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How To Shave For Dummies
This is for all of you young guys who are about to embark on the lifelong drudgery of shaving. It's also for you, who like me, have been shaving for 60 years, AND for all of you in between. Now you might say shaving is pretty much straight forward. Well it is, but there are many ways to accomplish that simple task. I don't intend to explore all the different ways to shave, but I will concentrate on the one optimum way. THE ONE WAY that will give you the best and smoothest shave you ever had, (and save you money in the process). This method applies no matter which brand of shaving equipment you are using, whether it be Gillette, Schick, or any of the other brand names out there. BRIEF HISTORY of SHAVERS I'll begin with a little history on the evolution of the shaving blade as we use it today. The first relatively modern development was the straight razor. However its use required a great deal of care (to avoid slitting your throat) and skill. The development of the double edged safety razor held within a device with a handle that accepted the razor and held it securely in place was a good start. That device exposed only the cutting edge of the blade making difficult to cut yourself. The "safety razor" was born! This development made the straight razor virtually obsolete for the average person. Only a few diehards clung to the use of a straight razor. Now come incremental improvements. The first blades were made of ordinary carbon steel. Then came some advancements in the manufacture of the carbon steel. Next came the stainless steel blade which greatly extended the life of the blade. Then we were introduced to the titanium blade which was touted as the ultimate in shaving. Each of these improvements promised a "cleaner and smoother" shave. Of course all of these improvements came with price increases. We're not finished yet. As you know, we saw the development of the disposable blade with one cutting edge. Then we got two blades in the disposable head. The second blade mounted in the head was supposed to cut the whisker that the first blade pulled up. Yeah, the whisker just hung out waiting for the second blade to come along and lop it off. This was supposed to eliminate going over that same area twice. I go over the same area again despite that claim. And I do go against the grain contrary to the advice that this is not necessary. Furthermore, why didn’t the first blade cut off the whisker? Then we were exposed to a three bladed shaver that was the “ultimate”. Now that third blade is going to cut off the whisker that survived the first and second blades. Were the first two blades not sharp enough? Then we graduated to the four bladed head, and finally??, the five bladed head.. Along with all these new developments came the hard sell or “Hype” to make you think that this latest development is the greatest thing since sliced bread. If you say something often enough and long enough, it then becomes believable, and finally becomes fact. They even gave these innovations catchy names such as, Tracer, Mach 1, Mach 2, Mach 3, and Fusion. What are we doing, flying an airplane, or building an atomic reactor? Heck no!! We’re shaving for crying out loud. I’ll tell you what the next big “Breakthrough” will be in a minute. I’ve tried to contact razor manufacturers with this idea, but they would not respond to my letters. Possibly because of some legal problems or they may already have this “Breakthrough” on the drawing board, but don’t want to release it until they get the most “mileage’ out of the existing marketing ploy. When that happens, they will release this “new” concept to the gullible shaving public, which means you and me. Before I go into that, let’s get into basics. It’s common knowledge that a warm moist beard is easier to shave than a dry one. What I do, and it may sound a bit archaic, I lean over the sink, cup my hands and collect water, as hot as I can stand, from the tap and bring it up to my face, submerging my face in my cupped hands with the hot water. I do this several times. A hot wash rag on your face for a minute or two will do the same thing, but it is too time consuming for me. After the hot water treatment, I pump some liquid soap into my hands, work up a lather, and work it into my beard as if to wash my face. Next I apply shaving cream (the brand doesn’t matter) to my face on top of the previously applied soap and water. Now comes my big “secret”. Instead of the usual method of shaving with the razor, which is pulling the shaving head down over my beard, with the handle pointing down in the direction of travel, I hold the handle at an angle with the vertical so that the shaving head produces a slicing action instead of a chopping action. This method will give you a smoother shave, and your blade will stay sharp longer. As a fringe benefit you will be saving money by having to replace blades less frequently. Let’s examine why the slicing action is superior to the chopping action. In the middle ages, mainly in France, but in the rest of Europe, prisoners were being executed by decapitation which became the accepted method of execution. The executioner, armed with a sword or axe would perform the task. Sometimes the executioner’s aim was not true and it would take several attempts to do the job. Moreover, the cutting edge of the sword, or axe if it was used, became dull rapidly which did not promote a swift execution. The rate of executions became so great that it became clear (and necessary) that a device had to be constructed that would do the job more efficiently and effectively. A device was developed and it took the name of a Frenchman, Dr. Joseph I. Guillotin. An “e” was added to his name and the guillotine was established as the means of execution. The guillotine first incorporated a straight blade which was released from a height, guided by tracks and came down on the victim’s neck, thus severing the head. This proved to be an effective method of execution except that with prolonged use, the blade became dull very quickly. Experiments were made with a rounded blade, but that was abandoned in favor a blade installed at a 45 degree angle. This was designed to slice through the victim’s neck instead of chopping through. The blade, so constructed, stayed sharper and stayed longer and the 45 degree angle blade was adopted as the standard. I offer this information to illustrate that slicing through an object (a neck or whisker) with a blade at an angle is preferable to chopping or hacking through. This is not rocket science. As I mentioned earlier, while you are shaving, try holding the handle of your razor blade at an angle to, instead of parallel to, direction of cut and you will experience a smoother shave. Your blade will last longer, your face will feel better and you will save money at the same time.
This article was posted on September 08, 2006
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