Disposable-Travel-Razor Ideas and Techniques

In planning and preparing for some summer trips by air, I've continued to tweak my travel-shave process.

Of course, because airline travel prohibits packing double-edge (DE) blades in any carry-on luggage, which is all I bring, then my DE razors stay at home and I use plastic disposables.

Of the few designs that I've tried, my favorite disposable is a pivoting-head, two-track design from Gillette. I find this to be relatively inexpensive and high quality. With it I can get consistently high-quality shaves. I also have a couple of Bic-brand designs: the single-bladed yellow-and-white razor for sensitive skin, and the the triple-bladed fixed-head model. Of those, I prefer the single-bladed Bic. I also bought from a dollar store a small quantity of Personna-brand, two-track, fixed-head razors, which are serviceable, but not my favorite.

Because of carry-on size restrictions and the fact that I prefer to travel as light as possible, I will often saw off half the handle length of my disposable razors. This emulates the handle length of Gillette's classic Travel Tech razors. Maybe more important than saving weight and space, the short handle requires a finger-tip grip, which in my opinion is the best technique for a wet shave with a safety razor.

As I've mentioned before, I take a small lump of soft shave soap in a pill vial -- and my razor(s), of course -- but I leave other shaving gear at home: no brush, no alum products (including styptic), no balms or lotions.

When I shave, I wet my beard, rub the soap on the stubble, and "lather" with my bare hands and fingers. I do my typical one-lather, regional shave, and my primary shave strokes are against grain. However, on my lips and chin, my primary strokes are more cross grain, which is how I've come to do it at home with my usual DE razors.

Because hand-lathered soap makes a rather flat lather, neither fluffy nor thick, it tends to dry out fairly quickly. So during the shave I will add moisture with my non-razor hand to keep the shave smooth and comfortable. I tend to keep the razor against my face for most of the "return" strokes, so you might say that my usual stroking technique is a slow, buffing stroke. After my initial strokes in a region, I will make various clean-up strokes adding moisture as appropriate (and occasionally swiping used lather from the underside of the razor as needed) and stroking in whatever direction seems most appropriate.

When I'm done, I will rinse the razor (and sometimes soak for a minute if necessary before the final rinse under the tap) to ensure that all the soap and stubble are removed. I then shake the razor and blow on the blades to remove as much water as I can. Then I will strop the upper, exposed side of the razor blade(s) on my pant leg or the inner length of my forearm to dry it as much as possible.

I then store the razor without its plastic blade guard to help the blade(s) dry as thoroughly and quickly as possible to minimize edge-destroying micro oxidation.

This whole process works very well for me, and with it, I can get good shaves when away from home without much fuss.

Happy shaving!

A Pair of Shaving Tips

Softening a Stiff No-Rinse Brush

If your brush begins to get stiff near the base of the knot due to excessive retention of shave soap, there's a simple fix:

Thoroughly immerse the brush bristles in water for a second or two -- just enough for all the air to bubble out of the bristles. Then give the water another second or two to soften the soap in the brush.

Then with thumb and forefinger, squeeze the base of the knot just above the handle as though you were trying to choke the brush knot. The pressure should squeeze excess soap up from the base of the knot toward the bristle tips. You will see soap lather emerging at the bristle tips. If you do this a few days in a row, you will easily and quickly make available for shaving that otherwise useless soap trapped deep in the knot.

UPDATE 8 June 2016: The preceding tip pertains to shave soaps that are somewhat soft such as the formulations that are typically used in shave sticks (which I, personally, prefer). If you use a hard shave soap, the soak time in water may need to be longer, and perhaps the water warmer to soften dried soap deep in the brush knot.

No worries!

Controlling Razor Aggression Shaving 1-Pass ATG

When you're shaving against grain as a first pass, it may be helpful to add a simple technique to your repertoire in addition to slow strokes with a light touch. That technique is to use low-angle shaving; that is, reduce the angle of the cutting edge to your skin by increasing a bit the angle of the razor handle in relation to your skin.

By slightly reducing the blade-to-skin angle in an initial pass that is against grain, you will reduce the propensity of the blade to nip and cause weepers. After you make a stroke or two with the reduced blade-skin angle, you can go back in the same pass (without re-lathering) and use the razor at it's most efficient cutting angle. This works even better if you are making slow, light buffing strokes, in which the razor never leaves the skin surface. Buffing strokes help to spread moisture and protective soap back onto an area just shaved.

I now use this technique most every morning with good results.

Happy shaving!