Lesson Learned

**abandonship** · 01-03-2007, 07:21 PM

Okay, so waiting three days between shaves makes it very difficult for my str8 to even begin to do its job. Got the easy parts of my face on the first three passes, but my chin would not yield. Had to finish with my M3

I also had a question concerning my strop. One side is smooth and feels like suede and the other is rougher leather. Is the smooth side linen? I'm confused

**mparker762** · 01-03-2007, 07:55 PM

This should not be the case. A straight really doesn't care how long your whiskers are.

**Edcculus** · 01-03-2007, 08:49 PM

I dont use a straight, so I'm not a complete expert.

From what I know about knives and have researched about straights, you begin stropping on the leather side. This will get the majority of the burrs etc out of the blade. You will then switch to the linen side to put more of a "polish" on the edge.

Again, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

**mparker762** · 01-03-2007, 09:39 PM

That sounds strange, what brand and model strop do you have?

**LX_Emergency** · 01-04-2007, 03:32 AM

Originally Posted by Edcculus

I dont use a straight, so I'm not a complete expert.

From what I know about knives and have researched about straights, you begin stropping on the leather side. This will get the majority of the burrs etc out of the blade. You will then switch to the linen side to put more of a "polish" on the edge.

Again, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

You stand corrected. First the linen and then the leather.

The smooth side of the leather is where you want to be stropping.

Leather is NOT linen. Linen is a cloth type fabric.

What type of razor did you get? My advice to you is: shave every OTHER day. Not every three days. It'll make shaving the most comfortable (does for me anyway).

**19george** · 01-04-2007, 06:18 AM

I don't find a difference in shave quality when I shave on consecutive days, or when I take a few days off. There may be a difference in the number of passes I need to get to bbs, but thats about it. Maybe Your shave was more comfortable because your technique is improving.

Let us know what specific model strop you have. It does sound strange. The leather side to a strop should be very smooth feeling - not like suede.

**kozulich** · 01-04-2007, 06:24 AM

Length of your beard should not have much of an impact on the way your shave feels. If your str8 is pulling and snagging and stalling out, its not sharp enough. Most often this happens to me if I've over-honed. The leather strop should have a smooth side and rough side. The smooth side is the side you strop on. If there's linen, its either a second piece hanging behind the leather strop or its affixed to the back of the strop. But its a heavy fabric. If you have a linen, then the proper order would be linen then leather, but I usually skip the linen unless the blade is not responding to the smooth leather strop.

**LX_Emergency** · 01-04-2007, 08:37 AM

The reason for not shaving a day for me is because my skin can't take it. Not because of the longer hair. My skin simply can't take two days shave in a row. And the one day that I don't shave lets my skin heal itself.

**abandonship** · 01-04-2007, 07:44 PM

My strop is a Dovo Solingen Prima Rindleder

My razor is a Dovo Bismark Super. I think I need to get it professionally honed. It shaved a whole lot better when I skipped only one day. My face can't handle the every day shave either and I really don't need it anyhow. Can anyone recommend a good honing service? How much will it cost me?

I am very new to this, so any advice is appreciated.

**rtaylor61** · 01-04-2007, 10:45 PM

The white side of your strop is the linen side. Obviously, the other side is leather. Start on the linen side with 15-20 passes, then repeat on the leather side. If you want to get your razor honed, we have a few guys here who can assist with that. Hopefully they will chime in shortly!

Randy

**abandonship** · 01-05-2007, 10:11 PM

Originally Posted by rtaylor61

The white side of your strop is the linen side. Obviously, the other side is leather. Start on the linen side with 15-20 passes, then repeat on the leather side. If you want to get your razor honed, we have a few guys here who can assist with that. Hopefully they will chime in shortly!

Randy

Thanks Randy. I'll try that.
Phil

**crackstar** · 01-06-2007, 10:32 AM

Alex, I find I can't go more than one day without shaving, because my skin's even more sensitive than yours. With De Vergulde Hand soap or cream, or Erasmic soap or cream, I'm sure you'd be able to shave every day easily, and comfortably.

Jeff