Thread: New to straight razor

Hi guy’s I’m new to straight razors and I have recently got myself one so I can trim all the edges of my beard. I’m looking to see what everyone uses before, during and after when having a beard.

I look after it very well and have an army of oils, balm soaps etc so I’m looking to add to the collection when keeping all the edges tidy. I take the neck line up slightly too to keep it straight.

Hi Shaunny, welcome aboard. I'm assuming your asking about pre and post prep / before and after a shave.

Myself.. Hot shower, lather and shave. Then a drop of Glycerin with wet hands, and aftershave lotion.


You could also look thru the SOTD ( shave of the day) thread. Many of us post what we did and used for that day.

Welcome, Look through the forums, you should find the information you are searching for.

Enjoy the journey.

Preshave prep with Noxema and post shave with aftershave.

Hello and welcome!
Getting the edges of a beard just right can be a bit tricky, I had a tougher time with that when I was growing a stash and goatie, than just shaving it all.
Ask aboutany specific techniques, as there are many, and I'm sure you will get some great input.
Good luck and welcome aboard!

actually the stuff you add is mostly for your personal preferences, but the most important thing is to have a properly hone razor then learn how to strop. then after a couple of months you will start to gain some experience with the blade in hand. cannot stress learning to strop or get your razor honed by someone who knows how, unless your using replacable blade shavettes

Thank you guys. I have been learning to hone and strop the razor as I have all the kit etc because of my work and to sharpen my kitchen knife. I have Naniwa stones ranging from 400-8000 plus a strop and componds so I think I’m pretty set for that.

Welcome.

Sounds like you are already an experienced blade guy. We’ve had a lot of discussion on SRP recently about the differences between sharpening razors and sharpening knives. One of our members is a very experienced blade maker and has recently posted some videos you might find interesting - as well as the related comments in the thread from SRP members. Check out
https://straightrazorpalace.com/honi...reo-scope.html

Have fun and watch out for the various acquisition disorder rabbit holes many of us have happily fallen into.

If you ask 1000 shavers how they do it, you will get 1000 different answers. What will work best for you depends on the toughness of your beard and the sensitivity of your skin.

If your beard is not too tough and your skin is not too sensitive, you might be able to shave off your 8K Naniwa. Many folks can. However, many folks here like edges that are sharper and smoother and prefer using 12K as the minimum level. Those like me with a tough beard and sensitive skin will go even higher than that using extremely find synthetic or natural stones. Of course, you can do something similar by using pasted strops with fine abrasives.

Honing a razor is not like shaerpening a knife. I will leave it at that. Honing takes a long time to learn to do it right and in my opinion 8k is not a finishjng stone. But thats my opinion.

When just starting with a straight razor, a pro honed razor is what you want. Not something you have tried to hone. It could make the difference of you continuing to use a straight or givi g up right away. As TC said, its the most important part in shaving.

Enjoy the fun of straight shavi g even if your just going to touch up your beard. A good soap and a brush and a proper honed blade is a must and will make the learning go so much better.