Thread: ?????? I'm full of questions I need anwers

Guys, I have a couple of you could say remedial questions but I'm gonna ask anyway. First I just got my new straight razor last week i shaved all three passes the first time and didn't even cut my self maybe not a big feat but I was very proud of myself. Herein lies the question when applying the cream do you do it with the brush or with your hand I'm scared the pre-shave oil may mess my brush up. Second how do you get the cream right I think I'm getting better but it doesn't seem to ever be enough, plus i always either have too much or too little water any advice would be appreciated. Finally, the are under and around the chin seems to be the toughest I'm not getting as close as I want I'm sure I'm doing something wrong the angle seems wrong but it's a tough spot. Also, I saw a post about carbon steel blades rusting really bad does that happen inevitably because I've been oiling mine before putting it up and no rust yet thank God, but is it for sure going too no way of avoiding, or will the oil prevent it?

Thanks,
Just getting started

Sounds like you are already 10 steps ahead of the rest of the game. Good job! The chin and lip are the hardest parts, but it sounds like you got it sorted already.

After your shave carefully dry the blade and scales with a soft towel and put a thin coat of oil on it should keep it happy for a long time. High carbon steel rusts easily, just do whatever you can to not encourage it.

We are holding a meetup in Atlanta Feb 4-5th if you can make it you will learn lots! Search for the Atlanta Meetup thread and join us.

Herein lies the question when applying the cream do you do it with the brush or with your hand

apply cream with brush.

I'm scared the pre-shave oil may mess my brush up.

apply pre shave oil with fingers before cream with brush.

Second how do you get the cream right I think I'm getting better but it doesn't seem to ever be enough,

use more product/ cream. keep practicing.

Finally, the are under and around the chin seems to be the toughest I'm not getting as close as I want I'm sure I'm doing something wrong the angle seems wrong but it's a tough spot.

It's a very rough spot. Will take some time to learn the use of a straight razor before you'll be getting this. Just keep at it.

I never have used the shave oil but I often wondered if it would get into the brush. Maybe washing it off before applying the lather ? By then it will have served it's purpose ? Sorry for answering a question with a question.

Go to youtube and search for 'mantic shaving' videos. He has a pretty good one on generating lather that helped me a lot.

Finally, the area around the chin and neck is the toughest for me too. As your skin stretching, blade angle and direction of attack improve .... overall shave technique you'll find it gets better.

I always wipe my razor dry with a tissue, strop it on leather 20 round trips and wipe it with a silicone gun cloth following my shave. No problems with rust so far.

Since many use pre shave oil and I have never seen a post where someone has complained of declining efficiency in their brush I take that to mean the oil has no effect. Even if it did a good shampoo would wash it out anyway. Having said that some of the brush makers recommend not using oil with their brushes. Personally, I only used the oil briefly when I started and found it did nothing for me so I stopped using it.

As to the neck and chin area like the others have said you will improve as you gain more experience. Just give it some time. It's just a matter of the same old; stretching, angle, pressure and stroke.

Rwebb, First off - BRAVO! Well done! You're already light years beyond my first shaves.

Others have really covered it at this point, but the only thing I'd add would be about blade rust. When I began, I was unable to keep water away from the Pivot. This is most important as the rust will stay hidden until its done some work. Now, if I get the pivot wet or any suds on the scales, I wipe the area w/ a q-tip or paper towel. Leftover soap is hard on the steel and leaves marks that have to be polished off. So if I get anything like that wet, it's cleaned off immediately so the rest of the shave doesn't spread it into areas I wouldn't notice. I wipe the blade and edge on a wet face cloth or sponge, do my post shave stropping, and set it out to air-dry in the open position. After a couple hours - or sometimes the next day, I'll coat w/ oil and put it back in the rotation drawer - which is OUTSIDE the bathroom - which stays more humid than other rooms.

Keep going - you're doing great. It won't come overnight, but you're already doing better than most.

one other question how often do you strop the razor the guy that sold it to me at the art of shaving said every six months and i have to send it off or it voids the warranty so he actually discouraged me from buying a strop what should i do part of the fun has to be stropping, but i dont want to mess my blade up is it still "shave ready" even though ive shaved several times without stropping

Originally Posted by rwebb1683

one other question how often do you strop the razor the guy that sold it to me at the art of shaving said every six months and i have to send it off or it voids the warranty so he actually discouraged me from buying a strop what should i do part of the fun has to be stropping, but i dont want to mess my blade up is it still "shave ready" even though ive shaved several times without stropping

PLEASE - and I do hope that AOS guy is reading this - DO NOT LISTEN TO HIM! He doesn't know what he's talking about, full stop. If I had to guess he was likely thinking about honing, not stropping. Stropping is an integral part of SR shaving and is done before each and every shave. Some of us strop after shaving as well, before oiling and storing the razor. So yes, you will have to buy a strop ASAP if you want to use your razor. As well, you can hone on your own and there is no need to send it out if that is your wish...

BTW - I'll bet the salesman also told you it was shave ready too? Do a search here for AOS and you'll find the overwhelming consensus to be that they aren't. Why they tell customers that is also debated, whether it's a sales gimmick or just out of pure ignorance?

I too have bought a razor from AOS and I can say with 100% certainty that it is NOT shave ready, it will shave but it will not shave COMFORTABLY

Now before everyone jumps all over AOS for saying it's ready when it isn't and false advertising blah blah, while there seem to be many misinformed employees there of late, they weren't trying to screw you intentionally, the blades AOS sells are made by either Dovo or Theirs Issard, (Who both make very high quality blades) and according to the manufacturer they ARE shave ready, so AOS has to say they are shave ready... Trust me they aren't

Don't waste your money on the strop's they sell at AOS, most of what they sell is overpriced.

You have 2 options, what I would recommend is you mosy on over to www.whippedog.com and get the 48 dollar sight unseen special which will include a truly shave ready razor and a poor mans strop kit which includes a leather strop, a piece of pasted balsa etc Or go buy a good strop from one of the vendors here etc, but I recommend the Whipped dog route and here is why

1) You will get to feel what a truly shave ready razor feels like, and you will still have a razor to use while you either learn how to hone or send the AOS blade out to be honed..

2) The strop is inexpensive yet works very well, this is good so that when you nick or cut your strop while learning (and you WILL, trust me on that) you aren't cutting up an expensive strop. Once you are comfortable with stropping then you can go to straightrazordesigns.com or one of the other and get a nicer strop.


As for stropping, you do that before every shave, everyone seems to have a personal routine for what they do so you will get a LOT of advice with it but here is what "I" do...

Before the shave:
60 passes on the leather

After the shave
20 passes leather (Just drys it a bit more etc)

I also put a drop of Camella oil on the razor after it dries and once in a while squirt some WD 40 into the pivots of my razors (Maybe once a month)

Then when my razor's start to need a touch up (they start pulling etc) I do 20 passes on the green pasted balsa then 20 passes on the red pasted balsa and 100 passes on leather. Keeps em good to go, but again this is what "I" do. YMMV

I second mcgyver's suggestion. If you're doing this well with what is probably a subpar edge, you'll be really pleased with a shave from a truly shave-ready blade. And as Ryan82 says, stropping is imperative. When you get your first strop, practice on it with something dull first--it's an odd motion and a little muscle memory will go a long way to prevent strop-gouging, edge-nicking tragedies. Work out the kinks with a butter knife, and watch a bunch of the stropping videos here on the site.

At your chin and lips, good stretches and short strokes will be your friends. Use a washcloth for better stretching traction if you have to.

For rust, you're doing the right things. A couple of extra things I like to do are lubricate the hinge pin with a drop of tuf-glide, and to wax the entire razor with Renaissance Wax. Besides the extra protection and the shiny factor, I find that the waxed blade is much easier to rinse clean. The post-shave stropping is an important part of rust prevention, since it removes potentially corrosive crud from the cutting edge. Without magnification you won't even know how much stuff remains along that edge, even after a good rinse and towel-drying. Rust along your cutting edge is the worst.

Good luck, best wishes, and happy shaving!