Hello All: I've been DE shaving for close to a couple months now and my face has been burning (weak) to make the jump to straights. I finally broke down yesterday and got the "Sight Unseen" deal from Larry @ Whipped Dog. (Side note: Larry is a GREAT guy to work with, very patient and will answer all your questions, even on a sight unseen). i just ordered yesterday afternoon and already got shipping confirmation so I will hopefully start out this weekend. Any advice for the very first shave?
No advice from me, I tried it a few months ago but wasn't really ready :ashamed001 Good luck though! please report back on what you get, I'm interested in the same deal. Did you get the hone also?
No hone, just the razor and strop. I might get into honing as I get better at shaving. My wife is still waiting to see this get cheaper than cartridge razor shaving:happy102. Now, how do I convince her I wasn't lying at the time.:think002
Cool! :happy088 Advice? I just watched a couple of videos and jumped right in. I just took it slow and careful. Had a couple of nicks, but nothing serious. Keep the styptic pencil at the ready. Don't let a bad first time out take you down. Str8 shaving is something that takes time to learn and master. Be it known I am FAR from being a master. Every shave seems to go a little smoother, a little easier. Hang in there and you'll get it.
:sihns011 I got my straight from Larry also - He is a swell guy. I am still way new to shaving with it, I only do it on Saturdays that I have off. I have decided to just take it slow and have fun with it. I think some day I will get to the point where I will shave with a straight a couple times a week but I have a long way to go before I get there.
My advice for someone just starting out would be to start slow... First, realize your first go will not be perfect, most likely far from it. I would just start with the sideburns and check area, then finish off the rest with your DE. After a few shave you'll get more comfortable with the razor. At that point start adding different area's of your face. Before you know it, you'll be getting decent shaves with the straight. Just keep at it, before you know it that decent shave will turn into a quality shave. On the other hand, some take to straight shaving with no problem at all and find the transition very easy. If your one of those people, Great! If not don't let it bother you, just keep at it slow and steady. Good Luck!
I've read pretty much this same advice on another forum. I'll try to force myself to go with this but with my level of excitement comes a powerful lack of responsibility. I dont know that I'll be able to put it down when it's time. of course the damage I'll probably do to my face if I am too aggressive should be a strong motivator.:shocked003
If it starts off well, then do as much as you feel comfortable with (be it sideburns or all of it) When I first started years ago I was to young and dumb (15yrs old) to know any different. So I jumped in with both feet. I think the best reason for starting slow is this. Shaving the side burns area is pretty straight forward and pretty easy to master rather quickly. Also give you time to get comfortable holding and maneuvering the razor. Chin, jawline, neck take a little more technique to get a good shave without going over and over and over and over the same area.
The best advice I ever got was to go slow. The pencil is a great idea too. I recommend only doing one pass and just the sideburns as a start. The slower you go, the easier your face adjusts and the smoother the shave. You will find it addictive though so have fun and go slow!
I started straight shaving in middlel Feb. of this year. I soon started shaving with no qualms nor nicks. I also advise using a "practice razor", one that is cheap and a razor and merely dull the cutting edge down so that it CANNOT cut. Practice lathering up and taking off lather with it. It gives your hand to eye co-ordination a go. It lets you see how to hold the razor and try to hold the razor in different comfortable ways without messing up your face. After you have done this about 10 times or so with the practice, take it along with you in your pocket and during breaks at the bathroom, try the more difficult areas that you are confronted with, the lips, the chin, and under the chin area with the practice razor. It builds your ability to remember how you want to hold the blade, keep it at 30deg to your face and never make a slice, a movement that moves the blade diagonal on your face as that is the very fastest way to have a good cut. That includes moving your face. I have a Wacker an the other day was going great and happened to move my head to the left to get more of a view on my right jaw line near my ear and I had the razor agains the skin. Gave myself a slice. Healed in 2 days. Razor cuts, if attended to properly, mend pretty quick. Practice and get the feel of the blade in the hand, and you'll do fine. Year ago, many of a youngster watched his Dad shave with a straight and had his little "straight" there to practice "just like Dad".
So I got my straight and its just what you'd expect from Whipped Dog: Great, shave-ready blade with no frills. I'm two shaves in and so far so good. a couple nicks from the tip and one decent slice on my upper lip but by the second one i already did two full passes with "ok" results. i keep telling myself to stop with less strokes but i just cant. as things are going ok i just have to keep pushing. i'm sure i'll regret that sooner or later but for now things are going great. The only concern left is how in the world will i go back to DE for my weekday shaves?
That is great. Just takes time and practice until you can get a nice shave... Well for switching back to DE you just wake up earlier and shave with the straight anyways.
If you have access to an old razor, any old razor, you might dull down the edge an use it as "Practice". I used a cheap Pakistani razor when I started back in Feb. I used it with lather, practicing the hold, getting ideas, watching youtube videos on how they shaved. Watched videos posted on this and other forums on people "here" shaving, even one handed, and used that dulled edge razor to get down a technique. Within just a few days I had in monts worth of practice, and applied that new practice in shaving. I still have that razor, but don't do anything with it now as I shave, without nics and such every day and all goes well. It is kind of like shooting a pistol and dry firing at a target. Your mind and your eyes and hands start to get in sync and pretty soon, your scores improve, your group tightens up and there is better control and hand to eye co-ordination with the pistol. Same thing would apply to a razor for practice. The dulled down razor that can not cut, will give your hand a feel of pitch, of seeing it in the mirror, even though no whisers were harmed in the exercise. Even though you don't get feedback from the actual cutting of the whisker, you "DO" get feedback from if you do a "bo-bo" by forgetting where all the blade is at any moment you shave. I could actually feel that if I did a certain stroke around my mouth that one edge of the razor hit another part of my lower lip and even though it did not cut, I "knew" that had it been sharp, I would have had a nick there.
I read this suggestion before and have some questions on it: do you really get an accurate feel for angle with a blade that doesnt cut? it would seem to me that the feedback you get from a "real" razor would tell you more than a dull one. In fact, I would be concerned that a dull razor could give you bad habits in the angle department because it's not giving you a real feel for the correct cutting angle. Given your experience with this I'm sure I'm wrong in that assumption and should just try it. Now to find a dull razor......
:happy102 I've actually thought about doing just that. Where are we when we plan our entire sleep habit around our ability to shave in the morning? Addicted? You bet!
It worked for me. You are not looking for feedback on the blade cutting, you are looking for feedback from the mirror you are looking into. You will see in the mirror that your angle is too steep or way to shallow. If it doesn't take off lather, you are WAY to shallow on angle. It gives you feedback on holding, adjusting the position, the change of the face angle, all these things and without cutting you. I went from never shaving with a straight to shaving entirely with a straight in about 3 days, never using the 2-blade disposable I have, except for the occasional missed whisker up by my nose or around the corner of my mouth. I'm either very lucky or perhaps it worked. And, I'm talking ALL of my face, chin, lips, under the chin, neck etc., took about 3 days to where i was not getting "too" close of a shave. I have been wet shaving for years. I'm 58 now and except for a period of a few years where I was using an electric, I've always wet shaved. I think I even used a Fat Boy adjustable and an injector (single blade) once upon a time way back. I just do it slow and pay attention to angle and pressure and make sure that there is little sideways motions as THAT will cut. I do a little side motion like a scythe, but always while moving down the face area. Just make sure that the razor you use for REAL shaving is very sharp & sooth. I shaved 2 nights ago with what I "thought" was decently sharp, but razor burned my neck and immediately put the razor down and grabbed the GOTTA 120 and finished out without any more nicks or burns. The "other" razor was a vintage that I thought I had gotten shave ready, but, nothing like a shave to tell you..... no.. not quite there. LOL
No, not the one I set the bevel on the belt sander, but a Geo. Wostenholmd & Sons with an Ivory handle. I have two from that maker and the one with the Ivory handle is harder to get a fine edge on, than the one with the darker plastic handle with light swirls on it. Latter being an Extra Hollow and not sure about the former, G. Wostenholm & Sons with the Ivory handle. It is more triangular shaped at the spine and not exactly like the other. However, the one that I DID set the bevel on with my 1000 grit German belt on the sander, gives an excellent shave. You should try it sometime to see for yourself using a 1000 grit 1X30 belt sander. Doesn't even put out enough warmth to be of any concern. Hot water for rinsing is about 3X hotter than anything I felt using it. Now I see the supplier I have for belts has some new belts in stock a 600 grit diamond, a 1300 grit and a 3000 grit German belt. Just tools of good use. The Gold Bug ( by A. Witte) was the one I set the bevel on usint the belt sander, and I grab it up if I want a realy close and smooth shave.
