How do you shave with a safety razor?

[heydude]

How exactly and what steps do you do when you use a safety razor to shave your face?

[Mrs-M]

My husband used one for years, before switching over to a more fancy version twenty-some odd years ago. I don't recall him changing his face-prep method for either.

Face soak with a cloth soaked in hot water (lightly wrung out), followed by shaving soap or shaving creme, then razor.

I'll run this thread by DH this morning.

[SteveinMN]

I shave right after showering, so my face has been exposed to hot water and steam for a few minutes. I dry off -- except for my face (I keep it moist). And then I whip up the shaving soap/cream I'll be using that morning and brush it on (some shaving creams don't need to be lathered up and can be applied with hands, but I prefer making my own and using a brush). I let it sit a few moments as I apply deodorant and talc elsewhere. Then I shave in short, thoughtful strokes (being "inattentive" to a single-blade razor eventually will bite you:devil:). I shave with the grain of my beard first*. Then I lather up again and shave across the grain. I rinse off the remaining lather and then apply a moisturizer (seeing as how I just applied a steel blade to my face). And I'm good for the day.

*Every man's beard has a different grain pattern. To determine yours, it's easiest to let your beard grow a couple of days. Then rub your hand along your face. The direction that feels smoothest is "with the grain". Opposite, of course, is "against the grain". And a quarter turn (90 degrees) away is "across the grain". You don't want to save time by shaving against the grain as soon as you lather up; you'll just -- well, you'll probably regret doing that.

All this takes longer than swiping your face for a minute or two in the shower. But the results are so much better than the quick way. There's a guy on YouTube named "mantic" who has his own channel of videos on all aspects of how to make good lather, how to shave, etc. Well worth the time to watch.

[bae]

OSHA-required fit testing of my SCBA mask for firefighting comes up Friday, so I had to take off my beard today, after 30+ years of having it on. Actually, I've never seen my adult face until now, nor has my wife.

So it went out in style...

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GgxQTTzzZBs/UUium2nzGgI/AAAAAAAAHc4/zZd4j3H4Mzw/s640/Awesomized.jpg

[treehugger]

This just came up at work (not using knives to shave, but the fact that some types of oxygen masks don't fit over beards). My client used to have to require all seamen (it's a shipping/tanker operation) to be clean shaven for safety purposes (so that positive pressure masks would function properly). A lot of men had a problem with this. Now, however, they have masks that use negative pressure, so beards are allowed. Great relief all around; those seamen like their beards!

Sorry you had to shave yours off, bae. How does you family feel about the new you? I've known people whose kids (much younger than your daughter is) were scared of Dad the first time they ever saw him without a beard.

Kara

[bae]

My client used to have to require all seamen (it's a shipping/tanker operation) to be clean shaven for safety purposes (so that positive pressure masks would function properly).


We are required to use positive-pressure breathing masks, so if there is a seal breach or the mask gets knocked askew, you still have significant protection against toxic gases and heat. One breath of some of this stuff can kill you, so you don't want that. Our chief is a little loosy-goosy about letting you have a trim beard if you can achieve a measurably-good seal, but the Official Inspectors have a hard rule of no hair at all in the seal region. So I can grow it sorta-back, as long as I zap it off when the Inspector-types come back.



Sorry you had to shave yours off, bae. How does you family feel about the new you?

They aren't home yet :-) And I can't grow it back until mid-April, because we get to spend a week at the big training center doing a bunch of live-fire exercises, and the state agency that runs the facility is very very strict about safety, which they should be.

[treehugger]

I agree that safety is very important. More important than one's love of one's beard. Interesting about the risks of negative pressure vs. positive pressure. I admit I don't know that much about it. All I do is help the client make sure they comply with all state, federal and international regulations H&S and environmental regulations. Next time I am there, I will ask for more info about the masks. They aren't for firefighting specifically, but all of the seamen are trained in fire fighting (there are less than 20 crew persons on a tanker, so each person has more than one job), so I assume their masks need to work in a variety of scenarios.

Be careful, you might scare your wife and daughter when they come home. :)

Kara

[SteveinMN]

Last time I shaved off a long-time beard, my face needed to get used to air currents and being touched. My sympathies, bae.

[bae]

Last time I shaved off a long-time beard, my face needed to get used to air currents and being touched. My sympathies, bae.

It's amazing how cold and breezy it is, even inside the house. Youch!

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-d6OJ3PNJWKc/UUpKVVeoXQI/AAAAAAAAHeE/wiYpUKZZOJA/s287/Awesomized.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Jicdrrvrrm8/UUpKA1b7YxI/AAAAAAAAHd8/rteKDguYmnY/s197/Awesomized.jpg

I think I'll chicken out and just use the straight razor instead of the Bowie knife for maintenance over the next month, until I get to start growing it back :-)

[Yossarian]

How exactly and what steps do you do when you use a safety razor to shave your face?

I'm more convinced than ever the key is using the right soap beforehand. When I shave at home with a regular Mach 3 it's literally as easy and comfortable as wiping shaving cream off. Can't tell I'm actually cutting beard with it. But with the exact same razor and shaving cream I had a horrible time shaving at the hotel I stayed at on my last trip 2 days in a row. Felt like I wsa dry shaving. The only difference I could tell in the process was the soap I used during the shower right before shaving. The hotel had some fancy soap that must not have the same softening effects as whatever soap I use at home.

[SteveinMN]

Yossarian, it is also possible that the quality of the water affected the shaving cream as well. Water hardness affects soap solubility and may well interact with elements in the cream. The soap you used also could have an effect, but even if you brought your own, local water hardness and minerals can have a surprising and not always positive effect on your shaving soap/cream.

[reader99]

Kids can find sudden beardlessness confusing. My cousin's son always had a beard and his brother was always clean shaven., and when he shaved it his 2 year old stared at him and then said, "Daddy, you're Uncle Timmy?"

[Jilly]

So cute.

[bae]

Time for the yearly SCBA mask fit test today....

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-cny6DUg02cc/VEqeQWTYDDI/AAAAAAAAMSU/bkWM8EXeAiM/s720/Awesomized.jpg

[Alan]

I thought the mask went on your face, it looks like you're preparing a tree.

[bae]

I thought the mask went on your face, it looks like you're preparing a tree.

My beard is....robust.

[Rogar]

Looks like you could get several shaves out of that blade!