Caring for a straight razor mainly entails preserving the razor‘s edge and protecting it from corrosion. The sharpness of the razor mainly comes from regular „stropping“ on linen and untreated leather and, after a while, on leather treated with a grinding paste. This requires a bit of practice but can be learned quickly

Since 1869, the famous knives with the world-famous Boker tree brand have been manufactured by hand in Solingen, the city of blades. It fills us with great pride when we look back on our continuous history, on the eventful history through which our company has gone over the course of 15 decades. And we also see this as a great obligation to remain true to our philosophy.

Both the oldest and the most recent history of knife making have produced countless blade shapes, the most common of which we would like to introduce and explain to you here. The blade shapes have been shaped by the respective requirements as well as by the traditional aesthetic ideas of their regions of origin. Contemporary custom knifemakers are constantly enriching this diverse family, so we can only give an overview of the most common designs here.

If you love your razor, you will want to be able to care for it yourself. This also includes sharpening it on the whetstone. The edge slowly becomes rounded due to regular stropping. This is intentional up to a certain point. However, at some point the angle of the edge becomes too steep and has to be ground flat again using a whetstone. Grinding also becomes necessary if the edge was damaged due to unintentional bumping, falls, or rust due to improper storage. We have compiled a small guideline for stones and sharpening.

Steel is a material that has fascinated mankind since its discovery. Even today, making and processing steel is still considered the epitome of material skills.

Damascus steel - a forging art thousands of years old that still unfolds its fascination today. However, the enthusiasm for Damascus is no longer based on technical demands, as it was then, but rather on a passion for the material and its special appearance, the fascination of which is difficult to elude. Today, a distinction is made between different types of Damascus production.

Many straight razor aficionados and users unfairly look at stainless steel straight razors as second class. But the differences to non-stainless carbon or standard steel can be minimized by the right choice of steel and optimal thermal treatment by the manufacturer, and even a few specific benefits achieved.