How to Use a Straight Razor

By John D. Meek
Published on March 1, 1972
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Sheffield steel blades are highly desirable and always marked
Sheffield steel blades are highly desirable and always marked "Sheffield, Eng."
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Above: About six strokes to a side from the back toward the edge of the razor should sharpen it. Keep thumb of hand holding stone down.
Above: About six strokes to a side from the back toward the edge of the razor should sharpen it. Keep thumb of hand holding stone down.
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Cup and brush. Any cup will do but a badger hair brush (find one second-hand) is best of all. Right: Wet the brush in hot water and swish it around in the cup until you get this. You needn't do your whole face at once as the lather will sometimes dry out before you get to it.
Cup and brush. Any cup will do but a badger hair brush (find one second-hand) is best of all. Right: Wet the brush in hot water and swish it around in the cup until you get this. You needn't do your whole face at once as the lather will sometimes dry out before you get to it.
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Safety razors come in many styles and materials, but the author only had one when he started learning how to use a straight razor.
Safety razors come in many styles and materials, but the author only had one when he started learning how to use a straight razor.
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This is what is meant by
This is what is meant by "hollow ground" : Note the Y shape of the blade. Razors not ground this way are tough to sharpen.
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2) Lathering up. Especially at first — when you're going to be shaving very, very slowly — it's probably best to lather and shave only a small section of your face at a time. 
3) Start on the neck and shave upward first.
2) Lathering up. Especially at first — when you're going to be shaving very, very slowly — it's probably best to lather and shave only a small section of your face at a time. 3) Start on the neck and shave upward first.
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(6) Shave upward on left side. Note position of hands and handle. Shave like this to the sideburn and NEVER move blade along its length. 
(7) Shave downward on left side with jaw stretched tight and fingers out of the way.
(6) Shave upward on left side. Note position of hands and handle. Shave like this to the sideburn and NEVER move blade along its length. (7) Shave downward on left side with jaw stretched tight and fingers out of the way.
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(4) Shave downward to catch all the whiskers. Keep skin stretched tight and note position of razor's handle in each illustration. It's not necessary to re-lather when going over an area the second time, if the skin is still wet. 
(5) Rotate razor's handle to keep it out of the way. Balance the blade and shave the other side of neck. 

Handle positions shown are not absolute, whatever feels best to you will work best, so long as the thing is out of the way.
(4) Shave downward to catch all the whiskers. Keep skin stretched tight and note position of razor's handle in each illustration. It's not necessary to re-lather when going over an area the second time, if the skin is still wet. (5) Rotate razor's handle to keep it out of the way. Balance the blade and shave the other side of neck. Handle positions shown are not absolute, whatever feels best to you will work best, so long as the thing is out of the way.
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Strop your straight razor before each shave. The stroke runs toward the back of the blade.
Strop your straight razor before each shave. The stroke runs toward the back of the blade.
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(8) Shave right side upward first.
(9) downward just like you shaved left side. Be careful around the mustache, it took a while to grow. The stroke used on the chin is like this one, parallel to the jaw bone.
(8) Shave right side upward first. (9) downward just like you shaved left side. Be careful around the mustache, it took a while to grow. The stroke used on the chin is like this one, parallel to the jaw bone.
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(10) Trim under mustache by holding it up away from the blade and shaving up to it. Again, keep skin as tight as possible. 
(11) The underside of the chin is done by stretching the head back to tighten the skin and shaving upward against the grain. Finish by sticking out jaw to hold skin and shaving upward under lower lip.
(10) Trim under mustache by holding it up away from the blade and shaving up to it. Again, keep skin as tight as possible. (11) The underside of the chin is done by stretching the head back to tighten the skin and shaving upward against the grain. Finish by sticking out jaw to hold skin and shaving upward under lower lip.

It seems probable to me that many men spend a certain share of their lives engaged in that most ridiculous of Western Man’s cultural rituals, shaving.

OK, some of us have to do it for one reason or another: to hold that job until the Time comes, or to keep from having a scraggly growth on the face because we can’t grow a good beard, or whatever.

But let’s give the problem some thought. Short of electrolysis (preferably at an early age), there are only two basic methods of depilation: the electric razor and the blade. Each has its advantages: fewer cuts with the electric, a closer shave (in spite of what the electric razor manufacturers say) with the blade.

But there are disadvantages to each, too. Electric razors needlessly support the power companies, are initially rather expensive, and require maintenance (which often involves sending the blamed things to the factory) from time to time. And suppose you want to go out into the woods for a while without coming back looking like one of the animals. What then? That electric razor is about as useful in the forest as a refrigerator. Very few trees come equipped with outlets.

Now consider the safety razor. Any male who’s ever used or thought about how to use a straight razor will attest there’s nothing safe about it. The first shave on a new blade leaves your face looking as if it’s been gone over by someone in hobnail boots, and when the blade gets dull, the last shave is just about as bad as the first with the sole difference being that it hurts more. And what do you do then? You cuss, replace the blade, and consign the old one to that little slot in back of the medicine chest.

How many tons of steel are consumed each year in this way, never to be seen again until and unless the house is torn down? I’d love to know how much steel and other less common metals we consume annually in the form of blades. The manufacturers are using platinum now and claiming 10 or 15 shaves per blade, the same number claimed for the stainless steel cutting edges when they were introduced seven or eight years back. This is an improvement?

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