys updated.

P.s. Assuming that the razor is super sharp, with the right angle (30*) should I be able to remove all my facial hair in one hit or would I need to rinse and re apply cream and go against the grain the second time?

The WTG stroke does a good job, but I require XTG/ATG passes to get a really close BBS shave. Some skin areas are harder to shave close and need more passes. I rehydrate/relather frequently to keep my hairs as soft as possible, and to maintain good cushion and glide. It is not necessary to rinse before relathering or rehydrating facial lather. Pre shave prep to get the hairs as soft as possible before shaving is very important. If the lather does not rinse off my blade within a few seconds, I consider it as getting too dry and rehydrate/relather. I also relather difficult to shave spots immediately before shaving them to insure that the hairs are still as soft (easy to cut) as possible.

I use a lower blade angle shaving with ATG strokes, and try to generally keep my blade angle low as I get fewer nicks and less irritation that way. I start my stroke with the razor almost laying flat and increase the angle by raising the spine only as needed to get a good cutting of hairs.

I also use the guillotine stroke (blade edge is not perpendicular to the direction of the stroke) and a scything stroke (I rotate the blade a few degrees during the stroke centered from near the pivot area, this rotation is similar to the blade's motion when closing the razor). The guillotine and scything stroke gives a slight slicing action against the hairs making them a bit easier to cut than when using a straight push cut stroke. Be very careful when using these strokes as it is also easier to slice ones skin.

Keeping the razor shave ready is very important. There is a tendency to try to compensate for a dull razor by applying greater skin pressure, and making more passes, but this causes nicks and razor burn.

It is important to keep this journey (learning shaving, stropping, and honing) a fun learning experience. BBS is not really necessary. If one is in a rush, tired, the shave is not going well, or one feels a need to get a really close shave everywhere and it is not yet happening with the straight razor, using ones usual means of shaving as a clean-up/backup will relieve anxiety and keep this a positive experience.

HTH