Does Pre-Shave Really Help Make Shaving Easier with a SR?

Hi all,

I recently got my first straight razor and tried it for the first time. I received the razor pre-honed and stropped, and man was it sharp! However, when I tried shaving with it, I think I was "scraping" the hair more than cutting it. It was not easy and the blade did not move very smoothly. (I can't imagine going cross-grain or against the grain with a SR!)

I know it takes time to learn technique, but I was thinking of trying a pre-shave before applying my regular shaving soap to help make the SR glide easier. But from reading a lot of pre-shave posts, it sounds like the main benefit is making your skin hydrated and moist through the day. Not many people mentioned it was a great lubricant or help the shaving process that much. What are your thoughts?

Will

 

No it will not help. Your technique is causing your problems assuming the blade is sharp. No amount of voodoo works until your technique gets better.

That being said bad lather can also cause the blade to feel draggy.

 

I don t feel a lot of difference with or without preshave, a good preparation does make the hairs softer, a hot towel feels nice!

Fiddle a bit with different angles and maybe use a guillotine stroke to improve the cutting?

 

I use a preshave with my straight and I feel that it helps slightly but its not going to make a night and day difference. Id bet that you are too steep with your angle and its causing you to scrape the hair off, instead of slicing it.

 

When you say pre-honed and stropped , I think this raises a couple of questions. I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will be along soon to correct me, as I'm very new to straights too, but...

1. Was it honed by someone reliable? Or was it "honed" by the maker and bought brand new ? I have heard too many real experts on here discuss factory fresh razors to trust that they have been honed. It may not actually be sharp.

2. Was it honed recently? Even a few weeks of poor technique or once minor "incident" could mean it has arrived to you needing some work.

3. If it was honed just before you got it it shouldn't need stropping, but poor stropping technique could have dulled the edge too. Also, are you stropping between shaves? You need to!

As long as you're sure it's sharp, these guys above have already suggested technique improvements which will help more than pre shave products.

 

Also +1 this... I had to change the amount of water I add to soaps to help the razor glide. It needs to be SLICK

 

Great post!!

 

Cheers mate

 

I'd say those are question that most SR users, especially newbies can't reliably answer, which is precisely why my Feather AC is my daily driver and my Gold Dollars sit in the drawer collecting dust.

 

I purchased my used SR from a guy who is an expert where I live. He has 50 SRs himself. He does honing on the side to help people out. So, I'd say he knows what he's doing. He selected this SR for me as something suitable for a newbie. He prepared it for me, including honing it. I stropped the SR before I used it, following instructions I found on youtube. It seems pretty straight forward.
You might be right about the angle. I do make it quite "perpendicular" - I need to make it more like 30deg, as I've heard that's a good angle. I guess I need to practice, practice, practice!

 

I’m pretty inexperienced with SR’s but have shaved enough with them to know that the toughest thing to realize at first is how shallow your angle needs to be. Forget the 30°, and think about being as close to perpendicular as you can. The real amount of space you want between the spine and your neck is about the same as the width of the spine itself. This is probably shallower than you are thinking, as it is not natural. Just my two cents.

 

Sounds like issues with sharpness probably aren't what's happening then! I found mine hard to get right at first. . Still do some days haha

 

Randy is correct, about one spine width from your face is a good starting place. I also like a thinner, slicker lather when using a straight as compared to the lather when I use a DE. Stropping is a learned technique that usually, but not always, results in rolling the edge the first time or 2 you try it. A paddle strop is probably better for learning on.

 

I gave up on Preshave Oils a few years ago. I felt the oils kept the hairs from absorbing water, therefore not softening as much as they could. After I stopped using preshave oils, my shaves became smoother, immediately.

 

SR is all about angle and pressure. It sounds as if your angle of attack was way too high. More product cannot help that.

 

Yes

 

I agree with this. The alkaline nature of soap makes hair keratin become brittle as well as soft. This is the best condition for razor cutting hair. Oil breaks down and neutralizes soap. PSO actually makes little logical sense, as most people will wash their face (removing oils) before applying oil in the form of PSO. Some report good results with PSO, but my experience mirrors yours.

 

Yep, the razor needs to be almost flat against your face, especially when you're learning. Increasing the angle increases exfoliation (too much exfoliation is razor burn), dulls the edge more quickly, and increases the chance for cuts.

Raising the spine one spine width off the face is pretty sound advice, but not too much more.

Cheers, Steve

 

Stropping is pretty straight forward, but if you aren’t careful you can slightly roll the edge enough to cause issues. Make sure when you strop you are pulling the razor from the spine and not the edge. Let the linen and the leather do the work without putting any pressure up front. The weight of the blade is plenty to do a good stropping.