New to straight razor

[Macau shaver]

Hi guys,

Just awaiting my first straight razor.Its in the post and I feel like a boy waiting for santa on christmas eve. I don't know why just decided after a lot of thought that I would give straight razoring a shot. I read through a lot of forums including this one and emailed Larry at whipped dog and ordered a new Dovo. Now I am watching videos on you tube, taking a few lessons ready for the morning I get to open my mail and give it a go. I will let you know how I get on ( hopefully without to many nicks).

 

[Raven312]

Congrats! I am new to straight shaving also. One of the things I did before I got my first blade was to take a butterknife and practice stropping. I watched several of the recommended videos and practiced most of what I watched. Take your time, find the right angle and don't try to do all of your face the first time, is some of the best advice given to me. Enjoy.

 

[Luc]

Welcome! While you wait, I would suggest reading the straight shaver guide here: http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Interactive_Guide_to_Straight_Razor_Shaving

 

[temjeito]

Welcome! Larry's blade will come with a very nice edge on it. If you haven't already, lurk around in this very forum and read some of the shave journals. You'll soon get a sense for what some of the "typical" issues are early on (blade doesn't feel sharp enough, things get better before they get worse, good (wet) lather is critical, etc.), and gather a lot of tips and wisdom. Take it slow, and know that it will take many, many shaves (conventional wisdom is 100) before you really get this down.

 

[Macau shaver]

Thanks guys for the advice think I will have a good look at the guides, and the butter knife trick should stop be damaging the strop early on.

 

[dpmtherrien]

Good luck on getting into straight shaving. The best advice is to watch as many video's on straight shaving as you can find, and then watch your angle, and be sure to use a really light touch with no pressure.

 

[dpetrzelka]

two words - Wet Lather.

When I started I think I was too focused on thick, heavy, whipped cream / yogurt like lather. People post photos of their brushes with hard peaks on the lather. But I soon realized the idea of lather as a cushion was not giving me the best results. Practice building lather, and add a little water at a time , add in steps but see how much you can get your particuler soap or cream to hold before the larger bubbles form, or the lather fails.

I found that a more shallow starting angle with the blade, pre-shave shower and wetter lather helped my shaving a lot.

Enjoy the process of learning