January 16th, 2026

• Brush: L’Occitane Plisson Synthetic
• Razor: GEM Micromatic Clog-Pruf
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE (3)
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Lavender Sage - Soap
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Friends to the End - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Friends to the End - Balm

Excellent quick shave early this morning. Almost stopped after 2 passes but figured what’s another couple minutes?

January 15th, 2026

• Brush: L’Occitane Plisson Synthetic
• Razor: Gold Dollar Straight Razor - 7/8 Half Hollow (3)
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Lavender Sage - Soap
• Post Shave: Pinaud - Clubman Special Reserve - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Declaration Grooming, House of Mammoth - Cerberus - Liniment
• Fragrance: Cross/Cut - Warm Woods - EdC

Pretty good and comfortable, and closeness is good. This razor was my learning razor in regards to honing. First I chipped the blade trying to cut a zip tie with it (doh!), then I tried pretty successfully to fix the chip, and now here we are. The edge on it is only 600 diamond plate straight to 10k. Surprisingly it works, but now that I own more synthetic stones I’m looking forward to seeing how it is after a full progression.

It says Donations Paused at the moment.

January 14th, 2026

• Brush: AP Shave Co. - Synbad 24mm Synthetic
• Razor: Worcester Razor Co. Straight - 6/8 Hollow (2)
• Lather: Stirling Soap Co. - Lavender Sage - Soap
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Varen - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Friends to the End - Balm
• Fragrance: Barrister and Mann - Lavanille - EdP

Decent results. The razor bit me in a weird way, though. Usually a straight will bite parallel to the edge, usually as a result of accidental movement in that direction. This bite was a shallow slice perpendicular to the blade, in the direction of travel. At first I thought maybe it was the square toe that dug in a bit, but the location doesn’t make sense… A bit of a mystery.

Either way, happy with the shave! Closeness is good enough. The razor had a nice soft feel.

January 13th, 2026

• Brush: AP Shave Co. - Synbad 24mm Synthetic
• Razor: Worcester Razor Co. Straight - 6/8 Hollow (1)
• Lather: Zingari Man - The Stargazer - Soap
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Varen - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Zingari Man - The Stargazer - Aftershave Serum

At the advice of @gcgallant@wetshav.ing I started over (again) with this razor. I really want to love this razor, and the good news is I believe it’s getting there!

I’ve honed this razor 3 times now, and the past 2 times I’ve attempted to correct the geometry. With the show side facing up, the spine had a bit of a wobble. I taped the edge to protect it and rubbed the spine on a 600 grit diamond plate. I really thought I got it flat this time, but it still has some evidence of needing improvement.

There are two things that stick out to me. First, the side where I removed (the most) material from only got shiny on half of the spine, meaning a large section of the spine didn’t get refined by the 2k, 5k, 8k, or 10k. Second, the edge is larger on the side where I removed material from. This is to be expected, but in the future I’d like to remove material from the other side of the spine to get the edges matchy matchy.

This shave went pretty well overall. The first pass was super promising, but I knew not to get my hopes up because I’ve been fooled by this razor before. The 2nd pass started to feel questionable again, but I think it was mostly my pessimism and being too critical of the razor. The 3rd pass cleared everything up for me, and I’m happy with the razor as is. I’ll go back and correct the two things I mentioned, but only when I get the motivation so it might be a while!

Great work. Thank you to everyone involved.

January 12th, 2026

• Brush: Zenith - 508A XL/Bristle (B35) (MOAR BOAR) 31mm Boar
• Razor: GEM Micromatic Clog-Pruf
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE (2)
• Lather: La Maison du Savon de Marseille - Aloe Vera & Donkey Milk - Soap
• Post Shave: Old Spice - Original - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Declaration Grooming, House of Mammoth - Cerberus - Liniment

Nice shave. This soap lends itself much better to an SE/DE shave. I can actually get mostly through a pass before it dissipates. Nice scent and some good slickness.

Ring of Death has started on this tub

Only a few more weeks of continuous use until it’s gone!

January 11th, 2026

• Brush: Dogwood Handcrafts - “Santa Noir” w/ 28mm Badger
• Razor: GEM Micromatic Clog-Pruf
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE (1)
• Lather: House of Mammoth - Snippid - Soap
• Post Shave: London Razors - Mountain Laurel - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Friends to the End - Balm
• Fragrance: Eau Factory - Noble - EdT

The Clog-Pruf sure is great. The first couple of passes I kept thinking man, this is smooth. No weepers, super nice. Then, of course, the 3rd pass introduced 3 or 4 weepers. Go figure.

Still an excellent shave.

Both seem pretty logical. I’ll keep your method in mind if I ever want to calculate a bevel angle… it definitely makes more sense for that calculation.

January 10th, 2026

• Brush: Dogwood Handcrafts - “Santa Noir” w/ 28mm Badger
• Razor: Koraat 15/16 Full Hollow - Sub Exclusive ‘Moarteen’ (7)
• Lather: La Maison du Savon de Marseille - Aloe Vera & Donkey Milk - Soap
• Post Shave: Sketch - Bay Rum - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Nivea - Sensitive - Balm
• Fragrance: Auntie Anne’s Preztels 🥨 - Knead - EdP

Decent shave. Probably would have been much better with better soap. This soap isn’t horrible, but ehh. It smells nice. I got it during a nice vacation to Belgium, so it gets extra points – otherwise I’d probably toss it.

I forgot to strop the razor, so I’ll do a little extra next time.

I printed out a straight razor measuring chart, so I’ll work on adding blade width info to my database to include in the SOTD. This one I’ve had labeled as 15/16" based on common knowledge, but now I can confirm it if I so choose!

Was working 7 in a row optional? Sometimes a good way to prove yourself is to take regular days off. Your absence might make them realize you’re good to have around. Of course, if there are lots of people working there they may not notice you’re gone!

Boar brushes are indeed like that before they are broken in, which takes “a while” depending on the brush.

I couldn’t really tell you why they’re like that, but your experience is to be expected!

You really can’t soak a boar for too long. The hairs are hollow, so soaking lets them suck up enough water to get saturated and soft. You can, however, soak it too deep. I’ve heard from others that if you submerge the whole knot, maybe even a little bit of the handle, the knot can swell and crack the handle.

There are some people who swear by scooping, but I think it’s mostly because they might want to sell the soap later and don’t want to exclude buyers who are creeped out by “lathered” soaps. I think it’s a bit ridiculous, because if someone is buying used soap they probably don’t care at all about that, and it’s a lot of extra work to scoop. Load it like you hate it, I say!

January 9th, 2026

• Brush: Dogwood Handcrafts - “Santa Noir” w/ 28mm Badger
• Razor: Geneva Cutlery Co. (Genco) Straight Razor (2)
• Lather: Williams - Mug Soap - Soap
• Post Shave: Barrister and Mann - Petrichor - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Nivea - Sensitive - Balm
• Fragrance: Fanzine Saponifications - Caravaggio - EdP

Nice shave. Very close, but a few small weepers – no big deal. I find this razor to be nimble and I quite like that aspect of it. It’s on the narrower side – I should print out one of those straight razor measuring charts.

Our house has hot water baseboard heat which they say should be cleaned every year. It’s a pretty monumental task to clean them, so they haven’t been cleaned in a long time. I’m allergic to cats, and the previous owners had cats. From what I’ve seen so far, this might partially explain why my allergies haven’t gotten better during the winter like they usually do!

It seems to be in a sweet spot at the moment… I can refresh the edge before I send it or just leave it be. Up to you.

I find it very easy to shave with. It’s super quiet compared to a hollow type of grind. I’d be happy to send it to you if you want to try one before you buy one.

This one was really cheap on auctionninja.com because it had a big chip in it. I was local to the listing, too, so no shipping.

Does he live there, or just visiting?

January 8th, 2026

• Brush: Dogwood Handcrafts - “Santa Noir” w/ 28mm Badger
• Razor: Joseph Rogers & Sons Near Wedge (6)
• Lather: Honeybee Soaps - Vetyver - Soap
• Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. - Varen - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Zingari Man - The Stargazer - Aftershave Serum

Oh wow. After yesterday’s excellent shave I wasn’t sure if it could be beat using my current straight razor technique, but I think today I managed to get an even closer shave. This is great news, because it proves a couple of things. 1) I can put an edge on a razor and it can be wonderful, and 2) 10k is sharp enough.

So now I have 2 razors that I love, and 2 or 3 that I need to learn better and put some more work into the edges.

The numbers don’t lie!