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  SHAVING MADE EASY


  What the Man Who
  Shaves Ought to Know


  ILLUSTRATED


  PUBLISHED BY
  THE 20th CENTURY
  CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL
  NEW YORK




  COPYRIGHT, 1905
  BY
  THE 20TH CENTURY
  CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL




  THIS BOOK
  IS DEDICATED TO THOSE
  MEN WHO HAVE DIFFICULTIES IN
  SHAVING, IN HOPE THAT ITS CONTENTS
  WILL BE OF ASSISTANCE IN REMEDYING
  THEIR TROUBLES.




PREFACE.


The object of this little book is to furnish clear and full information
about the art of shaving. There are few men who do not experience more or
less difficulty in shaving themselves, and many who, after a few
unsuccessful attempts, give it up in dispair and go to the barber shop. We
believe most of these would much prefer to shave themselves if only they
could do as well as a barber.

The advantages, indeed, seem to be wholly with the man who shaves himself.
In the first place the shaving is done in the privacy of his own room. He
has his own razor, cup, soap, brush and towels, which can be kept
scrupulously clean and sanitary, thus avoiding the constant danger of
infection. There is no long wait for the call of "next." After the first
cost of the outfit there is nothing to pay, either for services or "tips."
Thus in point of time, money and health, the man who shaves himself is a
decided gainer.

There are few things in life that are really difficult to perform when one
thoroughly knows how to do them. Shaving is no exception. The art of
shaving can be easily acquired if one only has the will, and the necessary
practical information. This book, which, as far as we are aware, is the
only one treating the subject at all completely, endeavors to supply such
information; as well for the improvement of men accustomed to shave
themselves, as for the instruction of beginners. We believe that any man
who will carefully read and follow the instructions here given, will, with
some little practice, soon be able to shave himself easily and even better
than the barber can do it for him.




CONTENTS.


     I. The Shaving Outfit                     9

    II. The Razor                             11

   III. Care of the Razor                     19

    IV. The Safety Razor                      21

     V. The Hone                              23

    VI. How to Use the Hone                   29

   VII. The Strop                             37

  VIII. How to Strop the Razor                41

    IX. The Brush                             45

     X. The Cup                               48

    XI. The Soap                              50

   XII. The Lather                            53

  XIII. Instructions to Beginners             56

   XIV. The Right Way to Shave                61

    XV. Care of the Face After Shaving        74

   XVI. Irritation of the Skin--Its Cause
        and Prevention                        78




Shaving Made Easy

What the Man Who Shaves Ought to Know




I.

THE SHAVING OUTFIT.


First-class tools are necessary at the very outset. No matter how
skillfully one may handle inferior tools, they will invariably produce
poor results.

Probably as many failures have resulted from the use of poor razors,
strops, or soap as from the lack of knowledge how to use them. In order
that the best possible results may be attained, _good tools_ and _skill
in using them_ should go hand in hand.

The shaving outfit should consist of one or two good razors, a first-class
strop, a mirror, a cup, a brush, a cake of shaving soap, and a bottle of
either bay rum, witch hazel, or some other good face lotion. These
constitute what may be considered the _necessary_ articles, and to these
may be added a number of others, such as a good hone, magnesia or talcum
powder, astringent or styptic pencils, antiseptic lotions, etc. which,
while not absolutely requisite, will nevertheless add much to the
convenience, comfort and luxury of the shave.




II.

THE RAZOR.


The most important article of the shaving outfit is of course the razor,
and upon its selection your success or failure in self-shaving will
largely depend. Never purchase a razor because it happens to be cheap; a
poor razor is dear at any price. You want not the cheapest, but the best.

[Illustration: AN IDEAL RAZOR.]

A _good_ razor if rightly used, will last for years, and will be a source
of continual pleasure when used, whereas a _poor_ razor will do inferior
work, irritate the skin and make the face sore, and be a continual source
of trouble and annoyance. If you have such a razor, the sooner you throw
it aside and substitute a good one, the better.

The principal point to be considered in selecting a razor is the quality
of the steel. By "quality" is meant its _temper_ or degree of solidity,
and its consequent capability of receiving, even after a series of years,
a firm and fine edge. This is undoubtedly the first point to which the
purchaser should give attention. By what means though, can he judge of the
temper of a razor without using it? The unassisted eye is not sufficient.
Its power extends no further than to the discovery of defects the most
striking and injurious. The irregularities in a razor's edge, which arise
from improper tempering and lack of skill in working, are usually so
minute, that they may remain undistinguished until the razor is used. They
will nevertheless very sensibly add to the friction the razor produces on
the skin and particularly if it happens to be thin and tender. There are
two ways of judging of the temper of a razor; one of these is practically
infallible--viz:--the examination of the blade and its edge by means of a
microscope.

It will be readily admitted that the real excellence of a razor is in
direct proportion to the firmness and unbroken regularity of its edge.
When a razor is too brittle, in consequence of having been either to much
heated in the process of hardening, or not sufficiently cooled in that of
tempering, it cannot possibly take a good cutting edge, no matter how much
skill may be employed in honing and stropping it. Such defects are quickly
detected by the use of a microscope in the hands of an experienced and
attentive observer.

The other method of testing the temper, while not infallible, will
nevertheless be of assistance even to the most inexperienced. It consists
of catching the point of the blade under the thumb nail, and then letting
the nail slip off quickly. If the blade gives a good clear ring, you may
conclude that it is well tempered, but if it does _not_ ring full and
clear it is an indication that the blade is tempered unevenly.


THE CONCAVE BLADE.

The thinnest edge is always the sharpest. A blade ought therefore to be as
thin as the strength of the metal composing it will permit. Nearly all
razors are now made "hollow-ground" or "concave"--a great improvement over
the old style of thick blade. The edge of the hollow-ground razor is
thinner and therefore cuts better, and is much easier to keep sharp.

Almost any desired make of razor may be had in either half,
three-quarters, or full concave. The full concave blade is of course the
thinnest. In view of the fact that the thinner the edge the sharper the
instrument, most purchasers of a razor quite naturally conclude that the
full concave blade is the best. Our impression is that this is a mistake;
that the full concave blade is not so good for shaving most beards as the
three-quarters concave. In a very deeply hollow ground razor, the blade is
ground extremely thin, back to a line some distance from the edge. When
such an edge--almost as thin as paper--comes in contact with a stiff
beard, unless the blade is held very flat upon the face, it is quite
likely to bend and spring, and a cut will be the result.


WIDTH OF THE BLADE.

The width of the blade is another point that should receive attention. As
a rule we believe the beginner selects too wide a blade. A comparatively
narrow one, in the size known as the 4-8 is the best for most purposes,
as it does not spring on the face so readily as the wide blade, yet it
follows the contours of the face more closely, and in general is managed
more easily.

[Illustration: SHOWING DIFFERENT WIDTHS OF BLADES.]


POINT OF THE BLADE.

The point of the razor ought to be slightly rounded as shown in the
illustration. While this is seemingly a small matter, yet a sharp point
has probably occasioned more cuts than almost any other cause. If you
have a razor with a sharp point, you can round it off, on the _edge_ of
the hone. You should not use the top surface of the hone for this purpose,
for if you do you are quite likely to scratch the hone and spoil it. Use
water freely otherwise the blade will become heated and that would quickly
spoil its temper.

[Illustration: A.--THE ROUND POINTED BLADE.]

[Illustration: B.--THE SHARP POINTED BLADE.]




III.

CARE OF THE RAZOR.


Take good care of your razor. Many a fine razor has been spoiled by
carelessness and neglect on the part of the user. The life of a razor will
depend entirely on the care given it. Never put it away until it has first
been wiped thoroughly dry, using a piece of chamois skin for this purpose.
Even this will not remove all the moisture, so the blade should be drawn
across the strop a few times, or else left exposed to the air for a few
moments until the little particles of moisture not removed by the cloth
have evaporated. Then you may replace the razor in its case with the
expectation of finding it in good condition when you next use it.

Rusting must be prevented, especially upon the edge, which seems to rust
more quickly than any other part of the blade. A tiny rust spot on this
delicate line, by causing the metal to soften and crumble at that point,
will soon end the usefulness of the razor, unless the edge is ground back
past the rust spot. In such a case there is always the liability of not
getting a good edge.

In wiping the lather off the blade never use a glazed or coarse paper.
Tissue paper is the best. Many overlook this point and by drawing the
blade straight across a glazed or hard finished paper, turn the edge, and
then wonder why the razor has lost its keenness. Draw the blade over the
paper obliquely, away from the edge, in the same direction as when
stropping it.




IV.

THE SAFETY RAZOR.


Of recent years a great number of safety razors have been invented and
placed on the market, the manufacturers of each claiming that theirs are
superior to all others and that they have at last produced a razor that is
destined to revolutionize shaving.

One thing may be said of safety razors in general--that if a man uses one
he is less likely to cut himself, but this is all that can reasonably be
said in their favor. Of course, if it were impossible to shave with the
ordinary razor _without_ cutting one's self, then the safety razor would
become a necessity. The truth is, however, that anyone who has a good keen
smooth-cutting razor, lathers the face thoroughly, and will learn--if he
does not already know--how to handle the razor properly, will run almost
no danger. Such a man will seldom cut himself.

On the other hand, most of the safety razors are difficult to keep clean
and dry, and therefore free from rust; and owing to the difficulty of
stropping them, it is almost, if not quite impossible to keep them sharp.
It is also difficult to make the correct stroke with them. Probably a
hundred thousand safety razors have been sold in the United States within
the past few years and it is extremely doubtful if ten per cent. of them
are now in use.




V.

THE HONE.


The edge of a razor, when viewed under a powerful microscope, presents an
appearance very different from that seen by the unaided eye. Unmagnified,
the edge appears to be a continuous unbroken line. Such actually is not
the case, for the microscope reveals the fact that, instead of being
straight and unbroken, the edge is in reality composed of a great number
of minute points much resembling the teeth of a saw.

These points or teeth follow each other throughout the entire length of
the blade, and by their extreme minuteness and unbroken regularity give
the edge its exceeding keenness. Now if the razor becomes dull, these
teeth will be less even and regular and their edges will be rounded and
worn away. To sharpen the razor, therefore, it is necessary--by making the
edge as thin as possible--to restore these little teeth to their original
condition. This cannot be done by stropping, but is accomplished only by
the process known as honing.

[Illustration: EDGE OF THE RAZOR AS IT APPEARS UNDER THE MICROSCOPE.]

It has been asserted by some, that when once the razor has been ground and
set, the strop alone without further honing or grinding is sufficient to
keep it in order. This opinion has eminated from certain makers of
razor-strops, who wish to induce the public to purchase their goods. They
represent their strops as having been "metalized," or otherwise treated
with some kind of preparation that makes honing unnecessary. As a rule, we
would advise the reader to beware of these "wonder-working-strops." Such
preparations _may_, and sometimes _do_, improve the strop, just as lather
when applied to a strop will improve it, but that they will do more than
this, we deny. When the special offices of the hone and of the strop are
fully understood, it will at once become apparent that no strop can
possibly take the place of a hone.

The object of honing a razor is to make its edge as _thin_ and _flat_ as a
proper attention to the degree of firmness required will permit. This is
accomplished by the hard fine grit of the hone cutting and wearing away
the steel. The strop cannot do this. On the contrary, stropping a razor,
instead of giving it a thin and flat edge, always has a tendency to
produce a rounded one. This results from the very nature of the strop,
which always "gives" or sags more or less during the process of stropping,
and the more the strop is permitted to sag, the sooner will such an edge
be produced, and in proportion as the edge assumes this rounded form, it
losses its keenness. The flattest and thinnest edge is always the
sharpest, and the only way to impart such an edge to a razor is by means
of the hone.

Before explaining the process of honing, it may be well to say a word
about the different kinds of hones, so that should the reader wish to
purchase one, he may do it intelligently.

There are two distinct classes of hones in general use,--one known as the
rock hone, on account of its being cut from the natural rock, and the
other manufactured. A great number of hones are produced in different
parts of the United States, but few that are really suitable for
sharpening razors. A razor hone must be of the very finest quality. The
natural stones are usually composed principally of silica, which is one of
the sharpest cutting minerals known. It easily cuts the hardest steel and
the fine grit imparts a very smooth edge to a razor. The "Arkansas," found
near the famous Hot Springs, is one of this variety, but owing to the
difficulty of obtaining this stone, and the great waste in cutting it, the
supply is limited and the price high.

[Illustration: THE HONE.]

Most of the razor hones used in the United States are imported. The most
noted are the German water hones, the oil hones from Belgium, and the
Swaty hones from Austria. The last named are very reasonable in price and
quite a favorite among barbers. They are a manufactured hone, and in some
respects the manufactured hones are superior to the natural stones, in
that they are free from seams and uneven spots and perfectly uniform in
texture.

Most men have the idea that honing is a difficult operation and should be
undertaken only by expert cutlers or barbers. Very few seem to think that
they can hone there own razors. How this impression became current, it is
difficult to say. We venture to assert, however, that honing a razor is at
least as easy as stropping it. In this case as in many others, the
difficulty arises from supposing there is a difficulty.




How to Use the Hone




VI.

HOW TO USE THE HONE.


The hone being the only means of sharpening a dull razor, its use becomes
at once of the utmost importance to those who wish to keep their razors in
perfect order.

Hones are seldom used dry, but are usually covered with either water,
lather or oil: first--to prevent heating the blade which would quickly
spoil its temper; second--to keep the particles of steel that are ground
off the blade from entering the pores of the stone, which would soon fill
up and result in what is known as a glazed surface; and third--to make
the surface of the hone as smooth as possible.

Before commencing the operation, wipe the hone clean, then put on a few
drops of oil or else cover it with water or lather. This will float the
little particles of steel ground off the razor, thus preventing them from
remaining directly on the hone to impede its full and equal effect. With
most hones you may use either water, lather or oil; but do not change from
one to the other; whichever you begin with, use that exclusively. It
requires a longer time to produce a keen edge when oil is used but the
edge is somewhat smoother. Most barbers