SilentTuba's Straight Razor Shaving Journal

[SilentTuba]

After four years of DE shaving, I acquired a Gold Dollar 66, and a WD poor man's leather strop in a trade. The box arrived today, so I decided to give it a go.
First Shave

Started with a shower, while soaking my WD silvertip, and softening a puck of Tabac. After the shower, I Stropped the razor on the leather 50 times, and got to work face lathering the soap. This was also my first shave with the silvertip, and I was amazed not only at how soft it was, but at how quickly a thick, rich lather exploded off the brush. Lathered up, and got started.

Yikes. Right away, I realize something is wrong. Lots of tugging with the razor. I try to tough it through a pass, but eventually give up. Now I see what people mean when they say lather that works for a DE does not always work for a straight. Rinsed the lather off my face, added some water to the brush, and tried again. I worked more water into the lather, and the result was a very slick lather, but thinner than I'm used to. Gave it another go with the straight, and success! The blade slid over my face easily, and removed plenty of hair.

I only did one WTG pass, and stopped. I had intended to finish up with my DE, but decided to leave it be. I have a bit of irritation, mostly from the botched first pass, but there was no blood, and have a SAS to show for it.

Overall, a good first shave. Next time out, I think I'm going to try going XTG, also.

 

[Attila]

Congrats on joining the world of straights! Not sure who you traded with but was it sent to you shave ready? There are certain vendors here on the site that send out Gold Dollars shave ready and they have a good reputation for their honing abilities but if it came from a member in a trade it may or may not have been honed properly. Considering your second pass was comfortable...it may have been ok.

Another thing to watch out for is your shave angle. Make sure to keep the spine about one or max two spine widths from your face. No more. Also, try to keep your skin taut by pulling on it in the opposite direction that you are leading the razor. If it is still not comfortable after doing these things and your lather is good, your razor may need to be touched up. The razor should cut hair effortlessly unless your angle is way off. Also, be careful how you strop. Many a beginner has hosed a perfectly sharp and comfortable edge by incorrect stropping (I belong in that group) so be aware of your technique there.

Like anything, straight razor shaving is a learned skill and will take time to get comfortable with. Take your time and read/watch you tube videos as much as you can. But above all pay attention to what you are doing and learn from your successes and mistakes. Eventually things will click into place and you'll be rewarded with excellent shaves.

Thanks for the excellent picture and keep us posted to how things go. All the best to you!

 

[SilentTuba]

Congrats on joining the world of straights! Not sure who you traded with but was it sent to you shave ready? There are certain vendors here on the site that send out Gold Dollars shave ready and they have a good reputation for their honing abilities but if it came from a member in a trade it may or may not have been honed properly. Considering your second pass was comfortable...it may have been ok.

Another thing to watch out for is your shave angle. Make sure to keep the spine about one or max two spine widths from your face. No more. Also, try to keep your skin taut by pulling on it in the opposite direction that you are leading the razor. If it is still not comfortable after doing these things and your lather is good, your razor may need to be touched up. The razor should cut hair effortlessly unless your angle is way off. Also, be careful how you strop. Many a beginner has hosed a perfectly sharp and comfortable edge by incorrect stropping (I belong in that group) so be aware of your technique there.

Like anything, straight razor shaving is a learned skill and will take time to get comfortable with. Take your time and read/watch you tube videos as much as you can. But above all pay attention to what you are doing and learn from your successes and mistakes. Eventually things will click into place and you'll be rewarded with excellent shaves.

Thanks for the excellent picture and keep us posted to how things go. All the best to you!

I asked, and was told the edge was shave ready. I did my best stropping, trying not to put too much pressure. Not sure how good a job I did.

I'll try it again tomorrow, with a much wetter lather from the start. Hopefully that will allow me to avoid irritation altogether.

 

[Attila]

For a good stropping video check this video out. Doc's youtube channel.

 

[Shave_Rat]

Congrats on the first shave! Wetter lather is the only way to go for sure. It takes a bit of adjustment, especially after making DE suitable lather for a long time. lol

 

[SilentTuba]

Second shave today....still lots of dragging from the blade. Made a much wetter lather this time, but it did not help. Still managed to finish an entire pass, which may not have been the best decision; ended up with a few weepers and some razor burn. Finished the shave with my DE.

So, it's either my technique, my lather still not being wet enough, or the blade needs honing. I'm going to go ahead and find someone to hone this thing; that way, I'll have taken that variable out of the equation, at least.

 

[Attila]

Good idea. Sorry your shave left you with the burn though. Also remember to keep your shave angle shallow and use light pressure.

 

[SilentTuba]

Today, my GD returned after being honed by buca3152. With a fresh edge on the blade, I went ahead and attempted shave #3.

Today's set up was:
-GD 66
-B&B Essential Boar (purple)
-RazoRock Carribean Coconut soap
-Nivea sensitive ASB

After showering, and face lathering the RR (fantastic soap, btw), I went ahead and did two passes with the straight, one WTG, and one XTG. I focused on keeping the blade angle shallow, and just trying to scrape the lather off my face.

Overall, i am very happy with how today's shave went. In fact, I'd say on my cheeks, the results are on par with what I get with the DE. Where I'm still have trouble is below the jawline, and under my chin. I cleaned that area up with the DE afterwards. I need to do more reading, and thinking about different grips, I think, to find something that will work.

The only time I ran into trouble was during my XTG pass. I tried to correct my blade angle, and ended up with a 1/2" nick on my left cheek. Very minor, and totally a result of letting my focus drop for a moment.

Looking forward to shave #4!

also, I want to say, many, many thanks to buca3152! The edge he put on my razor is awesome, and made a world of difference! I'll have no hesitation sending it back to him in the future!

 

[Shave_Rat]

Freshly honed edges are always a joy! Sounds like a great shave.

 

[SilentTuba]

Shave #4 today was a bit of a let down. Face lathered with my WD silvertip and some MWF, and had a really hard time getting a quality lather, which I usually don't. As for the shave, I find I'm having trouble seeing myself in the mirror when I'm holding the straight; my arm tends to get in the way. Gave myself a small nick under the nose, and had some slight razor burn afterwards, a result of subpar lather, I think.

The most frustrating part, though, is that I can still only do half a shave. I know I'm only four shaves in, but I absolutely cannot find a way to shave under my chin and on my neck with any kind of success. This is something of a trouble area with a DE, too as it's prone to irritation, but I just can't find a way to hold the straight, and do even a halfway decent job of it. Honestly, by the time I wS done, I was wondering why I'm bothering with the straight at all.

I will ill keep at it, though, as it is still way too early in the game to give up. I'm going to take a day off tomorrow, let my face rest a bit, and try shave #5 on Tuesday.

 

[Chaloney]

It will take you weeks before your straight shaves are getting close to your de shaves--it just takes that long. Don't get discouraged or impatient. I started wet shaving with a straight in May. Never tried a de until September. My third de shave was the best shave I've ever had bar none. Bbs everywhere with no irritation whatsoever--barely felt the aftershave (av or clubman, can't remember which). If I had had that experience before starting to learn to shave with a straight, I might have found 2 weeks of lousy shaves and 2 more months of nicks and intermittent razor burn to be discouraging. It simply takes a lot longer to learn than a de. It's a lot more enjoyable to learn and to shave with once you've got it figured out though. Well worth the time and trouble in my opinion.

If you could learn it in 4 days, it would hardly be worth the trouble

 

[Shave_Rat]

The learning curve can be pretty long with a straight. I got about 18-20 shaves in and sort of walked away from them for several months. I bumped into some others shave journals as they were just starting out, and it motivated me to jump back into them. I won't candy coat it, it took me a good 65-70 or so shaves with a straight before I could really say I felt like I had it down solid. I can't get really good shaves with a DE at this point, the straights always leave a smoother shave and more comfortable feeling skin. So not a really easy place to get to, but for most of us, it's a place well worth the effort to find.

 

[buca3152]

The more you use it the better you get at it. I only used the de like once in a blue moon once I started straight shaving. Sink or swim was my approach although you should do whatever makes you comfortable.

 

[Attila]

As soon as I started with the straight I resolved not to use my DEs in order to learn quicker. I have pretty much stuck with that except for a couple of trips we took in the summer when I took one of my De razors. I'm pretty stubborn that way I suppose.

At this point my straight shaves are still getting better and better but I can say I get consistantly excellent results with regards to it being either a DFS or BBS depending on the razor and the lather or other variables. However it does keep getting better all the time and is kinder to my skin than the DE shaves, especially if I shoot for a BBS shave if I am not going to shave the next day. Stick with it, things will improve!

 

[Lmarkow]

Same here. Once I started with the straights the DEs got put away. Initially, I would use one if I felt my face needed a rest. Then I would take a DE on travel. But now it's nothing but straights, until I'm too old and decrepit to hold it steady. Hang in there. There's no rush.

 

[SilentTuba]

Very busy week this week, so last night before bed, I decided to shave, knowing I otherwise wouldn't get to it until Thursday night.

Shave # 5:

This shave started out broken, but led to a bit of a lightbulb moment. My normal prep is to shower before hand, and this time, I did not do that. I rubbed some hot water on my face, ran my brush (B&B Essential) under hot water for about 30 seconds, and loaded up some Tabac. The lather took much, much more work to build than usual, and in the end was still a little dry; the result of not soaking the brush long enough and letting it absorb more water. When I started the shave, I noticed a little tugging, and instead of giving up, I eased off with pressure even more. The blade slid across my skin, taking hair and lather with it. No irritation whatsoever! I was able to do 2 complete passes, no nicks, no weepers, and most importantly, no irritation! I guess after years of shaving with a DE, and knowing exactly how much pressure you can get away with, I just assumed my touch was light enough for a straight. Lesson learned.

Afterwards, 60 laps on leather, and some Nivea for the face. Still trying to figure out under my chin, but last night was definitely a step in the right direction!

 

[rockviper]

There ya go!! No safety bar on a straight, so the first thing that touches your skin is the blade. One concept I've read about here is to use the blade to remove the lather (the hair will come with it), rather than trying to cut whiskers.

 

[Shave_Rat]

Sounds like a nice little "Aha!" moment. You are still well ahead of many that pick up a straight from what I can tell.

 

[SilentTuba]

There ya go!! No safety bar on a straight, so the first thing that touches your skin is the blade. One concept I've read about here is to use the blade to remove the lather (the hair will come with it), rather than trying to cut whiskers.

I've read the same thing, and that thought it was helped lead to my revelation.

 

[AndroiDad75]

Nice revelation. I find that for what ever reason my brain forgets that with the smaller blades, and I find myself using a bit more pressure than needed.