Thread: Shaving/Prep with One Hand?

Hey Guys,

I am about four shaves into my Straight Razor adventure and it's been going pretty well. However, on Monday two of my fingers were pulled into a bandsaw when the piece I was working on snagged. I had surgery yesterday and it looks like I get to keep all of my fingers. But--this still leaves the question of shaving?

Are there tricks to stropping,lathering, and shaving with one hand? Or should I just let it lie until I have both hands back?

Stropping you could attach a thong to the handle end and hold it with your foot or if you loop it injured arm.
Lathering may be better with a cream in a heavy bowl/scuttle to reduce movement, you could also face lather by rubbing a soap directly on your face.
Stretching could be accomplished with holding air in your cheeks and facial manipulations.
There was a member or two here with permanent use of one hand only, but I have not seen those in some time. You may want to search for their past posts by this subject.

I'd do what I could with one hand, then finish up with another method.

I had my arm in a sling from surgery for 6 weeks and managed to keep shaving some how lol, luckily it was my left arm that i couldn't use.

I have a paddle strop and that made things easier!

Sorry to hear about the battle with the band saw.

With stretching the skin I use the heel of my hand or thumb mostly on my cheeks, and below the jawline can be stretched by tilting the jaw up as far as it will go, although you end up looking into the mirror down your nose.

Yikes, man! I wish you a speedy recovery. That's a rough day at work.

I agree... the paddle strop may help, and honing would be a bit more finnicky, but with a stone holder it might not be too difficult. As for the shaving, I bet many guys shave with only their right hand, although now that I'm comfortable with both, I'd rather not look back.

Take care,
Atchbo

Well, I already had my shave during the "Dark of Night".

I actually cut myself less using only my right hand--but I think I might have rolled the edge stropping because there was a lot of pulling as I went along. Though I also had almost 6 days of growth to get rid of, no good way to stretch the skin, and trouble with my lather.

With the exception of a few places immediately under my jawbone and the extreme edges of my throat I managed to do a passable job on everything. Thanks for the tips--though I admit that I cannot inflate my cheeks with enough pressure to shave against. I did try though.

The pulling could have also been caused by the extra growth. Shorter strokes will help with that.
If you are putting enough pressure on your cheeks to collapse them while you are shaving, you are using too much pressure.
I was once asked; "at what pressure am I using too little?"
My response; "when the razor is no longer touching your face."

Good on you for trying, that is the attitude I like to see around here.
Remember this was the only way to shave for the longest time, some people did it without one arm.

First take care of your hand.
You do not want to risk an infection following the surgery.
The first week or two is the most important and difficult.

I would grab my Palmolive shave stick and face lather
and then use my DE or even resort to a couple bucks
worth of BiC tossables (single blade ones, only).

In a week or so the surgical repair should have begun to
heal so you will have a better notion of what works.

A hanging strop is hard to use one handed.
Hanging strops with a ring can work with a loop or
thong so you can pull without hand strength.
Loom strops would be easy to use as would some box strops.

Stretching the skin would be difficult to get right
with a bandaged hand that must be kept dry and clean.

There is always that 1980's white jacket in the closet
.... just go all Don Johnson for a month.

Priority #1 is to keep the wound from further damage
or infection. The early granulation stages are important
so let your body do the right thing and minimize scarring.
Your surgeon's advice should be followed.

Boxers have a rule of thumb for cuts... 1% per day
to full heal. You will be well enough in half that time
or less for most things.

Again... Your surgeon's advice should be followed.