Returning from a long break.

Hello all,

I started here about two years ago in hopes of starting straight-razor shaving before I got married. It went well, I got some good shaves, never BBS, but I enjoyed the new process thoroughly.

Then I got married, moved, got a new job and while I had the extra time, my wife loved the smoother face than the Gillette Fusion gave me. Unfortunately, with the new job, move, wife, my time was constricted. Then my wife was diagnosed (one month after the wedding!) with Multiple Sclerosis, so basically everything was on hold for quite a while.

Needless to say, I went back to the cartridge razor and have been on that for a long time, but now my wife is back to health and we've gotten into a routine that gives me more shaving time, so I'm back! This time I'm picking up a DE razor, and I'm ready to get started again.

A question though: I've been working on my lathering up with a soap, but it just doesn't stay warm for very long. I could be using less water than I need, but I also wonder if I would be better off using a ceramic bowl? I use a metal one currently...

Glad things are improving and best wishes for your wife. Ceramic will hold heat longer.

Metal is a good heat conductor that robs the lathers heat. A ceramic bowl is a better option.

I begin with really hot water from a hot pot. Then I pour the hot water into my mug. While some think that's overkill, I still have plenty of hot lather for the third pass.

Ceramic is a great choice, scuttle even better but here is a solution that I posted that works very well at retaining heat for around $1.50.

What DE are you using?

Oh and, welcome back

I don't have my DE yet, should be here tomorrow or so, but it'll be a Merkur 180 with a long handle. I didn't want to get into anything too fancy yet, as I'll be learning the DE from scratch, more or less, and I figure that'll be a good start! I like that it will have a fair amount less maintenance than the straight razor.

And that's a good option for a bowl for sure. I'll try out one of my coffee mugs and see how that goes, and if it doesn't work, I'll give that a shot. Thanks!

Welcome back. Prayers for your wife. I use a ceramic scuttle that my wife made for me. It retains the heat of the lather very well. Good luck to you.

Welcome back.
It's good to hear things are well.

Actually my razor just arrived, so it looks like I'll be practicing my lather a bit tonight in a ceramic mug and getting started tomorrow!

A cappuccino style mug or similar found at thrift shop that is tall enough to sit in hot water in the sink is an option.

When I'm time constrained, I've found that shave sticks are a great alternative to canned goo and cartridge. Palmolive seems to pop into a very good lather very quickly.

Glad to here that Mrs. IceMopper is enjoying better health.

I think I've got some great cappuccino mug options, but I'll have to see... my wife loves her cappuccino and I don't want to use her favorite mug or anything!

And this razor looks great, but maybe somewhat aggressive. I'll find out soon enough, I'm sure.

Welcome Back ... My prayers go out to you and your wife..

Icemopper said:

I think I've got some great cappuccino mug options, but I'll have to see... my wife loves her cappuccino and I don't want to use her favorite mug or anything!

And this razor looks great, but maybe somewhat aggressive. I'll find out soon enough, I'm sure.

Click to expand...

If you want to start with something less aggressive a Tech is a good safe bet.

probesport said:

If you want to start with something less aggressive a Tech is a good safe bet.

Click to expand...

Upon further review, it might not be so bad. Since I'm not so familiar with DE shaving I can't be sure, but it should be perfectly fine. Thanks though!

Welcome back. Good to hear your wife health has improved. It sounds like quite the disturbing adventure.

I use a ceramic scuttle. Before that, I would keep my latte bowl or soup bowl in a sink of hot water, which kept the bowl warm enough for use.

Welcome back to B&B!
Excellent news of your wife.

Best wishes for your wife

I wasn't able to get a warm lather just by soaking the brush in hot water. What I do now is I set my mug in the sink full of hot water, lather the brush with the mug in the water and keep the mug in the water and the brush in the mug while I shave. I have a ceramic mug.

Thanks for all the well wishes, I know my wife appreciates it, and of course I do too. She is much much healthier than even this time last year, and we're always happy for that!

And thanks for the advice on the lather... I'll try out a ceramic mug tonight and see what results I get. Then on to the DE shave in the morning, and of course, I'll post results.

Alright! First DE shave went quite well! All that time shaving with a straight razor helped a fair amount. I almost automatically knew how to hold and move the blade, as well as which way my hair grows.

I did two passes of WTG, and while it isn't the most smooth, it is quite nice. The first pass, I was not confident and I took too much time, but the second was much better.

And as for the lather, using a ceramic cappuccino mug really helped a lot. It made it so much warmer, and the little handle made mixing it up a lot easier!

Thanks for the help!