Straight Razors. to shave or die

[EweSheep]

When I was watching you on the video, I mimicked your face and I kept thinking..........no cut, no cut please! Please don't cut yourself!

 

[HeatherLynn]

Thankfully I have no facial hair so I don't use one of these BUT my husband does. You will never feel their face this smooth. Mm and the shaving soaps smell awesome. I bought him some bay rum soap and aftershave. Yummy

I actually joined a straight razor forum before he did to gather information to buy him all his starting gear. Some beautiful razors out there. Your collection is HUGE. Maybe I should make the bathroom I am planning for our new house a tad bigger. He may need more space in the future. I am forever encouraging his addiction ( chicken math is much cheaper than straight razor math!!) so his collection grows pretty steady. Yea I think we will expand that bathroom a tad.

 

[BairleaFarm]

Most of my cuts were when I was training my left hand.

Thanks Heather. If you want to give him some local KY shave soap let me know. Ill send ya a puck at no charge. Love me some smooth face.

You know the whole thing about this for me is the experience. I spend a .25 - 1 hour shaving. Depends on prep and motivation. You I want to do hot towels and facial scrub ooooorrrr Am i pretending im zoro and hurry.

 

[HeatherLynn]

Quote:
Thats funny. my husband is similar in the whole experience aspect. He hates when he has to rush. He actually finds it very stress relieving to sit there with his stop and get the razor ready. Get all his stuff prepped and waiting for when he steps out of the shower. He comes out of the bathroom a much more relaxed person when he gets to take his time.

He has already restored a blade for his father. Still has a bit of work to do to get the whole package together but he is pretty excited about it. When we went to Mass we found a safety razor that looks like a straight. It just has a guard on it. He is doing a bit of a restore on that for the eventual day he gets to teach our 10 year old how to shave. We have yet to see another like it. The guy was so thankful someone bought it though we got an awesome price. I think he worried no one every would want one.

 

[EweSheep]

What do you look for in a good straight razors? Does the handle matter or merely for decoration? I am sure plastic won't do because you would not hold the blade firmly without the handle going flimsy or bent on you.

And the brushes? I've seen some that looked like stone handles and wood handles. Boar hair? Camel hair??

 

[BairleaFarm]

Razor handles are called scales. Bristles on brushes are called knots.

Brushes - The most common knots are boar and badger. Badger is sought after more so than boar because its a softer bristle. Most of the cheap brushes that places like walmart carry are boar. I happen to like both. I have a boar and 2 badger brushes that I use. They used to use horse hair but it contains arsenic so you dont see much of it anymore. The handles range from ivory to wood to plastic to stone to metal. My boar is plastic and my two badger brushes are wood.

When i look for razors I look at many things to determine value. Blade and scale condition. Brand and condition of scales. Most all vintage razors make good shavers. Some are better than other but vary from person to person. I have a full set of hones(sharpening stones) that range from 220 grit up to 12000 grit and some pasted strops(the leather thing used by barbers) that go up to 30000grit (iirc) Most small chips in a blade can be honed out with hours of work.

Plastic is fine for the scales as you dont hold the razor by the handle. Very few plastics (as we know them) were used. Bakelite was a common substance used with can be formed to look like plastic, wood, or ivory. I use acyclic for the scales I make.

I used clear acrylic on this razor so I could see the etching on the blade. Here is how you hold a razor..........

 

[EweSheep]

Thanks for sharing invaluable information!

I love the smell of bay rum soap but hubby loves to shave in the shower or at sink sometimes.

Do you women love to watch your man or Daddy or any male shaving? I do!

 

[BairleaFarm]

My honey is actually a master barber. She shaves her parts with a Straight. My family finds its amazing and I do have an advance from time to time.

 

[EweSheep]

Your honey shaves with a straight??!!! oh Lordy, bring on plenty of band-aids!

 

[BairleaFarm]

yeap. how in the heck a straight blade works on a curved armpit is beyond me.