So tell me......

[JudoJim]

Please tell me what you know now, that you wished you knew at the start of straight razor shaving.

Knowing that I'm probably already very caddy-wampus of what I have now, before even starting straight razor shaving, but also please tell me some essentials that are must haves before getting too far into my journey. Thus far, I have a couple Gold Dollars (still need to get honed) and I have a strop on the way in a couple weeks. I have plenty of software, so that should not be an issue.

Thanks in advanced.

 

[Twelvefret]

I’m a strategic sort. I have learned nothing that would necessitate any changes from when I began.

I differ from you in that I started with vintage razors.

Had a friend here who showed me the way toward 3m films and how to hone my own.

 

[Polarbeard]

I wished I had known that

• You need two well honed razors
• You don't need more than two well honed razors
• You can use a rolled up newspaper to strop on instead of cutting up your first strop
• That most shaving soaps will suffice for DE shaving, but that there's a huge benefit using a really protective shaving soap when shaving with a straight razor.
• You can be good at DE shaving within a month, but learning to shave with a straight razor is a life long journey and a great one too.

 

[azwetshaver]

You have to stick with it for at least 100 shaves before your shaves reach the level of your DE shaves.

The first 20 shaves are rough, but you have to stick it out if you really want to shave with a straight.

 

[HazMat Shaver]

As said, have two pro honed shave ready razors to learn on.

Use one razor and one quality soap until you need the razor touched up. Then trade to the next razor and another soap if you want and send the first one off for honing. This way you get to know your razor and soap. Switching between different razors and soaps when learning slows the process.

Don't give up if you get a week of bad shaves. Learn more from vids and questions and keep going. It will get better.

 

[Psusocr]

All amazing advice !! I must say I am glad I got with a well respected member on here to learn ALOT when I first began and was also lucky enough to get my first two vintage razors from him. This allowed me To focus more on my technique knowing I had all the right “shave ready” tools .

 

[Dick peck]

Jump in and don't give up. Everything that goes wrong can be corrected. . The idea of one set up is great. As in buy all you want but stick with one soap and razor. It will help you figure things out a little easier.i wish I would have done so. Good luck.

 

[Afoshie]

Buy a good starter razor and have it pro honed. Learn on a right razor. Have seen a few try cheap ones and give up. If your gona buy on ebay be sure of what you are buying. Many ways to cover up a bad razor with pic angles.

 

[Dzaw]

Frustration will visit.

There are some bad shaves to come. Some cuts, dings, and razor burn too. Then there will come the confusion that visits when you can’t figure out -why- your shave went sour.

If you stick with it, though, you will get past those parts. When you get to the point where a few ok shaves becomes more consistent good shaves, you will look back at the frustration and realize it was just shaving. The frustration fades and and confidence will replace it.

 

[Hyloworks]

I’m a strategic sort. I have learned nothing that would necessitate any changes from when I began.

I differ from you in that I started with vintage razors.

Had a friend here who showed me the way toward 3m films and how to hone my own.

Same here, I am also a strategic sort. The only difference is that I sharpen/hone on waterstones and DMT dia-sharp because I had all of them in house already for my woodworking irons. One thing I will say is that strategy and using both hands goes along way. I have been doing that since day one and I would say it only took me about 20 shaves before I started having fun and getting irritation free shaves. My technique/pattern/direction hasn't changed since about shave number 10. Have been straight shaving for about 8 years now. To answer your question though, I wish I would have known that I wouldn't be able to stop collecting vintage razors. Cheers!

 

[Namkcakram]

I wish I would’ve known some of the very best razors ever made are from the US and sell for $20-60 all day everyday. I also just recently started getting picky about soaps, I should’ve started really figuring out my soap preferences years ago- that can be at least 33% of the total performance equation.

 

[NotSoSmooth]

This is a fantastic thread, especially as I'm less than 20 shaves on the journey.

My advice, reduce the number of variables and use the same prep, same soap and same professionally honed blade.

 

[Twelvefret]

I wish I would’ve known some of the very best razors ever made are from the US and sell for $20-60 all day everyday. I also just recently started getting picky about soaps, I should’ve started really figuring out my soap preferences years ago- that can be at least 33% of the total performance equation.

You're paying too much for those razors......LOL!!!

 

[Namkcakram]

You're paying too much for those razors......LOL!!!

Haha! Yeah those are probably the “I think I’m patient, but I’m not” prices. I stay between $20-30 with shipping usually

 

[aussie]

STRETCH your skin - more so than with e DE. Start with a round point razor - unlike me. Like me - try to full three pass shaves right from the start. Jump in the deep end and thrash around like crazy and you will pick it up in no time at all. With that level of determination and persistence, you should lose all fear of the blade in about four shaves.

 

[SliceOfLife]

1. Don't buy zeepk products or anything out of china, really.
2. Except GD razors and decent-looking shaving brushes... but even those, not really (personal preference, not a knock against them).
3. Buy a semogue 1470 for your first brush and an Illinois 827 for your first strop
4. Buy the duosharp stand w/ F/EF plate, an EE and XC plate
5. Start buying vintage coticules that look hard, beat up and dirty, especially if unbacked, and never stop
6. Skip Jnats or listen to the Jnat guys and just trust a good seller to give you one + a tomo and then never buy any more, but don't pay more than $150-200 for the pair.
10. Never sell any quality finishing stones you haven't identified... you'll always miss them or regret it eventually.
11. Buy every single vintage washita and arkansas you see (they were stupidly cheap when I started shaving)
12. Move to Florida and stalk this guy named Tim... whenever he goes to a flea market, chloroform him and run in before him and buy all the good stones.
13. Buy a surplus 400x scope from a high school to check for pitting and other edge damage without using your face to test for it.
14. Don't waste money and time learning everything you can about soaps or trying every new soap that comes out... just stockpile vintage soaps and buy some Speick and wilk sword sticks.
15. Buy vintage razors in the 4/8-11/16th range with little wear that don't look buffed. They're cheap, usually in good condition, and all shave well letting you focus on getting scales in good shape.
16. On that note, undamaged bone/ivory > bakelite > horn > slick black > clear/cracked plastics in descending order of likelihood to not be bent/warped/loose/crappy if the pictures aren't great on eBay.
17. In general avoid the late-era tourist-trap Solingen razors, they tend to be soft and thin and pretty much destroyed by any moderate amount of pitting/age.

 

[Legion]

Vintage razors with a huge amount of hype/price are not a silver bullet to shaving woes. If they have tons of hype, just take that as an endorsement that the brand is decent and will work, and a number of people have found that to be true. Do not assume that it is worth the big money they are currently selling for.

Some of my best razors have been ones that are obscure brands, and because of that they have cost me very little. In fact I have bought some cheap razors that were EXACTLY THE SAME as the expensive ones, made in the same factory by the same people, but after all the years the cheap razors brand name has been forgotten. Factories back in the day would often put a number of different brand names on the same type of blade.

Don't fall into the trap of paying a premium for the flavour of the month brand. DO take a punt on obscure brand vintage razors that are in good shape. For the price of the expensive one you can probably buy ten weird ones, and I'll bet you have three or four winners in the bunch, and the others will still do the job.

 

[Proinsias]

The start up can be a bit awkward.

When you're new to it all you often don't have confidence in the edge on the razor, stropping may be damaging, poor technique or shaving angle can quickly degrade the edge. Messing up can mean sending the razor away and $.

Once you can maintain a decent edge, or even create one, things become much easier.

I've not bought a razor in a long time but when starting out I bought a few of the cheapest vintage offerings I could manage from people who could hone. Was often cheaper than sending a razor out for honing, my focus was more on trying edges than sexy scales.

+1 to having more than one sharp razor.

 

[Bob L.]

Lots of great advice so far. Keep at it. This a skill worth having and one that takes at least 100 shaves to gain conscious competency. I haven't decided if unconscious competency is a reasonable goal.

 

[Namkcakram]

Vintage razors with a huge amount of hype/price are not a silver bullet to shaving woes. If they have tons of hype, just take that as an endorsement that the brand is decent and will work, and a number of people have found that to be true. Do not assume that it is worth the big money they are currently selling for.

Some of my best razors have been ones that are obscure brands, and because of that they have cost me very little. In fact I have bought some cheap razors that were EXACTLY THE SAME as the expensive ones, made in the same factory by the same people, but after all the years the cheap razors brand name has been forgotten. Factories back in the day would often put a number of different brand names on the same type of blade.

Don't fall into the trap of paying a premium for the flavour of the month brand. DO take a punt on obscure brand vintage razors that are in good shape. For the price of the expensive one you can probably buy ten weird ones, and I'll bet you have three or four winners in the bunch, and the others will still do the job.

I really want to say yes to this one in particular.

When people post asking about the best shaving razors I always say either Japanese or vintage American and everyone basically dismisses it because they’ve never been the flavor of the month. My two best shaving Solingen blades are also random <$20 no names and re-brands that must be from a great forging facility over there. I have yet to be truly impressed with W&B, Filis, or some of the German high dollar names and I’ve bought and sold a few.

American vintages worth trying are Genco, Robeson, JR Torrey, anything from Little valley, NY, Clauss... they’re all on the auction sites for ~$20 with shipping in good condition. Assuming no damage, Grinds are consistent and easily honed because they’re from an era when quality and reputation mattered in business more than who pays google or amazon for the top search result spot.