Shaving Hacks

Most of us have been doing whats called traditional wet shaving for a while, some for longer than others and I'm sure we've all figured out some little shortcuts or procedures that make things better or easier in some way - nowadays these things are called "hacks". I thought it would be a good idea if DFS members were to post their own personal hacks here so that the rest of us can benefit from the collective wisdom and insight of the membership. They don't have to be profound - sometimes the best things are just so simple that they plum evade us I'll start.

Unlike the shaving demonstrators and soap reviewers on Youtube, I do not shave fully dressed. I generally am just out of the shower and wear a towel wrapped around my waist. For most of my life I'd keep the towel in place with a tuck of the end under the edge of the towel. This necessitated constant readjustment to prevent the towel from falling off. I thought that one of these commercial towel wraps would be the solution to the problem so I asked my family for one for Christmas a few years back. The thing had a velcro closure and was made of micro-fibre. I hated it, first the velcro tape has sharp corners that dig into the skin and second, if you work with your hands they get rough and I just hate the feeling of rough skin on micro-fiber - snags. Hate it. So I decided this route was not the solution. Here's the hack, I picked up a couple of reasonably priced 100% cotton bath towels (not too big) and one of those bag clips (pictured below) and I wrap the towel and clip it on, rotate the clip to the side so that it doesn't dig in when I bend forward. Problem solved. I can use any towel I want and it stays in place and a package of 2 or 3 of those clips costs a couple of dollars.

Ingenious, Mark.

Nice idea for a thread. Mine is really simple. My drain clogs pretty easily, and rinsing my razor wasn't helping. I decided to repurpose an Old Spice mug that wasn't getting used since I face lather. I just keep it under the razor when I rinse.
After a few months, I upgraded to a taller mug to reduce the number of times I have to empty it. The Old Spice mug is sadly back to shelf duty. I've been doing this for about a year and it's definitely reduced the amount of time spent unclogging the drain.

Nice idea for a thread. Mine is really simple. My drain clogs pretty easily, and rinsing my razor wasn't helping. I decided to repurpose an Old Spice mug that wasn't getting used since I face lather. I just keep it under the razor when I rinse.
After a few months, I upgraded to a taller mug to reduce the number of times I have to empty it. The Old Spice mug is sadly back to shelf duty. I've been doing this for about a year and it's definitely reduced the amount of time spent unclogging the drain.

Great hack shevek ! Any idea that reduces drain clogs is a good idea. I find that certain Kiehl's shaving creams contributed to clogs so i stopped using them and also any brush that loses more bristles than is reasonable (i.e., none) isn't kept in the rotation. Boar bristles can be bad for clogs as well as badger but the worst is synthetic because the normal drain cleaners won't dissolve them. Any synthetic that loses bristles is gone.

Thanks!

Marko

My only hacks
Soak your brush in water. 5 Min is all it takes to prevent broken bristles and the brush from soaking the water out of the lather.
While you are there dribble just a touch of water on the soap. Yes this is blooming, but I only use just enough for the water to soak in while the brush soaks. If water is still standing on the soap when you are ready to shave, you used too much water.

My next one is Never Dull brass polish. I polished The Duck, and will post pre and post polish of my vintage brass razors. Havent done it yet but am confident my results will shine.

Nice idea for a thread. Mine is really simple. My drain clogs pretty easily, and rinsing my razor wasn't helping. I decided to repurpose an Old Spice mug that wasn't getting used since I face lather. I just keep it under the razor when I rinse.
After a few months, I upgraded to a taller mug to reduce the number of times I have to empty it. The Old Spice mug is sadly back to shelf duty. I've been doing this for about a year and it's definitely reduced the amount of time spent unclogging the drain.

Don't you still have to dump it down the drain anyway?

Nice idea for a thread. Mine is really simple. My drain clogs pretty easily, and rinsing my razor wasn't helping. I decided to repurpose an Old Spice mug that wasn't getting used since I face lather. I just keep it under the razor when I rinse.
After a few months, I upgraded to a taller mug to reduce the number of times I have to empty it. The Old Spice mug is sadly back to shelf duty. I've been doing this for about a year and it's definitely reduced the amount of time spent unclogging the drain.

Don't you still have to dump it down the drain anyway?

It goes in the toilet. I should have mentioned it.

Marko,

An old trick that might work.
Let your sink dry for several hours or longer,
Pour one or more cupsful of baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) slowly down the drain.
Then pour in a couple of cups of vinegar and enjoy the action.
When it ceases dump in another cup of vinegar.
Repeat vinegar until all is quiet and then pour in a kettle full of boiling water.
That should do it.

Replay the entire scenario as often as necessary.

That should clear the veins/drains clogs.
It works in my house without fail but with a little patience.

Mickey

Nice idea for a thread. Mine is really simple. My drain clogs pretty easily, and rinsing my razor wasn't helping. I decided to repurpose an Old Spice mug that wasn't getting used since I face lather. I just keep it under the razor when I rinse.
After a few months, I upgraded to a taller mug to reduce the number of times I have to empty it. The Old Spice mug is sadly back to shelf duty. I've been doing this for about a year and it's definitely reduced the amount of time spent unclogging the drain.

Don't you still have to dump it down the drain anyway?

It goes in the toilet. I should have mentioned it.

Ahh, ok. I kind of thought that was what you did. Good idea though. I'm going to have to start doing that too because my sink is the same way. With these all natural high fat/butter soaps that we use, I can see why it happens so often.

My only hacks
Soak your brush in water. 5 Min is all it takes to prevent broken bristles and the brush from soaking the water out of the lather.
While you are there dribble just a touch of water on the soap. Yes this is blooming, but I only use just enough for the water to soak in while the brush soaks. If water is still standing on the soap when you are ready to shave, you used too much water.

My next one is Never Dull brass polish. I polished The Duck, and will post pre and post polish of my vintage brass razors. Havent done it yet but am confident my results will shine.

Never Dull? I've never seen it, possibly not sold in Canada, at least not in my brass polishing, shoe shining days. It took a long time to polish the feathers off that bird.