Re: What a mess, eh?

Whiskers <catwheezel@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Rowland McDonnell <real-address-in-sig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Whiskers <catwheezel@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Rowland McDonnell <real-address-in-sig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Whiskers <catwheezel@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Rowland McDonnell <real-address-in-sig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Whiskers <catwheezel@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
[snip]

One blade has always been enough for me. The sort you strop.

I've used one of them. It was brilliant, super, wonderful, lovely -
then I hit the corners at my chin and thought `Argh nononononono!'

Rowland.

I was taught by an old-fashioned barber.

Ah yes - that'd work. I was taught by an unruly young monkey-hanger who
hadn't had your advantage.

There is a knack,

I assumed that was the case, but I wasn't keen on experimenting given
the hugeness and extreme sharpness of the blade (freshly stropped oh god
did it get stropped - is that where we get `stroppy', from, I wonder?
The state you end up in after doing a lot of stropping?) and the fact
that I was looking at the world using a mirror which makes things a bit
awkward.

Handle? Straight razors have no handles. They do have blade-protectors
hinged to the tang of the blade, which have a superficial resemblance to
the 'handle' of a folding pocket-knife - but that's a misleading
resemblance.

<shrug> The tang of the blade, then.

When shaving, you hold the blade itself between the tips of your thumb and
fingers, with the little finger hooked around the "handle" to keep it out
of the way

Ah. Something I got badly wrong, then. Or maybe not...

(the "handle" being folded right back so that it passes easily
between the little finger and the third finger). So your fingers are
almost touching your face, and you should therefore know exactly where the
edge is. The "handle" helps to stabilise the grip.

Uhuh.

I change hands to shave the other side. This page gives some idea
<http://www.theenglishshavingcompany.com/english-shaving-tips.html>

That looks about the way I recall holding the thing. Still couldn't do
the corners. I think I'd have to have lessons in real life.

That was probably part of your problem; shaving is tactile - do it by
touch, not by peering in a mirror. (I take my specs off to shave - so
what I see in the mirror isn't terribly useful anyway).

Yeah, but I don't have enough hands to gather enough data that way - I
need info on blade orientation and position as well as where the face
is, while holding the razor handle and that'd take at least three hands.
Or so it seems to me. I did put my mind to the task, y'know...

See above.

Yeah, and it seems that the `proper' way is the way I tried to do it and
simply couldn't. There's no way I could shave using my left hand to
control a razor, no way at all.

(it's not that my left hand is useless, more that there's certain types
of fine control that I can only do using my right hand)

but I've cut
myself worse and more often using a 'safety' razor than with a real one.

Mmm!

The fancy safety razor cartridges I use are nearly impossible to cut
yourself with - wires over the front of the blades and all that. Well,
say that, but I've seen someone manage to draw a lot of blood using the
type - no idea how.

Rowland.

I don't think I've ever seen any like that.

Here's the official blurb:

<http://www.wilkinsonsword.co.uk/men/showroom/protector_3d_diamond>

Hmmm.

The only drawback of that kind of razor to my mind is the tendency to
get clogged. Oh, and the hideous cost if you shave more than once every
other week...

But if they're putting the
blade in a cage, no wonder they have to use a handful of blades to get a
decent shave!

Just two blades; and the wires are very thin, widely spaced, and tightly
wound - they don't seem to reduce the smoothness of the shave.

Rowland.

Looks to me as though that thing gives you very little control of the
blade,

<puzzled> There's a handle, and you can move it any way you like.
Where's the lack of control?

and all the 'advanced' features are there to overcome the
difficulties created by the basic concept.

The basic problems are `sharp blade against the face' and `having to
work in a mirror' if you ask me. Or perhaps the social pressures on a
man to keep smooth shaven (yes, I know, but beards don't go down well
everywhere and stubble even less so).

Anyway, I find the beasties linked to above to be dead convenient to use
compared to any other kind of safety razor that I've tried. Much better
than anything from Gillette at any rate.

Rowland.

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