I have a mix of 50/50 glycerine and 70% Isopropyl Alcohol that I tried out for a while. I don’t like the tacky residue glycerine tends to leave plus glycerine being a humectant means you really want to clean your razor very well otherwise it’ll attract water and cause corrosion.
Coticule and oil
- Thread starter LJS
- Start date
I have a mix of 50/50 glycerine and 70% Isopropyl Alcohol that I tried out for a while. I don’t like the tacky residue glycerine tends to leave plus glycerine being a humectant means you really want to clean your razor very well otherwise it’ll attract water and cause corrosion.
Oil works but it’s messy. I like using glycerin and glycerin/water mix, both bring a different feel and result.
I like using prorasos lather.
“But wow, oil seems to make a different feel and a notch higher on keen. Swarf fast and nice sharp”.
Yup, works.
Try it, washes off with Dove dish soap or degreaser.
Yup, works.
Try it, washes off with Dove dish soap or degreaser.
Nothing wrong with using oil on a Coti. You may be able to achieve the same results using plenty of water when finishing - either finishing under a dripping faucet or frequently spraying with a bottle of water to flush any auto/natural slurry generated by the blade.
the oil on the coticule works perfectly. just yesterday I tried for the first time to do a complete sharpening. If you have manual skills with oil stones, it's just a game of different pressures on the stone, during the three steps: bevel setting more torsion, sharpening less torsion, finishing very light strokes. I am amazed by the versatility of this kind of stone. Absolutely does not absorb oil, just wash it with soap and water after using it.
I have tried oil on my coticules, and abandoned the practice. Because, my best coticules on plain water can produce and edge a wee bit too keen, and not quite the smoothness I like. Hence, I nearly always finish on a very light slurry.
But, we're all different, as are our faces.
But, we're all different, as are our faces.
I've been known to toss a bit of baby oil on a Coticule to try and bump the keenness up on sub par finishers. Just wash with a soap after. Lather or glycerin can be used too. Some like it and others can't be bothered. 
So I went out and bought baby oil after reading this thread and did a maintenance honing on my.coticule with it. I also noticed the result was a notch above what I accomplished with water. By a notch, a slight notch. With water, I was plucking hairs but on oil, it was plucking them with a bit less effort.
I'm a beginner to straights and honing but what I am quickly coming to realize is that I am noticing much more improvement in the edge by stropping way more than what I thought I needed. Ex. Instead of 70 laps, doing like double that like 140. I read somewhere that coticules especially benefit from a little more stropping on leather than other stones? Anyways, yeah coticule and oil seems to work well for me! I got a smooth shave afterwards.
As your stropping technique improves, you can reduce your stropping lap count.
Stropping is a difficult skill to Master, but it is way, under rated. Stropping on clean linen is also often overlooked.
Stropping is a difficult skill to Master, but it is way, under rated. Stropping on clean linen is also often overlooked.
This was the accepted dogma from cot.be. I always did extra laps off a coticule and still do, because the extra stropping just can't hurt.
Personally, I never reduced my lap count, but that's just me. I believe in a good stropping. My barber used to give a good stropping before every shave, and he was fancy about it.. a real showman! And, I also agree that stropping is underrated.
P.S. I never expect to be able to strop the way my old barber did.. "devil may care.." I worry about my strops too much.
Anyone use jojoba oil? I tried this after using baby oil. The baby oil was ok but the jojoba oil was way better. It sorta feels closer to how my coticule feels with slurry, the jojoba is better at keeping the blade suctioned to the hone preventing any skipping or unevenness.
