Thread: My first straight razor...

When you finish your prep and before you lather, what does your beard feel like. Is it flexible or stiff and hard? If the latter is the case, explore changes in you prep until you get some water into the beard. This will make a big difference in how the straight performs.

Originally Posted by Mjsonge

I appreciate all the input. I feel like I have my lather down. It took me a while to realize I wasn't adding enough water. You guys are definitely right about the angle though. I really liked the info about using the spine width as a reference to the angle. That is going to be extremely helpful.

I have a question about face mapping. I know you use it to map your strokes in reference to the direction of hair growth but with such a thick beard, especially around the chin, what do I do if the razor won't even budge starting off in that area? Do I just try different directions despite hair growth direction or should I look more to my razor and just keep stropping until the edge takes care of the problem?

I'm definitely excited about shaving on Monday and using all the advice. I'll be sure to let you know if I improve or not.

As important as face mapping might be start with a smooth systematic shave. Shifting for this angle or that
takes practice. Getting it all right takes practice and more practice. There is no shame in grabbing your old razor
or even a BiC Yellow handle tossable to finish a shave and get out the door for that hot date or work. You will know
when have it down ... for me it was a need a quick shave used a tossable and touched that shave up with
my straight.

LOTS depends on "Latherin". While you can only shave once a day perhaps once in two days, you can practice
making a deluxe lather ten times or more a day. I recommend wearing out a $1.75 puck of Williams practicing.
If you can make a good lather with it "Bobs Your Uncle".

Originally Posted by Mjsonge

So I just tried my hand at straight razor shaving and it went as I expected. I nicked my face, got razor burn, and didn't get a very close shave. Reading other posts on the forum, I know I'm not the only one going through this. I know I'm still getting use to the angle, holding the blade, and confidence when shaving. I would like to share my experience and see if any of you had any suggestions.

First off, I have an extremely thick beard that proves difficult for even my proglide on some days. I also have extremely sensitive skin on my neck. I picked up a Dovo from classicshaving.com and had it professionally honed. I use The Art of Shaving products - sandalwood pre-shave oil, soap, and after shave balm. I have a badger brush and scuttle for lather, and I have a roo strop from straight razor designs with cloth and leather. And of course, I have my trusty and now much used styptic pen. So here's how day 1 went:

I let my beard go for about 2 days. I started by stropping my razor, 15 times on the cloth side and 40 on the leather. Set it aside and jumped in the shower. I washed my face and even put some of my wife's conditioner on my beard for the remainder of the shower. When I got out I lathered my soap in a nice hot scuttle and set it aside. I put the pre-shave oil on with a hot towel over it for about 30 seconds to soften up my beard a little more. I added a little more water to my brush to hydrate the soap a little more and then lathered my face up. I let the lather sit for about a minute, lathered a little more and the started the shave.

Right of the bat, the razor pulled. I know this was from my inexperience. I'm pretty sure my angle wasn't right. I shaved my right cheek with my dominant hand. I was a little hesitant with the blade which resulted in a few nicks and one straight up cut. I know the beginner post suggested only doing side burns but I let the excitement get to me. I did my entire cheek, and then jumped to my left side with my left hand…. same results. I was actually a little more steady with my left than right which I wasn't expecting. It wasn't going as I had hoped but like I said, I had expected to suck my first time. So I finished up with my proglide and walked away with some cuts and razor burn.

I followed the same procedures for my second shave but my cheeks went a lot smoother. I was curious how the razor would perform on my neck and chin so I did a test spot on each. My neck was difficult, I was just scraping off lather. My chin is going to be my everest. The blade didn't even want to budge. This discouraged me a little but it's definitely not stopping me.

So far, I feel like I'm getting use to holding the razor in my dominant hand and the angle I have to use on my cheek. The rest is still shaky. I would really like to hear any suggestions or feedback. My main concern is that I have such a thick beard, I can't tell if the razor is tugging and pulling because of that, the razor isn't as sharp as it should be (had it professionally honed), or my angle is wrong.

Will repost after my next shave on Monday… Looking forward to it, the only place to go from the bottom is up!

You're an Ole Miss guy according to your avatar and that being the case you're probably nuts about football. Straight shaving can be compared to playing football without a face bar on your helmet.

The bad news is that everything is your responsibility: the sharpness of the blade; you have to mix the lather with the right water/soap combination; you have to hold the razor at the right angle; you have to stretch your skin; you have to be alert at all times.

The good news is that everything is your responsibility. The ready-mixed canned foam or gel and multiblade razors you typically see in stores try to do some of these things for you. They gave me mediocre results and made my face feel like it had been in a prize fight.

I was so fed up from an entire adult lifetime of this that at the beginning of 2010 I searched the internet for alternatives. DE razors solved my problem, but if I have to shave with a DE 3-4 days in a row I get bored with it. So I entered the wonderful world of straights. It took me a full two years to master it to my expectations, but I really enjoy letting my hands do the work and getting spectacular results.

It will all come together with practice. You just don't know it yet.

Originally Posted by CaliforniaCajun

You're an Ole Miss guy according to your avatar and that being the case you're probably nuts about football. Straight shaving can be compared to playing football without a face bar on your helmet.

The bad news is that everything is your responsibility: the sharpness of the blade; you have to mix the lather with the right water/soap combination; you have to hold the razor at the right angle; you have to stretch your skin; you have to be alert at all times.

The good news is that everything is your responsibility. The ready-mixed canned foam or gel and multiblade razors you typically see in stores try to do some of these things for you. They gave me mediocre results and made my face feel like it had been in a prize fight.

I was so fed up from an entire adult lifetime of this that at the beginning of 2010 I searched the internet for alternatives. DE razors solved my problem, but if I have to shave with a DE 3-4 days in a row I get bored with it. So I entered the wonderful world of straights. It took me a full two years to master it to my expectations, but I really enjoy letting my hands do the work and getting spectacular results.

It will all come together with practice. You just don't know it yet.

We use the word dedicated as apposed to "crazy" when talking about football. In any account, I've never used a DE before. I can get a pretty good shave with my proglide when I really take the time to prep my face. I noticed a huge difference when I took the time to shower/ hot towel, add the pre-shave oil, an actual cream rather than a can, and make multiple passes. My face didn't suffer nearly as much by Friday. I did this while waiting for my straight razor to come in. I have to shave every morning prior to conducting physical fitness so my skin gets irritated from sweating after a nice shave. I just shaved my cheeks again this morning and I had an epiphany...

I've been under the impression that after my WTG pass my face will already be pretty smooth. With my beard type, I don't think that's possible anymore. I've gotten to the point where I go WTG and XTG on my cheeks and after the XTG my skin is pretty smooth, even when I run my fingers ATG. I realized that I wasn't just scraping off cream, but rather prepping for the WTG pass. Probably common sense but I got a little clouded by the excitement of shaving with a straight razor. I'm not sure if anyone one else had the same feelings as I did, or if I'm just completely wrong about it but it's working for me as far as cheeks go. I think next week I'll start tackling a small portion of my neck.

Epiphany smashed. I just watched the shave test video by gssixgun and I'm starting to feel like my razor isn't as sharp as it could be. I feel like I'm getting better but it's still not smooth after my WTG pass and the razor isn't cutting very smoothly. I have been at this for 3 weeks now, had my dovo inox honed by classicshaving befor it shipped. They either didn't do a good job or I stropped it dull. Betting in the latter as the shave has gotten better over the last week.

That said, I just sprayed the 15 carat .5 micron diamond on the reverse side of my pressed felt. I was going to experiment with that on Monday. I was thinking 10 passes and then my normal 15-75. If it's not getting the edge back in a week or 2 I'm considering sending it to SRD to see if they can hone it in for me. Thoughts anyone?

Originally Posted by Mjsonge

Epiphany smashed. I just watched the shave test video by gssixgun and I'm starting to feel like my razor isn't as sharp as it could be. I feel like I'm getting better but it's still not smooth after my WTG pass and the razor isn't cutting very smoothly. I have been at this for 3 weeks now, had my dovo inox honed by classicshaving befor it shipped. They either didn't do a good job or I stropped it dull. Betting in the latter as the shave has gotten better over the last week.

That said, I just sprayed the 15 carat .5 micron diamond on the reverse side of my pressed felt. I was going to experiment with that on Monday. I was thinking 10 passes and then my normal 15-75. If it's not getting the edge back in a week or 2 I'm considering sending it to SRD to see if they can hone it in for me. Thoughts anyone?

JMO I would start with 5-7 on the .5 strop and try a shave, extra light pressure stropping (that is one thing you can go back and hit again easily even after you start the shave)

Again only a suggestion

Originally Posted by pfries

JMO I would start with 5-7 on the .5 strop and try a shave, extra light pressure stropping (that is one thing you can go back and hit again easily even after you start the shave)

Again only a suggestion

So your suggesting just the .5 and no follow up with the normal routine?

No follow with the normal routine but go lighter than normal pressure.

I would start with less strokes on the .5micron

I have a few wedges I like to finish on CrOx and 5-7 is enough.

If you are using diamond paste it can get a "harsh edge" for many

keep in mind with honing (and with paste is honing) less is more, you only want to do what is needed.

You can go back and do a few more laps you can not take them away (at least not easily)

Drying of the lather was a problem for me also. As I got faster it was no longer an issue. I find that by adding a few drops of glycerin the lather is not only richer and slicker, it also retains water longer. Enjoy your shave journey.

This thread is starting to turn into my straight razor journey instead of my first shave but anyhow, I couldn't wait until Monday so I decided to go ahead and shave today after 2 days of growth. Went rather well. The razor is still tugging on my cheek, even after doing 10 strokes on the .5 micron diamond spray on pressed felt followed by 75 on the roo leather like Lynn recommends. I'm very close to shipping it to SRD and seeing what happens after they hone it. Anyway, here's an account of everything I did tonight.

I went ahead and stropped my razor prior to the shower, 10 on the sprayed felt and 75 on the leather. I took a very nice hot shower and took my time. I washed my hair and face first and then massaged my wife's conditioner into my beard and left it there for the rest of the shower. When I got out, I filled the sink with some hot water, added some eucalyptus drops and let my towel soak along with my badger brush. I filled up my scuttle and added a little Truefitt and Hill sandalwood shave cream, made a rich lather and applied some to my face. I drained the sink, rung out the towel and put it on over the cream for about 30 seconds. Wiped off the cream, put the towel back in some hot water, added the T&H pre shave oil and really massaged it in. I put another hot towel on over the oil and let that sit another 30 seconds. I set my towel aside and lathered up my face again. This time, I massaged the lather into my beard and applied some more over that and let it sit for about a minute while I cleaned up a little.

For the shave I started with WTG on my cheeks and went down my neck for the first time. The cheeks pulled a little, even at a 30 degree or less angle. The neck wasn't so bad, a little awkward being the first time to do the entire area on the first pass. Under the nose went well on the first pass and the chin was a little rough, as usual. I rinsed off after an almost SR only first pass (had to use my proglide on the point of the chin). My skin looked pretty good at this point. I wiped off the lather with some hot water on the hands, added a little pre shave oil, lathered up again, and did my XTG pass. The cheeks went well, I can still feel a small amount of stubble when I run my hand ATG. I tried XTG under the nose and on the chin but that was a little difficult for me. I ended up finishing those 2 areas and the neck with my proglide.

For the post shave I gently wiped my face and neck with my wet towel after running it under hot water to get any left over oil/ cream off. Followed that with some cold water on my entire face/ neck area. Wet my alum block and rubbed it over my entire face and neck and let that dry while I cleaned my sink area, brush, scuttle, and razor. Once my face had dried, I rinsed my face with warm water and added some brute splash to my face and neck (waiting on my T&H spanish leather splash to come in). Once that dried, I finished off with my T&H sandalwood after shave balm.

I'm really enjoying my T&H products. My wife loves the smell and my face is feeling great tonight. Hardly any razor burn. My major accomplishment tonight was NO nicks or cuts. I'm very happy with that. I really feel like my technique is improving and I'm getting more comfortable with the razor. I feel like my prep and post shave routine is really working for me.

I still need work with stropping. I noticed that my stop has some minor cuts in it, particularly where I end my up stroke. I've been trying to start the strokes just before I let the razor rest on the leather. I'm pretty sure these cuts are from working on this, I've had a tendency to turn the razor before I completely stop moving and the cuts are from the razor biting into the stop a little.

All in all, extremely happy with my progress, the forum and everyone's feedback has been an enormous help and the progress has been a big moral booster over the last couple of weeks. I still think my razor could be sharper and I'm still searching the forums and experimenting before I send it in. Any more feedback would be greatly appreciated with that. Otherwise, this was a really great end to a Saturday. What use to annoy me is now my most relaxing me-time ritual. Happy shaving everyone!