Straight razor shave with no cuts

With the ridiculous cost of blades for standard issue razors, Mach 3, Quattro, Etc., I decided to switch to the old fashioned straight razor. Problem was the cuts. I got myself GOOD and scarred my throat when I first got the razor. I am not a quitter though and have continued to hone my skills. 
I get a disposable blade straight razor for $9.99 at the beauty supply store. A 5 pack of blades if $3.99. It lasts for about 3 months. A brand name razor is also $9.99 but the replacement blades are up to $32.99 for a pack of 8 and that is from Amazon.com! A pack of 8 may last 6 months at most. 
I WAS DONE!

Supplies needed:
Straight razor
Shaving cream or foam of your choice
Hand towel
HOT water
A face in need of a shave

Step 1 Preparing

Wet your hand towel with water that is as hot as your faucet will get.
Wring out the excess but do not try to dry the towel. You want it wet.
Wrap the towel around the area to be shaven tightly as to warm and soften the hair.
Remove the towel and set it to the side.
Time to apply the foam. Do this as you normally would.

Comments

[FoolishSage]

Nice 'ible! The hot towel trick is something I will have to try.

I think you are missing 3 very important steps:
1.choosing/buying a blade
2.prepping the blade before shaving
3.cleaning the blade after

To start at the end: Once you are done you should thoroughly clean the blade with water, dry it off, rinse with alcohol, dry and preferably give it some kind of protective oil coating. All this will prevent pitting and rust. This keeps the blade sharp and allows it to survive a loooong time.

When taking the blade out to shave again you first give it a go with alcohol to remove the oil and then take both sides several times over a leather strop to hone the blade right before use.

Buying a blade could be a ible onto itself but for most people a solid iron (not steel) full hollow blade will produce the best results in my opinion. When buying second hand you must of course do a thorough check for rust.

[bmelton1]

I am still using a disposable straight razor blade. Once I get a real blade...

[FoolishSage]

Fair enough :)
I' ve got a solinger twin beauty. Almost took my thumb off the first time I used it but haven't cut myself since. Cost almost 100 euros at the time but should last forever :p

[siamonsez]

Do you always stroke from top to bottom, even on the neck and under the chin, or do you stroke upwards? Also, want about the angle of the blade, to you go at something like a 45 degree angle or is it closer to perpendicular to the skin?
I don't shove that often anymore because I hate going through blades,but when I had a job I had to shave for I always felt the sticker shock when I had to get new ones. I might give this a go, thanks for the ible.

[FoolishSage]

The more parallel to your skin the more you pull the hairs and the less of a close shave you get, the more perpendicular the greater the chance of cutting into the skin rather than along it. When starting with a straight razor I would suggest you start very parallel and slowly move towards the perpendicular to find your own sweet spot. I usually shave below the 45°, somewhere around 25° I would guess.

[bmelton1]

I hold the blade at almost parallel. I also always go with the grain because I shave so seldom. It would hurt otherwise. I am about to invest in a permanent blade razor and a strop.