Straight Razor shaving without a brush and soap!

[Darren Ellis]

For those who don't yet have a brush and soap, and don't want to spend a lot, if you go to Wal Mart, or other local drug stores, you can usually find a boar bristle brush and something like Williams shave soap. Just toss the soap in a coffee mug and go. The boar bristles don't hold as much water as a silver tipped badger hair brush, so the lather may not be as rich. You can spend $50+ on a good badger hair brush.

The above quote is from another thread, I thought I'd start a new thread for this topic so it doesn't get lost in the signal-to-noise...

I've been wanting to comment on this for a while, but am just finally getting around to doing so. I love to shave with my straights using my silver tipped badger brush and soap, but I was turned on to the idea of bare bones straight razor shaving by two long standing members and friends of the yahoo straightrazorplace group a while ago, Anto Dell and Don Walters.

The idea is that you don't really *need* the shaving lather, and hence can do away with an expensive brush too. All you need is to wet your face with warm water and have a very sharp razor! Now, this *will* test your ability to hone your razor to perfection, but trust me, it works, and works well. I tried it for a few months after these guys told me they were shaving without soap to see for myself. I found that there was about a week long adjustment period were my skin had to adjust to the closer shave, but after that, it was without trouble. In fact, I found that it was easier to get a closer shave without the shaving soap! If you try this method, you may find that you need to perfect your honing techniques some, as the razor has to be as sharp as you can get it. ...but this works and works well! Now, do I still shave without the soap? Nope, I sure don't, I find that I like the tradition of lathering up with a brush and mug, but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this technique to anyone and don't hesitate to tell anyone that the brush and soap is not a necessary item!



-Darren

 

[WadeF]

don't hesitate to tell anyone that the brush and soap is not a necessary item!



-Darren

Well, I guess this depends on how well the average straight razor shaver can sharpen their razor. If someone isn't very good at sharpening their razor I'm not going to recommend they don't use a good shaving soap to lubricate and protect their skin. They might be asking for a lot of trouble trying it the way you suggest.

I may have to try shaving with just water to see how I can do. I need a new challenge.

 

[e76549]

I began straight razor shaving a few weeks ago and I am getting good results as my sharpening and shaving skills improve. I sometimes mostly rinse off the brushed on soap, which leaves much of the slickness still on the face, because it gets the soap out of the way, and enables me to better see the whiskers for a close, safe and comfortable shave.

I use an entry level Bismarck Super Dovo Solingen straight razor priced around $40.00. I would enjoy comments from anyone who can tell me if the more expensive razors shave better than my low priced model. I know some of the higher prices are related to fancy handles and decorated blades, but some of the expensive razors also are said to have higher quality steel. Do the higher quality steels make for a significant shaving difference?