Friday, October 16, 2015

Wet shaving and cutting concrete

So my face had hair all over it. Whiskers and grays. I'd say it was a full on beard! A rarity for me and probably the longest it's ever grown. While I liked the look and face warming goodness that accompanied it, the opposite can be said for the hot summers here so it was time for it to go. Back around May this year I started researching wet shaving because I liked the idea, frugality of it, and the super keen old school tech. I put together this little starter kit;



Only, it was just in time for winter... so it was relegated to the back of a cupboard - until about 3 days ago when it finally came to use and boy did it shave swell! Firstly, I got Manda to hack off the longest bits with a hair clipper, before trying out the double edge safety razor and thankfully loosing only a little blood.

I'm using a Muhle R89 Classic DE, Semogue 1305 Shaving Brush, some Occams Original Shave Cream, a blade sampler pack, some Mitchells Wool Fat shaving soap and the lathering bowl is from Bendigo Pottery that was found in an op shop.



We've also been powering forward with the off grid solar project. One part of it was cutting conduit channels into the concrete porch area where the system resides.


This exercise has cemented our idea not to remove the concrete porch when the time comes to construct a proper wood deck. While our neighbor told us of the thin layer of concrete over bricks around his house, we seem to have thick, well made cement, complete with quartz and reo-mesh!

We've been buying wire, bits, and hooking up converters, then unhooking them, buying more bits, drilling more holes... soon it'll be done... soon.

3 comments:

  1. Cutting concrete is dusty work. No wonder the beard had to go. You'd be inhaling concrete dust wherever you went.

    I'm curious about the safety razor, as my husband bought one recently too. He cut himself so much, because the modern razors with pivoted heads, take all the skill out of learning how to use an old safety razor.

    My husband has gotten better with it. He tries to use it on days he knows he won't need to rush with shaving, generally once a week. The rest of the time he uses a modern razor. He works in a kitchen, so needs to keep hygiene standards high. Thanks for sharing your experience. If you learn any tips on how not to cut yourself, please share, so I can pass them onto my husband. :)

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    Replies
    1. Hi Chris, I'm really new to wet shaving but I'll try to give some advice based on the limited amount I've learned. The angle of the razor to the face is important, you shouldn't feel any tugging or scraping as you shave. I'm trying to keep mine almost perpendicular to my face. Try not to apply pressure, just let the weight of the safety razor do the work. Technique takes time, as your husband and I are learning :)

      I've read that different combinations of blades, soaps, creams and brushes can also make a big difference to the shaving experience and it's about what works best with your skin type, how you shave etc. I've yet to experiment with a variety of accouterments yet, maybe some day.

      He may also want to peruse this Australian/NZ shaving forum where I've gotten lots of good advice:

      www.paste-and-cut.com.au

      Good luck and stay sharp! ;)

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    2. Ah, thanks for that. Yep, I'd heard different shaving lubricants can have an effect too. I'll be sure to pass it on. Thanks for sharing. :)

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