Thread: Introduction and a Question

Hi everybody, I'm Ian. I've been eyeing up straight razors for a while now... and in a post-Sweeney Todd fervor I swept the internet for all the information I could get on them. I've got a habit of making things difficult... When I started smoking, cigarettes seemed too easy, so I went for a handmade Egyptian hookah. When fast-food lost its charms, I went to culinary school and learned how to cook. Since disposable razors are ridiculously expensive and leave me with constant razorburn and never a close shave, straight-edges seem the way to go.

I plan on buying a secondhand, shave-ready piece off the BST section of the forum, but before I lay out the money to get a shave-kit set up, I wanted to ask if anyone else had luck in eliminating some damn persistant razorburn by switching away from a disposable? I figure having a constantly-sharp blade would be better, like always having a fresh-from-the-box razor.

Also, I know I need soap, a brush, a strop and a hone, but that seems to be about it. I'm looking to get as much as I can from The Well-Shaved Gentleman and Classic Shaving, and the secondhand razor from the forum. Potentially a stand, too. I've already got a shaving mirror, and it shouldn't be terrible to sacrifice a house-mug for the shaving cause, right? Besides that, are there any cheaper alternatives to the fifty-dollar-plus brushes I see everywhere?

You've got a few hidden questions in there. First, welcome. Second, there are many alternatives to brush expense but typically $50 for a decent badger hair brush is money well spent. You can get a $12 brush at say Target or a departments store, like a Proraso brush, but you get what you pay for in the $50 range.

Any shaving mug will do.

Yea, some guys get razor burn initially when they are learning but generally straights are so smooth and only have one blade that I often don't use shaving cream at all. No burn whatsoever.

Getting a perfect shave though takes a long time to learn. For me eliminating razor burn was far more important. That happens very quickly, like 5th shave.

Originally Posted by TheDoctor

Hi everybody, I'm Ian. I've been eyeing up straight razors for a while now... and in a post-Sweeney Todd fervor I swept the internet for all the information I could get on them. We figured the movie would bring some guys around to us here. Welcome! I've got a habit of making things difficult... When I started smoking, cigarettes seemed too easy, so I went for a handmade Egyptian hookah. When fast-food lost its charms, I went to culinary school and learned how to cook. Since disposable razors are ridiculously expensive and leave me with constant razorburn and never a close shave, straight-edges seem the way to go.

I plan on buying a secondhand, shave-ready piece off the BST section of the forum, but before I lay out the money to get a shave-kit set up, I wanted to ask if anyone else had luck in eliminating some damn persistant razorburn by switching away from a disposable? Not only eliminating razor burn from cartridge, disposable (and DE!...oooh the B&B guys are going to argue!) but also electrics. My neck was the worst for burn before straights. Now I have no burn, no ingrowns and a clean shaven neck since moving to straights exclusively. I figure having a constantly-sharp blade would be better, like always having a fresh-from-the-box razor.

Also, I know I need soap, a brush, a strop and a hone, You do NOT need a hone to start off. A strop in some form , (there are many things that can be used for stropping, smooth leather, balsa wood, newspaper, denim, etc) without question. If you have a properly honed edge to start and you take care of it, it can give you many shaves, PLENTY of shaves to find out if you like shaving this way prior to actually buying stones (plural). but that seems to be about it. I'm looking to get as much as I can from The Well-Shaved Gentleman and Classic Shaving, and the secondhand razor from the forum. Potentially a stand, too. Only my opinion here and the opinion of many others....a stand isn't necessary. Standing your brush you've rid of as much moisture as possible upright on it's handle works great. I actually bought a chrome stand from Classic Shaving when I started out and never use it now. I've already got a shaving mirror, and it shouldn't be terrible to sacrifice a house-mug for the shaving cause, right? Besides that, are there any cheaper alternatives to the fifty-dollar-plus brushes I see everywhere? I bought a $15 Tweezerman 100% Badger brush some time ago as an interim brush upgrade from the scritchy $5 bristle brush I started with and have yet to buy a "$50+" brush (too many nice razors and hones to buy). CLICK HERE for the link to where I bought my brush. I'm perfectly satisfied with it at this point; it shed almost no hair whatsoever and is worlds softer than the bristle I had.

I hope some/all of this helps. Most of all...............Welcome!

Chris L

Not meaning to hijack your thread, Doctor (Welcome!)

Chrisl, you mentioned balsa wood? How does this rate as far as using leather? Just as good? I'm assuming you would sand the balsa to make it completely smooth?

AFIK, a balsa surface will not work as quickly as leather. I never got around to experimenting since I have a very nice 12x3.25" leather on machine-flattened marble bench hone.

Nobody "needs" a top of the line silvertip badger brush. The fact is an el cheapo boar hair brush will do a perfectly adequate job - a badger brush just feels much nicer. Buy a boar hair brush to start and go on to a more expensive brush later if you want to. Some people actually prefer the boar hair.

Tony Miller/ The Well Shaved Gentleman has some starter kits that come sans razor and the one with the pasted paddle strop would be a way for you to get all the gear you need to start out in one fell swoop.

Once you get the basic set-up you will find the desire for some of the more exotic and interesting items out there creeping in. things like fine soaps (these really make a difference) so you can choose fragrance day by day. super nice brushes for the ultimate lather and softness. Or A scuttle for that warm lather feeling.

If moneys tight, any brush from the drugstore will do for a while. A cake of Williams mug picked up usually right next to that brush for less than two bucks is where a lot of guys get their start with a cake soap.

The strop though you want quality, because either it works well and will be around for years or it is so cheap it does bad things to a razor and get thrown out instantly. With the choices at either classic or from Tony you can't go wrong there.

The problem with the cheaper brush is that while an alternative it isn't the same as the more expensive ones. the Badger hair for the better brushes is a lot more expensive than the boar hair found on the cheaper alternative. I am one of those guys who seems to prefer the boar hair though, and for less than twenty bucks you can get a nice boar brush. There is however a noticeable difference in the hairs and you might like the badger better.

Originally Posted by cwrighta70

Not meaning to hijack your thread, Doctor (Welcome!)

Chrisl, you mentioned balsa wood? How does this rate as far as using leather? Just as good? I'm assuming you would sand the balsa to make it completely smooth?

I do not sand the balsa wood as the surface is quite smooth as is. However, I use my balsa as a medium in which I apply Chromium Oxide to polish a blade. I still use leather as a final strop although newspaper can also be used as a final strop prior to shave. I have used plain un-sanded balsa to "set" the edge prior to leather much like a canvas strop would be used and this worked fine; no negative effects, but also not really any significantly improved results over just leather, so I didn't find a benefit to adding that step.

Chris L

Originally Posted by Chrisl

As has been said above, it all depends on your budget. Here are my suggestions if you don't mind piecing a set together:

1. Strop: Tony Miller (http://www.thewellshavedgentleman.com), no question about it. Starter strop ~$30.

2. Brush: The Crabtree & Evelyn brushes get rave reviews for the price ($35) ( http://store.crabtree-evelyn.com/men...ing-tools.html).

3. Soap: Tabac, generally available at http://www.qedusa.com/. You might have to call to make sure he has it. ~$20.

4. Aftershave: Aqua Velva, available at most regular drugstores. ~$5
Chris L

I had a similar post, and I think a lot of people have. This was a consolidated answer I got and it has been helpful. There are many more resources, but these should help to put somein one place. Good luck.

Nothing more here for me to add other than welcome aboard