OxyClean will basically kill it in it's tracks. It needs a series of a few five to ten minute soaks followed by a rinse. Larry from Whipped Dog, sends it out with all his brushes. Make sure you don't leave it sit, or forget about it, because it can bleach out your knot if it is left too long. I learned that the hard way, but at least it was on a $15 dollar horse brush.
I was very pleased with this shave. I honed some razors last week and am starting to get good results. This baby left me very smooth. I did get some after shave burn on the neck. I believe that was from the ATG pass that I'm still trying to master. Mickey Lee Soapworks The Drunken Goat Oscar11 Brush Wade and Butcher Razor Lucky Tiger Pinaud Clubman ASm
Mühle Rocca R96 razor Rapira Platinum Lux blade Edwin Jagger Silvertip Fibre brush Savon de Marseille soap Tabac Original aftershave The Savon de Marseille soap creates a thin lather, but it's very slick as well. Not unlike a good shave oil really. Good shave with the Rapira blade. No blood, but I have to be careful with the under the chin area.
I've always used shampoo and hair conditioner on my brushes. It seems to work. I also rinse my brushes very well after using them. Then I towel dry, and put on top of the medicine cabinet to dry.
I would just add two things to what Andrew and Jared and Clint just said: 1. ATG is the toughest and touchiest direction to shave. It's also the one most likely to lead to irritation and weepers and ingrown hairs. A lot of people therefore only do WTG and/or XTG and give ATG a miss entirely. You seem to be doing two full passes of ATG, which might be at least one pass too many. If you're getting a lot of irritation, maybe cut back or drop the ATG entirely for a bit and see what happens. 2. The only piece of gear you maybe DO need to apologize for - to yourself - is the Merkur blade. While some people do like them, they seem to rate a place on a huge number of lists of Hated Blades. An awful lot of people class them as dull, rough, tuggy, and just all around impossible to shave with. I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised to hear that many of your problems disappear as soon as you switch to the Wilkinson blades.
That's good advise Adam. Every time I use a razor I haven't used for a while it takes me a few passes to get the correct angle.
Welcome to the Rule/Focus Frank. You'll notice a dramatic improvement at the end of the month. My own experience here doing Focus shaves have helped me A LOT. I think you'll find the same. Have fun and get after it!
With your warnings it works great with resin and plastic handles. However, be very careful using OxyClean with aluminum or finished wood handles. I managed to splash some on a BSB aluminum handle and it required hours of polishing.
Feb 3, 2017 PSO- my own '54 SS w Voskhod (3) Stirling Gentleman Figured Maple handle (my own) with TGN Finest Fan Thayers Unscented Day 3 with the Voskhod in the SS. Similar results to the last few days- good lather, no real irritation, just not as close a shave after 3 passes as I am used to. Will be switching to an Astra SP next. Usually only shave once on the weekend. The real issue I have this morning is an ongoing one with this soap for the 3 times I have used it. I love the Stirling performance, and find the scent of this one unique. The problem is that SWMBO also finds it very 'unique'. Unique as in 'What the heck is that awful smell' unique. I asked for an independent arbitrator-my daughter . Alas, she took the wise path of backing up her mother and wrinkling her nose. Sigh. Enjoy your weekend all!
Totally agree about the Merkur. I am one of those in a minority that think the differences between MOST blades is down there on the totem pole of importance, but you may have stumbled onto a big exception with that blade. If you have a couple of shaves or more on it, I wouldn't feel guilty at all about binning it and moving on.
