I’ve lately sold a few of my razors and again find myself spending longer than I really intend sharing my subjective opinion on what new users ought to do with them. Of course there are guides out there (and plenty of videos but I’m happy to leave that part to others) but somehow I still feel compelled so I might end up writing one of my own. In order to combat this, I’m trying to gather a comprehensive list of contemporary guides and maybe pick a favourite.

I’ve tried to exclude any that are too superficial, just copied/summarised/LLM’d from elsewhere, or have outright bad advice. Did I miss any good ones? Did I include any I shoudn’t have? Let me know and I’ll try and keep this updated.

Overall (some incl. honing)

Honing

  • waldenMA
    2·
    5 days ago

    This would be a good compilation to put in the wiki. Maybe I’ll find some motivation to do that.

    • PorkButtsNTaters666
      3·
      5 days ago

      Seconding the wiki idea.

      I am not the most knowledgeable, so I can’t really comment wrt content of what is here, and what is missing.

      I am wondering though, the list includes only textual material, and no video resources. While I find text easier to search and also for referencing stuff I already more or less know, I found and find it very helpful for some skills (especially if I have no idea at all how to proceed) to have someone show it to me – for instance on youtube:

      @gcgallant@sub.wetshaving.social

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OG8MK1KND14

      Shave and Butcher

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6AoSqruoZ0

      Maybe also some Geofatboy content (though he wants to sell you stuff)?

      • gcgallant
        3·
        5 days ago

        Thank you for referencing me! I’m also a huge fan of Shave&Butcher. Johan is a perfect example of someone who makes his own style work and is completely comfortable in front of the camera.

        It should happen mid-month, but I’m planning on sharing my method on how to start shaving with a straight razor, how to delay honing a razor for a long time, and on the basics of how to hone a razor. And in a complete departure, for me, these will be planned, short, videos.

        • PorkButtsNTaters666
          2·
          5 days ago

          And in a complete departure, for me, these will be planned, short, videos.

          What? 😱 Less than 40 minutes? 😱

          • gcgallant
            2·
            5 days ago

            Yes, I’m hoping to maintain a single train of thought :)

      • HomeAwayFromHoneOPM
        2·
        5 days ago

        That’s just my own bias. I really don’t like videos with a lot of talking and use them mainly on mute just to see a visual demo of what I’m trying to understand. To that end when I was learning how to use a straight razor six or so years ago the video I found most instructive was this one without any speaking at all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci9DT0qB3hc

        Also there’s a tonne more videos to sift through. I’m happy if someone wants to curate a selection of them but would hope it’s a separate section from the texts.