Alum block: BEWARE

[MrADX]

I’ve been blessed with very thick and coarse facial hair and I usually need 4 passes for a BBS shave as my facial hair does not only grown in a million different directions but I have significant facial hair growth on my entire neck as well.

After applying a proraso pre shave cream I applied a wet hot towel followed by proraso shave cream sandalwood for tough beard.

After shaving with a Rex Konsul with a brand new Feather blade I concluded my shave with warm water vs a French alum block = BAD IDEA I never cried from pain in my entire life but the sting and pain from applying the alum block to my freshly shaved skin was indeed PAINFUL! So please keep in mind if you require 3-4 passes with ANY safety razor to get a BBS shave you’re in for major irritation and that alum block you use will sting indeed!

 

[MrADX]

All you brothers with coarse facial hair reply to this! I know I am not alone!

 

[MrADX]

I never cried in my entire life except when applying this alum block LOL the pain and the screams were hilarious

 

[ajkel64]

Welcome to the forum. I use my Alum Block with cold water. Still can sting a little though. I never chase BBS anymore. Just do three passes and then done.

 

[Luc]

Welcome to B&B!

Have a look at the Alum page in the wiki: Alum - https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/wiki/Alum

Make sure that you have the right alum block(for shaving). If you are using those alum sticks designed to be a deodorant, it's often 10 times worse. I am not saying that you will feel zero sting with a "real" alum block but it's going to be less torture than the alum stick for sure.

If it's too much for now, leave it on the side. Alum is optional to the shave. I recently started to use one (after maybe 20 years of shaving) and I don't use it every day. I get a minimal sting on a few spots and it's usually the same spots. When I try to go faster or that I have sub-par technic, the alum is there to remind me that I'm not in charge here!

 

[Salty_Shaver]

I’ve been blessed with very thick and coarse facial hair and I usually need 4 passes for a BBS shave as my facial hair does not only grown in a million different directions but I have significant facial hair growth on my entire neck as well.

After applying a proraso pre shave cream I applied a wet hot towel followed by proraso shave cream sandalwood for tough beard.

After shaving with a Rex Konsul with a brand new Feather blade I concluded my shave with warm water vs a French alum block = BAD IDEA I never cried from pain in my entire life but the sting and pain from applying the alum block to my freshly shaved skin was indeed PAINFUL! So please keep in mind if you require 3-4 passes with ANY safety razor to get a BBS shave you’re in for major irritation and that alum block you use will sting indeed!

Nope haven’t happened yet. Sliced a mole off and my alum block didn’t even sting might have been to much blood

 

[Salty_Shaver]

All you brothers with coarse facial hair reply to this! I know I am not alone!

Very course hair there’s no with or against the grain it’s all at once too but I don’t get razor burn or irritation. I’m just fine with down then up stubble gone alum block, witch hazel and Clubman classic vanilla

 

[Iridian]

My take on alum blocks: On skin after the shave I just use aftershave. I only use alum if there is a bleeding weeper.

My worst shave reaction is still to blame on a birch pollen allergy. I suspected the new blades, new razor, my technique/bad shave.

Alum is not to blame in your case either. That was perhaps rather a too vigorous and thorough shave with the Konsul!
Alum might cause the symptoms, but it isn't to blame, see above. Dial the Konsul perhaps down a bit. That's why it is adjustable, after all.

 

[WThomas0814]

Nicks/Weepers that survive a shower: alum to stop the bleeding
New razor/blade/combo: alum for feedback
All other shaves: no alum

My alum stone is slowly disintegrating and returning to the earth from lack of use.

 

[Quaznoid]

In 51 years of shaving I’ve never used alum. I never heard if it until I stumbled into B&B some years ago. Simple solution to your problem: Don’t use it.

 

[VerbaVolant]

...I never cried from pain in my entire life but the sting and pain from applying the alum block to my freshly shaved skin...

A matter of perspective, your sting and pain didn't come from applying the alum block, but from abusing/damaging your skin during shaving.

...So please keep in mind if you require 3-4 passes with ANY safety razor to get a BBS shave you’re in for major irritation...

That major irritation comes from improper technique and lack of understanding of how to shave.

...that alum block you use will sting indeed!...

Alum block was your best friend, honest. Telling you that you did something wrong during your shave.

Use it as a gauge, if nothing else. In my opinion, alum, potassium alum to be more specific, is a great astringent and bacteriostatic.

After shaving rinse the skin with cold water and wet the alum block in cold water. Apply alum on skin and leave it on for a few seconds to a minute before rinsing. Then apply aftershave, preferably a balm or moisturizer.

Use it in moderation and at your own risk.

 

[Jay21]

I have very coarse hair as well and will still not achieve BBS after 3 or 4 passes. My solution is stop after 2 passes, which is close enough, and not have any sting or irritation.

 

[nemo]

STOP trying to acheive the BBS -- fewer passes and you won't ever need alum. Aftershave splash only.
I only use alum on the rare occasion I get a tiny cut and it needs help (locally) sealing back up.
Work on your technique, shave every day, have consistent prep, and use good lather. And try a Tech!

 

[Eben Stone]

I have very coarse hair as well and will still not achieve BBS after 3 or 4 passes. My solution is stop after 2 passes, which is close enough, and not have any sting or irritation.

^^ this

I've been using alum as a measure of success of my shaves for over 4 years now. I've been able to improve my technique so I don't get any alum feedback at all.

Of course that all depends very much on the technique, razor, blade, and lather. But IMO it's mostly the blade. With a slick soap like Boellis Panama or Southern Witchcrafts, lather consistency like Yoplait yogurt, an aggressive razor like the Yaqi Knight Hemet or Blackland Dart, and Suneko blade, I get zero feedback even if I'm careless. With Nacet a little hint. With Feather there is some burn no matter how careful I am.

The Feather blade may be the pinnacle of sharpness, but I only enjoy them in a Gillette Tech.

 

[skibik]

My whiskers have gotten tough over the years. I started this DE venture beginning of 2016. I bought an alum block not tool long after I found B&B. I have had that issue with bad irritation from using the alum block and that I blame on chasing BBS shave. I stopped using it for the longest time and once I stopped chasing BBS, which I can't seem to achieve these days, and have since used the alum block off and on without issue. I don't use it very often but have started again when I feel a little more irritated and it feels more refreshing than it used to when I would go overboard a little too much. I was doing three full passes and sometimes a fourth on the neck area and I stopped doing that. Now I am down to two full passes with a third pass only on the neck.

Maybe if you are going to keep trying the alum block is maybe try not going for BBS and settle on a DFS, that worked for me.

 

[DrakeMegrim]

Same as @WThomas0814. If I really want feedback on a shave, I use Clubman aftershave.

 

[DEgeezer]

I've used an alum block after every shave for years, because I like the way my skin feels after using it.
And it's a great technique barometer. The better your technique becomes, the less sting you'll feel.

 

[MA128]

I tried an alum block last year and almost immediately got dermatitis in an area where I was probably too aggressive with my shave. My technique has improved since then but I have never returned to the alum block. My post-shave routine is cold water, then witch hazel, then an aftershave balm. Works for me.

 

[Brutus]

I’ve been blessed with very thick and coarse facial hair and I usually need 4 passes for a BBS shave as my facial hair does not only grown in a million different directions but I have significant facial hair growth on my entire neck as well.

After applying a proraso pre shave cream I applied a wet hot towel followed by proraso shave cream sandalwood for tough beard.

After shaving with a Rex Konsul with a brand new Feather blade I concluded my shave with warm water vs a French alum block = BAD IDEA I never cried from pain in my entire life but the sting and pain from applying the alum block to my freshly shaved skin was indeed PAINFUL! So please keep in mind if you require 3-4 passes with ANY safety razor to get a BBS shave you’re in for major irritation and that alum block you use will sting indeed!

You may not like what I am about to say, but please do keep in mind “Our most profitable lessons are learned from failure, not success.”

Ever heard “Only a bad workman blames his tools”?
Thousands of shavers regularly use alum blocks without problems and don’t seem to have have the urge to warn others from using alum.
I wonder why that is…

Being somewhat of a cynic, it also appears to me that 80% of the shavers with shaving issues claim to have overly coarse facial hair and overly sensitive skin.
I suspect that the majority of those shavers (allowing for the few who really have overly thick hair and sensitive skin) suffer from nothing more than a lousy pre-shave routine and poor technique.

When I read your post, I detected an overly complicated, overburdened shave (Proraso pre-shave, hot towel, four passes, Feather blade, alum block).

You can do what you want, but my advise would be to cut back on the excesses, eliminate the first and last step* above, concentrate on the basics (3 minute warm water pre-shave, maybe with some soap, alternatively a 3 minute hot towel, three pass shave, a blade commensurate with your skill level, use after shave balm until you have come to grips with your technique and can use higher percentage alcohol aftershaves), keep working on your technique, and stop scaring people off from something that can be done without any problems if done right.

To be honest, I believe you still have some way to go and your time to give advice may not have come yet.

I really don’t mean to rub you the wrong way, but fact is that as a novice eager to learn you can pick up a lot of bad advice on the Internet and much that is written there should be taken with a grain of salt (my posts included ) and it will take a shaver a while to figure out what works and what doesn’t. Trying to implement too many of the suggestions that some shavers advocate is unlikely to lead to a satisfying shave. Instead, keep it simple.

A good start is following what a large number of shavers on websites like this agree on - and remember that “the height of sophistication is simplicity.”
By contrast; leave the overly complicated shaves to the amateurs…



B.


* Not everyone tolerates Proraso pre-shave or routinely applied alum well and neither are they necessary.

 

[sternej]

A matter of perspective, your sting and pain didn't come from applying the alum block, but from abusing/damaging your skin during shaving.


That major irritation comes from improper technique and lack of understanding of how to shave.


Alum block was your best friend, honest. Telling you that you did something wrong during your shave.

Use it as a gauge, if nothing else. In my opinion, alum, potassium alum to be more specific, is a great astringent and bacteriostatic.

After shaving rinse the skin with cold water and wet the alum block in cold water. Apply alum on skin and leave it on for a few seconds to a minute before rinsing. Then apply aftershave, preferably a balm or moisturizer.

Use it in moderation and at your own risk.

A matter of perspective, your sting and pain didn't come from applying the alum block, but from abusing/damaging your skin during shaving.


That major irritation comes from improper technique and lack of understanding of how to shave.


Alum block was your best friend, honest. Telling you that you did something wrong during your shave.

Use it as a gauge, if nothing else. In my opinion, alum, potassium alum to be more specific, is a great astringent and bacteriostatic.

After shaving rinse the skin with cold water and wet the alum block in cold water. Apply alum on skin and leave it on for a few seconds to a minute before rinsing. Then apply aftershave, preferably a balm or moisturizer.

Use it in moderation and at your own risk.

100% what he said.