I’m considering using a straight razor to shave (my face) with. Does anyone have any experience or recommendations with such?
Why would you want to use a straight razor instead of a normal modern razor?
I’ve been shaving with straights for the past 7 years or so. There are two things you need in order to get passable shaves: skin prep, and razor sharpness.
For skin prep you can use any of a number of decent shaving soaps or creams, but you don’t want to use canned foam. For starting out you may want to swing by your local drug store and see if they have the Van Der Hagen soap/brush/bowl kit. The brush is o.k., and the soap is pretty good. Another way to go would be a cream such as the “Kiss My Face” shaving cream that you have to lather with a brush or in your hands.
Get your razor from someone that is trusted to provide “shave ready” blades. New razors do not come from the factory honed sharp enough to shave. You are better off getting a vintage blade that has been honed by a proffessional. Eventually you may want to hone your own razors, but that comes in time. You will want a simple strop to keen up the edge before shaving, but that doesn’t need to be anything special. I have a strop I made from a piece of clean cow hide such as you might find in a hobby store, or a tandy shop.
A good source for razors is Whippeddog.com. If you pick up one of his "poor mans strop kits, and one of his razors you can be ready to go without a huge investment.
After you learn how to shave with a straight razor you get closer, better shaves that last longer. Because you can adjust the angle of the blade to your skin during the stroke you can minimize, or eliminate discomfort and irritation from the razor. It does take a bit longer to shave with a straight, so it’s not ideal for every situation. When I don’t have time to shave with my straights I go for my double edge Gillette red tip safety razor. It still gives me far better shaves than I get from “modern” razors.
Cost is another factor. If you don’t let collecting get in the way you can make an initial investment in straight razors, and never have to spend anything on them again. When you look at the cost of current “modern” razor cartridges, and the accepted life expectancy of each cartridge you are talking about hundreds of dollars a year.
Another side benefit is that for the first time in my life I enjoy shaving. This seems like a little thing, but I find great value in being able to enjoy things as mundane as shaving. Sometimes we just have to slow down to appreciate what we have. In that way it’s not very different than unicycling.
Environmentally it is a cleaner way to clean the stubble. When you toss a disposable razor, or a cartridge you are putting plastic into a landfill that will never go away.
Good luck,
Jerry
Just to play devil’s advocate… (and because I don’t use a straight razor)
How much longer?
If I have to spend 3x as long shaving my face, but I only double the time I can wait between shaves, I’m losing time. And time is money. Albert Einstein proved it.
Good prep and good cream can do the same for shaving with a disposable. I have a mirror in my shower, and I’ve found an AMAZING cream… I’m getting the best shaves I’ve ever gotten. It’s gonna be hard to convince me to switch.
It’s possible to spend $100s a year on dental floss, but that doesn’t mean a lot of people are doing it. I’m highly dubious about your figure, even if you can produce the math to support it.
I spend maybe $5 a year on disposables. I get them in bulk from Costco, and I get 3-4 months out of each razor. How? Stropping!
These are both extreme examples… but I believe people fall somewhere in the middle. And straight-edge razors aren’t cheap either… especially when you factor in time spent sharpening & stropping.
I’d be scared to meet anyone who enjoys dragging a blade across human skin. 
I’ve never read an article that said we’re running out of landfill space. We’ve got waaaaaay more space for landfill than we’d ever need… and that space is reusable.
If you really want to save the environment, kill a bunch of Americans or Europeans. Food and water are in much, much shorter supply than landfill space. And first world countries are notorious wasters of food and water.
Haha…I know this is weird that I’m posting here. My son won’t use the modern razors, because of the cost of the blades, plus he has said the shave doesn’t compare, he uses the safety razor, a good one (one step from the straight razor) but he does get shaves with the straight razors at the barbershop or whatever it is referred to. Anyway, he likes this store for shaving supplies…http://www.theartofshaving.com/ and he has said they are very helpful. Just thought I’d add to the conversation.
So, a question: if I shave only once/week or so, will the straight razor work just as well, because the multi-blade disposables don’t. They clog on the thick beard & long whiskers, big time. This sparked my interest in straight razors.
I knew someone here would be into it.
Thanks. I’ll check out this vendor.
It does seem like a passion for the few who are into it, like uni.
I just hate disposable anything.
Dude, “play”? You ARE devil’s advocate.
I agree, a great cream works wonders, but the thick, raggedy beard still catches the blades of a multi-blade disposable or an electric.
Really? You strop the 25-cent disposable? Does it really work?
steveyo: One of the nice things about a straight is that it doesn’t matter how long your beard is the razor will plow through it. The other nice thing is that since the blade doesn’t clog up with hair it really doesn’t take any longer to shave after a week than it does after a couple of days.
Maestro: I have to admit that I enjoy your position on many topics whether I agree or not. To be honest sometimes I don’t know if you agree with what you’re writing, but therein lies the devils advocate.
The figures I got for cartridge cost come from the recommendation from Gillette for the Mach 3 cartridges, which are not the current top offering, but still rather expensive. Actual usage varies based on a great number of factors including the rate that your beard grows, the coarseness of your beard, and even the humidity where you store the blades. As you stated you can get far more use out of a blade from stropping, but I don’t know how you strop cartridge blades. That intrigues me.
Most of the points that I made above are general reasons why people would use straights, and not necessarily my reasons. In my case I just like the idea of having tools that are designed to be used, and re-used. I like the whole process of straight shaving. I like slowing down and taking my time. If time is money as you aptly put it, then I guess you could say that I’m investing in myself.
Having a straight razor shave is one of those luxuries I’ve always wanted to try.
And I don’t mean doing it myself, I mean going to a barber and having the whole works, that is the face massage, shave and hot towel treatment.
Unfortunately there are no longer any decent barbers in my area that do this.
I guess the modern day ridiculous health and safety laws have pushed them out of business.
The nearest barber that does an old-fashioned cut-throat shave is an hour away by car, which is a bit too far to go just for a smooth chin.
It’s one of those things on my bucket list.
I will get it done, I just don’t know when.
If you do get a barber shop shave you may want to do a little research about the barber first. Most of the first hand accounts I have heard about barber straight shaves haven’t been too good. These are from people who shave with straights and know first hand how smooth and comfortable the shaves can be. The modern disposable straights that most barbers use don’t begin to compare to the smooth edge on a traditional straight. Apparently there are still some barbers that use real straights, but as you said the health and safety laws make it very difficult for them. It’s much easier to use the disposable ones so that each customer gets a new blade. So, as I said if you research the barber first and find out if they are using a real straight or a disposable that will give you a good idea about what to expect from the shave.
I had no idea disposable straights existed.
I can see much more research is needed.
i hate shaving so much. i shave as infrequently as possible with shitty disposable razors. at least one part of my skin gets irritated, EVERY time.
Perhaps fear, or fearlessness of blades is genetic ?
I rarely shave. Yet I don’t like having a beard. In this sense, life has never seemed ideal to me. I use those cheap plastic things every few weeks.
I was always shocked at the movies where the actor was in the chair while the barber waved that thing about. Scary as hell, and I’m not so sure about hell. Someone coughs while that thing is at your throat and it’s a lot more than I would consider paying for a shave.
“Knave”, someone who used to be alive, before he went for a shave.
No coward I, I enjoyed racing and crashing motorcycles. OK, not all of the crashes were fun, but hell, some of them were awesome !
A line always existed though. We knew when we had crossed it, crash or not. You know when you have had a “close shave”, when you study it over and over again.
A close shave is a brush with death, not to be repeated, never sought for, yet accepted as the price in cool games played with dangerous toys.
A “brush with death”, then lean back and become within a razors edge of cut throat reality.
It scares me a bit just to write this. Not only would I never allow anyone to shave my throat with a straight razor, I would never trust myself with such a task. Barbers used to perform surgery. Heroin and morphine was legal and common in the late 1800’s , and barbers would do surgery. Maybe they gave you a candy cane first. I never go to the barber, ever.
I’m dead-nuts serious about the landfill. We’ve got freakin’ water rations here in CA from time to time… but they’ll cart away as much garbage as you can put out on the street, anytime you want.
Think about that. Water rations. In the US. Shouldn’t you be worried about that?
So now I don’t think twice when grabbing a styrofoam cup at the water cooler. I’d rather contribute to a landfill than use more water to clean out a reusable cup.
My face is not near as stubbly as yours… so I’m perfectly okay with my Mach 3’s
Both my office mate and I have been stropping our Mach 3’s and get much more life out of them. Of course, your mileage will vary… but I got at least 4 months outta my last disposable. And all I use for stropping is my forearm. After all, what’s leather made out of?
I realize I might only be stropping one side of the blade, and after the first couple months, it’s not as sharp as it used to be, but it doesn’t irritate my sensitive baby-soft skin! That’s all that matters to me… I hate getting those red bumps from a bad shave.
What’s this amazing cream that you use?
I think the key ingredient is shea butter. My favorite cream got discontinued: “Shave the Planet” by Lush. It’s primary ingredient was shea butter and it did such a good job at moisturizing that I didn’t even need to apply anything after I was done shaving.
You can use the hand cream that inspired “Shave the Planet” and get the same results: http://www.lushusa.com/shop/products/body/hand-and-body-creams/handy-gurugu
Here’s the replacement for “Shave the Planet”: “Prince”. http://www.lushusa.com/shop/products/face/shaving-creams/prince-triple-orange-blossom
“Prince” still contains shea butter, but not as much… there’s more cocoa butter in it. It still is very good in comparison to the cans of crap you find at Target or Walmart.
The best thing about these products is that a little goes a long way. I buy an 8 oz. tub and it lasts for a good 6 months. If you can find a Lush store near you, they’ll give you free samples of their products, I think you just have to pay $1 for the container or something.
I used to go to a local hair-dresser, and convinced her to shave my head using a straight.
I didn’t think to get one myself at the time, I can kick myself now.
I looked at the new “disposable” straights, realised they were on par with a “programmable Hendrix solo”, vomited, and moved on.
I’m still in the market for a vintage blade, know I will get one, and am at peace.
In the meantime, if you don’t know this website, it might be worth a read, and a browse.
My amazing cream is Kiehl’s “Close Shavers Squadron”
I would never have purchased such a high-end cream, but it was a gift, and a nice one, at that.
This is what grampa used to shave with.
I’m sure it’s still in the house somewhere, probably in the attic.
A very innovative design.
I tried it once, nearly killed myself.
I only use electric shavers, except once. We flew to Europe for our honeymoon, mostly camped out through Germany and France. I had forgotten to pack my shaver, so in Cannes I went to a barber shop for a shave. I could not speak French, nor the barber English. It hadn’t occurred to me that I would be getting a straight razor cut. It was quite an experience getting lathered up, and having that shave with a straight blade. When you’re in a unfamiliar country, and a man puts a knife to your face, even in a barber shop, it occurs to you that you could easily disappear without a trace and no one would be the wiser. But that barber knew his craft. Certainly was the closest shave I’ll ever have, without even a nick.
the unicycle of shaving utensils
Alrighty! I received my restored “CU Day” razor in the mail from whippeddog.com today, (FREAKING SHARP!) and tried straight razoring for the very first time. (at age 48!)
I have chops (long sideburns) right now, so I needed to trim a week’s growth from my upper cheeks, chin, the areas around my mouth, as well as my entire neck.
I used a hot washcloth on my chin, smeared on some cream, and tried it out. With Larry (whipped-dog) and others’ advice, I laid the blade flattish and tried a few beard-shortening strokes. Kinda worked. Then I enbravened a little and angled the blade a bit more. Hmmm…not bad. I stopped without shaving the knob of my chin - too chicken to try that yet.
Then prepped and creamed upper cheeks. Totally sweet. Then I went for the smoother part of the moustache area. A little more delicate, but I had success there as well. I did NOT go for the center groove between nose and upper lip (philtrim).
I also bailed on the whole neck, which seems like a place where a quick mistake could literally kill me. I finished up with my (hopefully last ever) disposable razor.
The advice over at the straight-razor fora is to just shave a bit the first time, and only WTG (with-the-grain), and a little more next, until you’re doing the whole face, as well as XTG and ATG (across and against the grain).
Anyway - I like it. It’s the unicycle of shaving.