Brown/darkish residue after strokes?

[cletus van damme]

Hey everybody. I've been getting the hang of straight shaving for a couple weeks now, and had my best shave yet today. However I was wondering about one thing...after my passes, I went over my face with the razor a little bit without the cream, and while catching some hair and minimal cream, I also saw a darkish coloring when I wiped off the blade.

I assume this was just dead skin cells or even dirt (however I showered before the shave.) Has anybody else experienced this?

It didn't hurt at all, even felt really cleansing, just hadn't experienced this before, with the DE or with the last few weeks of using the straight.

[DunEdinRanger]

Dried Blood?

[cletus van damme]

I didn't have any nicks in those regions, so I don't think that's the case. Hmm...

[huracan]

Robert Paulsen had the same thing happen to him, he traced it to his strop leaving a coating on his blade.

Also, depending on where you keep your soap or building your lather, that could be it too; say a container made out of wood and the stain is somehow leeching out.

[cletus van damme]

I have a ceramic mug that's brownish that I use for the lather...and the strop thing sounds possible too. I guess since I was using it on just my face, it might have been more "concentrated" and noticeable, rather than with lather to "dilute" it.

[mparker762]

could be whisker mulch. shaving with only water shaves much closer than with lather (which is handy if you're in a hurry). What color is your hair?

[cletus van damme]

My hair is black.