Never has happened to me in over a decade.
What Did You Learn From Your SR Shave Today?
- Thread starter rbscebu
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- #642
rbscebu
Girls call me Makaluod
You are very lucky. I have had the same experience as @Herrenberg. Maybe it's the type of alum or soap that we use.
Or, perhaps the quantity. A little goes a long way.
Welcome to the club. I hope you won’t be disappointed.
I learned that:
- A warm water splash will suffice for prep
- With a good soap, a 15 minute, 3-pass shave is quite possible
- I am able to shave with a tee-shirt on without making a mess with water and lather
- I prefer my hot shower for prep
- I prefer to take my sweet time
- I prefer to shave shirtless
I learned that even with a straight I can still leave 1/32" strips of stubble between shaved patches.
"No, Paul you can't disappear into your Zen moments. Pay attention!"
"No, Paul you can't disappear into your Zen moments. Pay attention!"
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- #647
rbscebu
Girls call me Makaluod
Don't drop the alum in the basin. I'm amazed at how many pieces it shatters into.
A drop or two of glycerine makes a noticeable improvement.
Keep the darned blade FLAT (or very nearly so), or risk a serious sting from the alum and aftershave
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- #651
rbscebu
Girls call me Makaluod
For about the past two years I have been shaving exclusively with my much used and abused but still loved $2 Chinese guaranteed genuine pure best badger hair synthetic brush. This morning I decided to pull out my Mühle medium classic badger hair brush to see how it compares.
Feel wise, with face lathering, was that the Mühle was a bit sctratchier and had a little less backbone than the Chinese synthetic. What did surprise me, and I had forgotten, was how much soap the badger brush required compared to the Chinese synthetic. The badger needed about 3 time my normal soap requirements, using Palmolive cream, to produce a similar lather.
Now I can understand blokes only getting a month or two face lathering with a Tabac or ARKO shaving stick while mine have been lasting me about 6 months of three-pass daily shaves.
I'll use my Mühle brush for a few more days to see if things change. I doubt that they will change and I will be soon back to my Chinese synthetic.
Feel wise, with face lathering, was that the Mühle was a bit sctratchier and had a little less backbone than the Chinese synthetic. What did surprise me, and I had forgotten, was how much soap the badger brush required compared to the Chinese synthetic. The badger needed about 3 time my normal soap requirements, using Palmolive cream, to produce a similar lather.
Now I can understand blokes only getting a month or two face lathering with a Tabac or ARKO shaving stick while mine have been lasting me about 6 months of three-pass daily shaves.
I'll use my Mühle brush for a few more days to see if things change. I doubt that they will change and I will be soon back to my Chinese synthetic.
I am with you on the synthetics.
Before I started using straights, I bought a Wilkinson Sword brush and soap, £5 each, which was already a great improvement from canned foam. Readily available here from the supermarket where I do my usual shopping, it was good enough for cartridge shaving. I was lucky in the first upgraded brush I bought, a Yaqi Mysterious Space 28mm. Absolutely love it, and it is big enough to load once for a two pass shave, face lathering. I have two more, but keep going back to it. The other two is a 24mm and a 26mm, the 24mm just a tad too small to store enough lather for two passes.
Having spent money on all other aspects, like we do, I am dithering about splashing out on a good boar brush. So far everything I have read lead me to believe that I should stick to what I know and love. A synthetic is just so much more practical, soft, don't need soaking, dries quickly, stores a lot of lather and easily gives it back. After your remarks, I am even less likely to splash out £200 on something I don't think I am going to like.
I have been shaving with my straight razor now for 2 weeks and just tried out my Muhle R41 for a change of pace……I suppose it could be all the mental concentration and careful strokes with the Boker, but my shave with the Muhle was extremely smooth and very efficient. In other words does shaving with a straight lead to easier DE shaves?
Most people find that it does. Skin stretching starts to become second nature and with all types of shaving.
I learned that straight razors are sturdier than I thought they were. While stropping my Ralf Aust SR, it slipped out of my hand—oh no!—and hit the tile floor. I expected it to break or chip or something. I couldn’t see any damage, but I don’t have a loupe or microscope. I shaved with it, and it didn’t feel any different. I gave thanks to God, because if it did break, there would be no replacing it for a long time.
I have a Heljestrand that I call my lucky razor. I dropped it 4 feet onto a glass surface. It didn't fare quite as well as yours -- the fall took a significant chip out of the razor. But that chip is in the front, away from the edge, and makes no difference to anything except how it looks.
I learned that a 1k edge can leave nothing for a Clubman product to sting. My Thiers fell over on the sink and I wasn't sure what it hit, so onto the stones for peace of mind sake. It dawned on me I've never tried Keith's philosophy of knowing what your go-to grits shave like. I've been spoiled by Arkansas edges so I was expecting sharp but scrape-like. Really, it was simply noticeable blade feel, yet smooth.
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- #658
rbscebu
Girls call me Makaluod
It is said by many a SR shaver that you should be able to get a reasonably comfortable shave off your initial bevel-set. I have not yet tried shaving off an initial bevel-set. Your experience has encouraged me to so do.
Having done it off of my Shapton Glass 1000 bevel-setter, I will say that it is completely true, and yet somewhat misleading. If my experience is any guide, the shave will be fully comfortable. What it won't be is close.
This morning I learned that I should do a much more thourogh hanging hair test before I declare a razor to be shave ready.
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