Aaah, January, 2021! Time for new years’ resolutions, like saving money, earning more, losing weight, eating healthy…yeah, how about we set a more realistic goal? How about we learn about the most cost-effective, money-saving, and coolest way for the average guy to achieve a crisp, clean, comfortable shave?

In this posting, I’ll be going over what I deem to be the ‘Idiots’ guide to straight razor shaving‘ – a posting dedicated to explaining to you how to start on straight razor shaving, and how to get the best results, what to do, what not to do, what to be aware of, and what to avoid. Everything that follows is written on the assumption that you’ve never done this before, but might possibly be thinking of trying to!

Everything written here comes from over 12 years’ personal experience as a straight razor user. All the tips, tricks, advice, and techniques used are ones which I myself have used for over a decade without incident.

So, let’s begin…

What is a Straight Razor?

A straight razor, also known as a straight-edge razor, or more ominously, as a ‘cutthroat’ razor – is a thin, flat, very sharp blade affixed to a pair of scales (what some people call the ‘handle’) by a set of pins and rivets, and which may be sharpened and reused endlessly.

Razors of one kind or another have been around for literally thousands of years, but the conventional cutthroat razor with which most of us might be familiar with today is an invention of the 1600s, when the first such razors were invented in Germany, whereafter, the basic design was spread throughout Europe, being refined and improved as it went.

The Parts of a Straight Razor

So that you know what’s going on, let’s first go over the parts of a straight razor.

First, we have the blade, which is the main metal component. Flat, thin and very sharp. At the top of the blade we have the spine and at the bottom we have the edge.

When purchasing a straight razor, it’s good to know the razor’s size. The size of the razor is determined by the size of the blade, which is traditionally measured from spine to edge in 8ths of an inch. Razors traditionally went from 4/8 (half-inch wide) to 8/8 (one inch wide). Some go wider, some go narrower. Most razors will fall somewhere between 4/8 and 8/8, though.

At the farthest end of the blade, we have the point and at the other end, the tang. To reduce weight and improve the shaving experience, the vast majority of straight razors are hollow-ground, meaning that their blades have a concave cross-section. Grinding out the excess metal makes the blade lighter, easier to sharpen, and easier to use.

The blade is attached to the scales by rivets or pins, and are held in place by collars and washers. Most straight razors have two pins, but some will have three, for extra strength. Scales are made of almost anything you can imagine. In my time, I have seen scales made of horn, ebonite, celluloid, wood, bone, ivory, mother of pearl, and even sterling silver!

The blade’s tang is where you will find the maker’s details. The company that made the razor, and where it was made. You might also find some corrugations on the tang, next to the blade. These are gimps, designed to give you better grip on the steel. Some blades have upper gimps, some have lower gimps…some even have both!

Next to the gimps (if there are any), there are the transverse stabilisers. These are angular grooves or ridges punched into the blade when it was formed. They are designed to act as a finger-guard, but also to stop the blade from cracking from overzealous stropping or sharpening.

At the far end of the scales, away from the tang is the wedge which is used to hold the scales apart, so that the blade can rest between them when it’s not being used.

What are Straight Razors Made Of?

Straight razors are made of a variety of materials. The main components are the scales, the blade, the pins and the washers. Pins and washers used to be made of brass (to prevent rusting), but nowadays, stainless steel is also available. Blades were traditionally made of carbon steel (and most still are). In modern times, some are made of stainless steel.

Scales, the two straight pieces which house the blade when it isn’t being used, have, as mentioned above, been made out of almost every material imaginable. Razors with rare or expensive scale-materials, such as mother of pearl, ivory, sterling silver and horn, command a premium on the antique market. Most razors these days have scales made of celluloid or some other variety of hard, wear-resistant plastic.

Blade Shapes & Points

Straight razor blades come in a wide variety of shapes and styles. Almost all modern straight razors are what’s called ‘hollow-ground’ – this means that the sides of the blade are ground into a concave shape. This keeps the razor light, but also makes it easier to sharpen and shave with, without all the excess metal on the blade getting in the way.

Razors range from wedge blades (no grinding), near-wedge, quarter-hollow, half-hollow, full-hollow, and extra-hollow. Straight razors with significant hollow-grinding are called ‘singing’ or ‘ringing’ blades, because of the bright metallic ringing sound that’s created when they’re struck, tapped or shaved with. This was meant to be a sign of craftsmanship, because it reflected the quality of the steel used to manufacture the blades.

Along with grinding, blades also differ in their points – the tip of the blade opposite the heel. Points vary between round, square, French, Spanish, and barber’s notch. The majority of modern razors are round or French-point. Spanish, squared-off and notched points are only ever found on antique blades. Round and French-point blades became the most popular because they came with the lowest risk of accidentally nicking yourself with the tip of the razor while shaving, due to their rounded-off ends.

Straight Razor Accessories

Just like how fuel alone isn’t enough to make a car run (hey, you also need oil, water, air for the tires, and keys to start it, right?), a straight razor on its own is not enough to start shaving. For a traditional, straight razor shave, you will need, at a bare minimum:

A Leather Strop

A strop is the long, flat piece of leather upon which straight razors are ‘stropped’ (more about this later). A good strop should be made of smooth leather, free of blemishes, and at least 2-3 inches wide, and at least 12 inches long. These are easily available from shaving-supplies shops, online, on eBay, or if you’re a leather-worker – heck, you can even make your own, if you want to!

The point of the strop is to realign the very fine edge of the blade, before and after each use of the razor. As straight razors are, quite literally, razor sharp, the blade comes to a very very fine point at the edge – fine enough to be warped and bent by stubble when it’s being used to shave with. Eventually, this edge will become so jagged that it won’t cut anymore. To smooth the edge, stropping is essential.

The strop should be held tightly in one hand, and the blade placed flat down on the strop. You strop spine-first, back and forth, on both sides of the blade, making sure to roll the blade on the SPINE and NOT on the EDGE – otherwise you’ll undo all your hard work and dull the razor all over again. This should be done at least 20 times, covering the full width of the blade, to get the best results.

To avoid flexing the blade, any pressure applied (although this should be minimal) should be applied to the spine of the blade, not the edge – again, to prevent flexing, rolling or curling over the edge. The whole point of stropping is to straighten the edge so you can shave with it again – if you apply pressure to the edge or curl it over, you’ve just undone all your work. Whoops!

The most traditional kind of strop is the ‘hanging strop’ – you know, it hangs on a hook or a ring or nail on your bathroom wall and you just yank it up and out and strop and then drop it back when you’re done. If you don’t want to use that, you can also buy an adjustable ‘paddle strop’, which you hold in one hand and strop with the other. Paddle strops are usually adjustable, so that you can dictate how tight, or loose, you want the leather to be before you start stropping.

Honing Stones

One of the main reasons why I got into straight razor shaving was to have the ability to reuse my razors over and over and over again. Never having to throw them out, never having to buy new ones, and never having to worry about where I’m going to get new blades, or how much they’re going to cost.

To achieve this end – it’s important to know how to sharpen your razors.

I mean, you don’t have to. You can get somebody else to sharpen them for you, but if you can learn this skill yourself, it’s a lot easier, more fun, and saves you money in the long run.

To sharpen your razors, you will need at least two sharpening stones. A coarse or medium-grit one, and a fine-grit one. I use an old medium-grit oilstone, and a 1,200-grit Japanese water-stone for my razors and these work excellently. Whatever you decide to use will be up to you, but make sure that the stones you buy are quality, and meant for sharpening fine-edged knives and razors. Don’t buy one of those cheap knife-sharpener gizmoes at your nearest kitchen-supplies store – you’re wasting your time, and money.

Assuming you have your stones, you can start sharpening. Place the medium-grit stone in its holder or base (or if you don’t have one, then a small, damp towel will do) – this will hold the stone in place, and stop it from sliding around. Spray the top with water, and commence sharpening.

Lay the blade flat down on the stone. Raise the spine slightly, until the blade is at about 10-15 degrees, or less – and draw the razor across the stone, from heel to point, edge-first. Flip over to the other side and draw it back, again, from heel to toe. This is one pass. Repeat at least 20 passes on the medium stone, and then at least another 20 on the fine stone afterwards, to sharpen your razor, and then strop afterwards, to smooth the edge.

If you have trouble with maintaining the slight angle that you need to sharpen your blades, one common trick is to ‘tape’ the spine. Get some masking tape the length of the blade (about three inches), tape it over the spine of your razor, and start sharpening. The tape raises the angle of the spine slightly, and gives you the right angle-of-attack. It also stops the spine from scraping on the stone, and wearing down the metal. Simply peel off the tape once you’re done sharpening.

If you want a slightly higher angle of attack, use two strips of tape instead of one.

If you’re unsure about how many times to strop, or hone your razor-blade – remember: More often is better than not enough. Shaving with a blunt razor is not only incredibly uncomfortable (razor-burn from a blunt straight razor is an absolute pain in the ass) – it is also extremely dangerous (they don’t call them ‘cutthroat’ razors for nothing!).

Bowl, Mug, or Scuttle

Now that you’ve honed, stropped and prepped your blade, the next thing to look at is what you’re going to make your lather in. Traditional wet-shaving always involved hot water, and a good-quality shaving-soap or cream with which to turn into a hot, smooth, sweet-smelling lather.

This is usually done in some type of vessel – either a bowl, a mug, or a scuttle. Bowls are wider and give more range of movement, scuttles and mugs are smaller, and take up less space. Scuttles have the advantage of drainage-holes and lots of hot water to keep things from getting too soggy, but still nice and warm, and mugs have the advantage of being able to hold them in one hand while lathering with your brush with the other.

Which one of these three options you choose is really up to you, and your own personal circumstances. What you’re comfortable with, what you like, what you can afford, and what you think goes best with your other accessories.

A Shaving Brush

The next shaving accessory you’ll need is a traditional shaving brush. In times past, these were usually made from badger-fur, because the bristles of badger-hair retained water and were thick, soft and strong. Some brushes these days are made from synthetic fur, but the best ones are still made from badger.

Shaving brushes vary greatly in size, style, knot-size, and the length of the bristles. The type of badger-hair used also plays a part – they can be stiff, medium, or soft. The type of brush you choose is partly up to personal choice, but also what kind of lathering agent you choose to use.

Usually, soft creams work better with soft bristled brushes. Firmer soaps, which need a bit more friction to work a lather with, typically require brushes with stiffer bristles. Brushes range in size from tiny little travel-sized ones, all the way up to larger full-sized brushes which come with their own stands.

An Alum-Block, or Styptic

Hopefully, you’ll never need to use either of these, but they’re good to have around.

Alum blocks and styptic pencils exist to deal with any minor nicks, cuts or razor-burn that you might get from shaving. They help to sterilise the area, close the pores and reduce bleeding. I keep a block of alum on standby, but I’ve hardly ever had to use it. Hopefully, neither will you!

Aftershave Lotion

Aah, aftershave. Refreshing, sweet-smelling, cleansing…I never use it. I’ve never had the need to take my shaving routine that far. I may start using it in the future, but for the time-being…no.

That said, some guys do enjoy the scent and feel of aftershave on their faces after a good, crisp shave. Again, as with soaps vs creams, the aftershave you choose is largely a matter of personal preference.

Back in the Victorian era, aftershaves were developed when it was discovered the alcohol-based lotions could kill the bacteria that would cause infections introduced to the body via razor-cuts during your morning shave. To guard against these possible infections, aftershaves were marketed as the necessary, final step in the perfect shave. To make them sound less medicinal and more sartorial in nature, aftershaves were often scented to act as both a preventative, and also as a cologne.

Preparing to Shave

You have honed and stropped your razor, and have managed not to warp or fold over the edge. Excellent! Now begins the most perilous, or most pleasurable, part of the straight razor experience: Actually shaving with it!

First, you need hot water. Fill up your basin with hot water – as hot as you can comfortably stand. Soak your brush in the water and get it nice and warm, and then fill your scuttle, mug, or bowl with water, to heat it up.

Pour out most of the water from your mug or bowl (but keep as much water as you can, inside your scuttle), and then add in your cream (if you’re using a block of shaving-soap, it should already be inside there. The hot water will melt the soap and cause it to stick to the inside of the scuttle, mug or bowl, and prevent it from sliding around). You don’t need much shaving cream, a fingernail-sized dot will do.

Fish out your brush, shake off the excess water, and start lathering up the cream or soap. A good lather is like egg-whites – thick, fluffy and dense. If it’s all sloppy and wet, you’ve got too much water. If it’s not forming, then your lather is too dry. Adjust the water accordingly. Shaving scuttles have holes drilled into the soap-dish on top, which allows any excess water to drain away into the jug underneath. If you have trouble regulating how much water you need, try using a scuttle – it’ll do the regulating for you, and make things esier!

The water should have warmed up your bowl, mug or scuttle, and your brush, making the lather nice and warm. While it was soaking, you could also use some of the water to moisten and soften your stubble, or you could let the lather do that.

Once you’ve worked up a lather, massage it into your stubble and face using the brush, using circular motions to spread it around evenly. Paint it on smooth once it’s applied, and then you can start shaving.

Proper lathering is essential for a straight razor shave – the blades are designed to glide across a smooth, wet, lubricated surface – trying to shave without at least first wetting your face in hot water – will be a truly unforgettable experience…and not for the reasons that you might like. Without sufficient slickness, the blade will drag, scrape, and even cut you if you’ve not prepared yourself in the correct way.

Shaving with a Straight Razor

Shaving with a straight-edge razor can be unnerving if you’ve never done it before – after all – you’re about to put three inches of lethally sharp steel against your throat with nothing to stop you from reenacting a scene from a certain Stephen Sondheim musical – but provided that your razor is as sharp and smooth as possible, and you’ve prepared your skin properly, there’s really nothing to worry about.

The first thing to do is to get the right grip on the razor. Open it and swing the scales around so that the blade and scales are perpendicular to each other. Grip the blade across the tang, with two fingers on either side of the scales, and using the thumb to hold everything in place.

Rest the blade flat against your skin, and raise up the spine slightly, so that you have an angle of about 20-30 degrees. This is your angle of attack.

Now, using LIGHT, GENTLE, SHORT STROKES – start shaving.

Straight razors are meant to be, quite literally – razor sharp. This means that the razor should be sharp enough to cut through all your stubble without you having to force it, press it, push it, tug it or wrestle with it in any way whatsoever. The correct amount of pressure to use is none at all. The weight of your hand and the razor alone, should be enough to cut through whatever you need to shave off.

If it isn’t – then your razor isn’t sharp enough, or hasn’t been stropped properly. Try sharpening and stropping it again.

If it is, however – then the blade should glide through with no problems. As it cuts, you should feel minimal resistance, and a soft prickly sensation and scraping noise, kind of like buttering toast. The scraping noise is the sound of the blade cutting dozens of tiny hairs all at once.

Stretching the Skin

As you shave, it’s important to stretch your skin, so that your stubble stands up straight, and is therefore easier to cut. You can do this in a number of ways. Moving your jaw, tightening your facial muscles, puffing out your cheeks, or angling your head will all achieve skin-tightening in one way or another. You can also use your non-razor hand to stretch the skin as you go along.

Direction of Growth

It’s important to know, as you shave, the direction of your stubble-growth. This way, you’ll know whether you’re shaving with, against, or across the grain. With the grain means shaving in the same direction as your stubble-growth, across means shaving perpendicular to it, and against, means…against the grain!

However you choose to attack your stubble, it’s important to apply as little pressure as possible, and to use light, short strokes. Cover a couple of square inches at a time. Naturally, shaving is much easier on flat surfaces, so to get the best shave, divide your face up into – and shave primarily on – as flat a series of surfaces or facets as you can find. Manipulate your jawbone as necessary to achieve this.

Shaving in Passes

Thanks to multi-blade cartridge razors and electric shavers, most people these days are used to shaving everything off in the space of a minute, with multiple blades scraping off one’s stubble in an instant…actions which can lead to razor burn, cuts and even ingrown hairs – nasty!

Our grandfathers got around these issues by shaving in passes – doing one full shave with a single blade, lathering up, and then doing another shaving session or ‘pass’, again with a single blade – to catch anything that wasn’t shaved off the first time. In most instances, two or three passes is the norm.

Shaving in this manner is safer, and less irritating to the skin – useful, if you have dry or sensitive skin which doesn’t hold up well to abrasions or excessive friction. Also, since you’re not literally trying to pull your stubble out by the roots, you’ll have fewer instances (if any) of ingrown hairs and reduced chances of razor burn. If you’ve never had razor burn before, count yourself lucky, because it stings like an absolute bitch!

Manipulating the Blade

As you grow more proficient with using a straight-edge razor, you’ll become more adventurous in how you handle it. Eventually, you’ll find out more about exactly what a straight-edge razor can do, and how to hold and direct the razor to achieve the results you want it to.

For example – resting your fingers against, or gripping the spine of the blade will give you a much higher level of control – especially around fiddly areas such as the upper-lip and the side of the mouth – places where long, swift, sweeping strokes aren’t possible. Holding the razor like this also gives you more control in how you shave with the razor – allowing you to do several short, quick strokes to scrape away irritating fuzz, when full single strokes are impractical.

Exactly how adventurous and proficient you get in manipulating your blade to do what you want, is largely up to practice, and learning exactly how your hand and the razor interact with each other. Some movements are easier than others – find the ones that work for you, and practice them when you shave.

Finishing your Shave

Once you’re done getting off as much stubble as you can with your straight razor, wash off the soap and stubble, and then dry off your face – and your razor. The vast majority of straight razors are made of high carbon steel – which is very sharp, but which can also rust very easily – so be sure to keep them dry as much as possible. Ideally, razors should be stored in a cabinet or storage-case, to prevent them from getting damp, and rusting out the blade. Also – make sure you dry out any water between the scales, or else it’ll get on the blade when you close the razor, and start rusting it out even more.

Once you’ve dried your razor, make sure that you strop the razor once more – just a light stropping – that way you won’t have to do it as much the next time you start to shave. Ideally, you should strop at least once with every shave (most people do it twice, just out of habit – at the start, and end of the shave).

And there you have it! A straight razor shave.

Razor Maintenance and Care

Given proper care, a straight razor will literally last for centuries. Every single razor in my collection is an antique from the 1800s, and they’re all in fantastic, usable condition.

To keep your razors in that condition, proper maintenance is essential.

When not in use, razors should be kept dry, and closed.

When sharpening or stropping, light pressure should be applied, with even force across the width of the blade. This prevents wear and tear on the blade-edge, and the spine, ensuring that the blade lasts for as long as possible.

Razors should be sharpened periodically. When you want to do that is up to you. It could be every month, every three months, six months, even once a year. Exactly when you do it is entirely up to your personal circumstances. You’ll know when to sharpen your razor when stropping alone doesn’t get it up to shaving-sharpness anymore.

Buying Antique Straight Razors

One of the great joys of mastering the art of using a straight-edge razor is being able to start a collection of antique razors.

Because straight razors can literally last for centuries, there’s billions of them out there ready to be snapped up for very little money, if you know where and how to look for them.

If buying a brand-new razor – which can cost several hundreds of dollars – doesn’t appeal to you – then you can just as easily buy a vintage razor for a few bucks, learn to sharpen and strop it yourself, and teach yourself how to use it. If you can be proficient with something that cheap, you’ll have no problems learning how to use better-quality razors which would cost many times more.

So, what do you need to know to buy an antique straight razor?

Checking the Blade for Defects

The most important part of the razor is the blade. When examining an antique razor, make sure that the blade does not have any chips, cracks, dents, dings, nicks, or deep rusting. Any one of these defects will render a blade unusable. Do NOT buy a razor with any of these issues – it is not worth your time.

Next, examine the blade for surface rusting. Light surface rusting is very common on antique razors which haven’t been stored properly. With the right rust-removers, polishes and abrasives, these patches of rust may be removed, and the razor rendered serviceable once more. To prevent injury, always polish, sand or buff the blade from spine to edge.

Avoid any blades which are “smiling” or “frowning”. A ‘smiling’ blade is one where the heel and toe of the blade have been worn away, causing the blade to ‘smile’ (have more metal in the middle, than at the extremities). A ‘frowning’ blade is the exact opposite: A blade with plenty of metal at the toe and heel, but less metal in the middle.

Smiling and frowning blades are the result of improper and overzealous sharpening, which has caused the blade to wear down unevenly. This would cause the blade to become harder to sharpen, harder to strop, and of course – harder to shave with. Do not buy any razors with misshapen blades. They’re simply not worth your effort to try and restore.

Check the Scales for Damage

As mentioned earlier, the ‘scales’ are the two flat panels which make up the ‘handle’ of the razor, into which the blade is placed when not in use.

Scales can be made of almost anything. Mother of pearl, ivory, bone, wood, sterling silver, celluloid ebonite, horn, stainless steel…the list is almost endless.

Regardless of what kind of materials the scales are made of, however, an equal amount of attention should be paid to the scales, as to the blade. Check for defects such as chips, cracks or nicks. Some scales made of natural materials (ie – bone, ivory, horn, etc) may have very thin hairline cracks, as a result of their advanced age – provided that these are not compromising their structural integrity, you can generally ignore them, and use the razor anyway. What you don’t want are scales with so much damage that they’re in danger of falling apart.

Cracks are most common around the stress-points. On scales, the stress-points are the holes which were drilled to drive through the rivets that keep the razor together. Minor hairline cracks are rarely an issue – but large cracks that go all the way through should be avoided.

Another issue is to make sure that the scales have not warped. This happens when, due to improper storage, heat, cold, or other factors, the scales have started to misshape, bend or otherwise deform. Do not buy a razor with these defects! Warped scales are a terrible safety hazard. If the blade does not reliably seat itself between the scales every single time you close the razor, if the blade strikes the scales whenever you try and close it – then don’t buy the razor. The last thing you want to do is to break the blade, or even worse – cut yourself, because the scales got in the way of a moving blade.

Prices for old Razors

The prices for old straight razors vary greatly. Anything made in Sheffield or Solingen is generally excellent quality, and well worth whatever you’re comfortable with paying for it. Razors can be picked up for as little as $10-$20 for a bog-standard mass-produced one, up to $50 for razors with more expensive materials for their scales, such as ivory, silver, or mother-of-pearl. On sites like eBay, restored razors sell for between $100-$200 apiece, again depending on age, condition, materials and completeness.

Straight razor sets – and sets do exist – are the cream of the crop when it comes to antique straight razors. Straight razors were most commonly sold in sets of two, three, four, and seven matching razors. While they can all be tricky to find, especially in good condition, for good money, the hardest and most expensive to procure are the complete, seven-day, seven-piece razor sets, which typically come in a wooden, felt and silk-lined case, complete with matching razors with the days of the week engraved along the spines.

Such sets are extremely hard to find, and very expensive. Most sets are incomplete, broken, or irreparable, and prohibitively expensive. This means that sets which are complete can fetch several hundreds, or even thousands of dollars, because of their condition and rarity. Back in the Victorian era, they were considered status symbols, because they suggested that the person who owned them not only had the money to buy one, but also the manservant whose job it was to sharpen and maintain these razors on a regular basis for his employer.

Other Antique Shaving Accessories

Other antique shaving accessories are easily found on eBay, or at flea-markets, antiques shops and fairs with few problems. Check any honing stones for cracks or chips – ignore any which have those – check any strops for damaged leather, and discard any which have cuts, scraps or tears, and make sure that any bowls, scuttles or mugs you buy don’t have any huge cracks in them. You should always buy your brush brand-new, however. Last thing you want to think about is what kind of gunk might be hiding inside the knot of your brush…

Old lathering mugs and scuttles are cheap and easy to find in good condition. Old strops are a bit harder, but if you’re persistent, you can find them. Or, as I said earlier – if you’re good with leather-crafting, you can even make your own. The perforated razor hone (see photograph above) was all of $20.00 and it’ll last forever!

Concluding Remarks

Straight razors have been used for hundreds and hundreds of years. Variations of the straight razor have existed since antiquity. The straight razor’s ability to give clean, fast, thorough shaves, to cut through entire beards, if need be, and to shave off more in one go than almost any other shaving device, is what has kept it in its position as being the most highly regarded of all the shaving methods developed and invented throughout history.

The fact that shaving with a straight edge requires skill, practice, judgement and a certain amount of bravery, is what makes it appeal to guys, who feel like they might have something to prove – or who want to try and master a new skill – because not just anybody has the courage, patience, or can master the techniques required to shave effectively with a three-inch long open blade at the drop of a hat.

Mastering the use of a straight razor is one of the greatest accomplishments you can achieve, and once reached, is an achievement which nobody can take from you, and which you can use for the rest of your life.

And you can brag about it to your friends, which is pretty cool…!!