Reddit mentions of Towels by Doctor Joe Blue 16" x 25" New Surgical Huck Towel, Pack of 12

Switch to shaving with a double-edged safety razor (I highly recommend the Parker 26C, $29 on Amazon). Here are my recommendations for a starter kit. Note that you should use a true lather (made with a shaving brush and a shaving soap or shaving cream) instead of canned foam:

Worst: cartridge razor + canned foam
Better: DE razor + canned foam
Better yet: cartridge razor + true lather
Best: DE razor + true lather

When you start, take care to avoid the four most common mistakes cartridge shavers make when switching to a DE razor.

For acne, I recommend:

a. Check the ingredients in your shaving products and know which to avoid---menthol, for example, is not a good idea. Until your acne's in remission, favor unscented shaving creams and soaps.

b. Use a high-glycerin soap such as Whole Foods 365 glycerin soap with vitamin E (that's one of several glycerin soaps they offer), $2/bar, as a pre-shave beard wash. Wash beard at the sink using your hands, then rinse partially with a splash and apply lather.

c. Rinse razor head in high-proof rubbing alcohol before and after each shave.

d. After the final rinse ending the shave, glide a dry alum block over your wet skin, then set block aside and clean up around the sink, put stuff away, etc., with the alum on your face. After a minute or two, rinse the alum off, dry, and do your usual aftershave. This step is particularly helpful: alum is a mild antiseptic. You may need to wet the block in colder climes during the winter, when indoor relatively humidity plummets.

e. Use a fresh towel for every shave. You can buy thin, 100% cotton, lint-free towels called "barber towels" or "bar towels" for under $20/dozen. They're easy to launder and a fresh one for each shave helps a lot. Here's an example. You can also use surgical towels, like these. Also, these towels from Ikea are said to be good. A wet towel is a microbe incubator.

f. Shave daily. Use very light pressure Think of your skin as being badly sunburned and the razor is an uncomfortably hot bar, but the razor still must touch the skin---but barely. That kind of light pressure. Daily shaving probably helps by being exfoliating and by the daily alum block and good aftershave---try one of the Thayers witch hazels with aloe vera or one of the witch-hazel-based aftershaves by ProspectorCo.com or StirlingSoap.com. Since the shave itself is exfoliating, I suggest restricting exfoliating scrubs to the forehead and nose and not use them where you shave---this is to minimize skin damage.

g. Buy a bunch of pillowcases from a hotel supply house and use a fresh pillowcase every night.

h. If you have choices on how you eat, try observing this diet (but without the dairy) for a month and see what happens. It works for some. Here's another description of the same diet.

Looks like irritation. This isn't a skin care subreddit, you will have to tell us what your shaving process consists of.

edit- you have probably posted and disappeared like so many do on this sub. I'll leave this really good post that /u/leisureguy made a few days ago that may help your situation out if you don't post again. Good luck to ya.

The only thing I'd change in this list is recommend that you stop shaving for at least a week and let it calm down, and another good brand of Witch Hazel and Aloe is Thayers.

> For acne, I recommend:

> a. Check the ingredients in your shaving products and know which to avoid---menthol, for example, is not a good idea. Until your acne's in remission, favor unscented shaving creams and soaps.

> b. Use a high-glycerin soap such as Whole Foods 365 glycerin soap with vitamin E (that's one of several glycerin soaps they offer), $2/bar, as a pre-shave beard wash. Wash beard at the sink using your hands, then rinse partially with a splash and apply lather.

> c. Rinse razor head in high-proof rubbing alcohol before and after each shave.

> d. After the final rinse ending the shave, glide a dry alum block over your wet skin, then set block aside and clean up around the sink, put stuff away, etc., with the alum on your face. After a minute or two, rinse the alum off, dry, and do your usual aftershave. This step is particularly helpful: alum is a mild antiseptic. You may need to wet the block in colder climes during the winter, when indoor relatively humidity plummets. Since a few men have skin sensitive to alum (their skin turns red and hot for a few minutes after they use it), you may want to test the block on the crease of your elbow joint: wet block, rub it gently on the skin there, and wait 10 minutes. If you have no reaction, use it as advised. (Alum also makes a great styptic if you get a cut: for that use, wet a corner of the block and press it firmly against the cut or nick for 20-40 seconds.)

> e. Use a fresh towel for every shave. You can buy thin, 100% cotton, lint-free towels called "barber towels" or "bar towels" for under $20/dozen. They're easy to launder and a fresh one for each shave helps a lot. Here's an example. You can also use surgical towels, like these. Also, these towels from Ikea are said to be good. A wet towel is a microbe incubator.

> f. Shave daily. Use very light pressure Think of your skin as being badly sunburned and the razor is an uncomfortably hot bar, but the razor still must touch the skin---but barely. That kind of light pressure. Daily shaving probably helps by being exfoliating and by the daily alum block and good aftershave---try one of the Thayers witch hazels with aloe vera or one of the witch-hazel-based aftershaves by ProspectorCo.com or StirlingSoap.com. Since the shave itself is exfoliating, I suggest restricting exfoliating scrubs to the forehead and nose and not use them where you shave---this is to minimize skin damage.

> g. Buy a bunch of pillowcases from a hotel supply house and use a fresh pillowcase every night.

> h. If you have choices on how you eat, try observing this diet (but without the dairy) for a month and see what happens. It works for some. Here's another description of the same diet. And here's the reason the diet is recommended.

My experience with dust and RVs is summarized here. This approach keep the RV reasonably clean the entire burn, and I usually can get it spotless in less than 4 hours post Burn (2 people working).

​

Here's most of the post -- formatting is better on the link and there's info re the issues with bike racks covering license plates, etc. on the link as well:

​

Preparing the RV for Burning Man

The best thing you can do to make sure your RV doesn’t get damaged at Burning Man or require extensive cleanup is to do the right prep work.

Floors. First, protect the floors. If you have wood floors, use red rosin paper like this. If you have carpet, use disposable carpet protection like this. Bring enough to change the protection a few times during your burn. One roll of the red rosin paper allows us to change the main area three times during the event in our 34' RV.

Windows. Next, cover all rubber molding on the outside of the RV with either high quality painters tape or (better yet) gaffer tape. Cleaning molding is very challenging, and the tape will not only keep it clean, but also keep dust from getting under it. Make sure it’s wide enough to the edges of the molding - at least 2”. The gaffer tape is significantly more expensive, but is easy to remove and won’t leave a film. If you are using painter tape, be sure to test it on a small area before going by affixing it to some molding and then running a hair dryer on it to heat it up. If it passes the test, be sure to also check once or twice during the Burn to ensure it doesn’t leave a sticky residue when you remove it.

An alternative technique is to entirely cover the windows with some type of plastic film and tape it on. People typically use a clear plastic film. We avoid doing this because the high winds can very easily tear the film at the time you need it most.

We do this stage while waiting in line at the entrance gate. Be sure to have a ladder or tough bin you can stand on to reach all the windows.

Outside Vents and Seams. Once on the playa, if your RV expands, tape up any seams around the pop outs after you are fully extended. Here’s where extra wide painters tape (4”) works great.

Finally, cover any vent holes that aren’t used during your Burn, being careful not to obstruct any working vents. A note on roof AC vents. We used to use a hammock filter on our outside AC vents. In normal conditions, these can be used to keep dust out of AC vents, and will permit airflow so can be in place while AC is running. Problem is, we have never gotten them to stay in place long in the high winds in the playa. So we gave up. We’ve seen very few people with these in place so our advice is to skip this step.

Inside Windows. You will want to cover all of the inside of your windows with insulated bubble wrap like this Reflectix product. Cover every inch of window on the inside, and tape it down. It makes a huge difference.

Some people swear by also using Reflectix on the roof of the RV. This will absolutely reduce the temperature of your RV. But you must be sure to affix the wrap so it won’t blow off. And we have seen many examples of well taped materials blowing away. If you are going to go this route, consider supplementing an excellent taping job with some 20 lb weights or the like to ensure that the material stays in place during a dust storm.

Finally, cover all the chairs and couches. We use a combination of fitted bed sheets taped or clipped in place and Press n’ Seal cling film. A little experimentation will tell you which works best where. Press n’ Seal will work on the dash board and other surfaces you won’t be using and want to keep clean.

Keeping Your RV Clean

Get an old stained rug….. people will sell these for next to nothing or give them away. 6x6 feet is big enough, but larger works too. Put this in front of your RV, and either weigh it down or use lag bolts to screw it to the playa. Place a non-shedding door mat on the carpet right when you walk in to the RV, so you can scrape your shoes. (Don’t use a mat with small fibers - they will shed, and leave you a heck of a cleanup job…hard learned life lesson). Have a bucket at the door so you can immediately remove your shoes on the steps of the RV, and place them in the bucket. Consider also hanging a sheet from the ceiling over the inside of your RV door creating an “air lock” entrance which will reduce dust blowing into the RV. We’ve moved away from doing this, as we haven’t found it necessary if you just open and close the RV door quickly (in all conditions!). But if you are more casual about getting in and out, this approach will help reduce dust blowing in.

This setup significantly reduces any dust you will track in on your feet. But your clothes may also be covered in dust, so consider having clean clothes available to change into. Our RV also has a chair right when you walk in, which we cover in a sheet that is changed several times during the Burn - it’s the place we sit when we are dusty but don’t want to change our clothes immediately.

A few times during the Burn we will do a good cleaning of the RV, dusting surfaces, and removing the paper from the floor, cleaning the floor and putting down new paper.

We use a high quality broom to sweep out the RV, which we have found to be more effective than using a portable vacuum. We also have an electric leaf blower and small air compressor, which with practice can be used to move dust around… it takes some skill to move it where you want to move it, so proceed with caution and avoid just creating a huge dust cloud. The leaf blower is really reserved for blowing out external storage areas, and blowing dust out of the engine compartment of the RV before driving home.

We keep a sheet over our bed when we aren’t sleeping in it, and carefully fold it up before getting into bed to catch any dust that has settled during the day. We usually change the bed twice at the burn.

We keep our dirty clothing in clear plastic trash bags, to contain the dust, and often remove and put on really dusty clothing outside the RV in our external storage compartments.

All these efforts combine to our RV being quite clean upon our return home.

Cleaning Up After

Once we leave the playa we pull over and remove all the external tape, so it doesn’t blow off on the drive home. We stop at the guy with the pressure sprayer in Cedarville. Gerlach has a wash as well that benefits the community. In Cedarville, we like to just do it ourselves rather than risk him damaging the glass or molding, and he’s more than happy to take a break while we do it. It’s cheap….something like $15. It’s not a perfect cleaning, just getting enough dust off the RV so when we get home we can wash it well without leaving a layer of mud on the street.

Once home we slowly and carefully remove all the sheets and cling film covering the furniture in the RV, as well as stripping the bed. We then carefully roll up the paper off the floor and dispose of it. This effectively removes almost all the dust in the RV.

We then use our air compressor to blow dust out of all the crevices.

Next, we wipe all surfaces down. If they are fairly dusty, we start with wiping everything down with a dry huck towel (the brand in the link is our favorite by far). Next we wipe with a dry microfiber cloth. By getting almost all of the dust off before any water is used, you make the final sponge cleaning very simple…no muddy smears.

We use a 50-50 mix of water and white vinegar to wipe down all the other surfaces and to do a final cleaning of the floor, cleaning our sponges regularly. The entire cleaning process typically takes around 2 hours on the interior. We pressure wash the outside, which adds another hour to do it well. Three hours of cleaning and the RV looks close to perfect.

Note: Renting, borrowing or buying a large air compressor is a great way to clean all of your burner gear. Our bikes look almost new every year after spending an hour with the air compressor and an oil bath for the chain. Be careful not to blow dust into bearings, etc., just work the non-lubricated areas. A leaf blower is great for a first pass, and between the two you will be shocked how clean you can get all your gear.

Some people recommend going to a laundromat to clean clothing, but we have never had a problem washing in our own machine. Your mileage may vary! We generally do small loads of all machine washable stuff, and then re-wash a second time with standard size loads. Wiping down the machine and then re-washing my white socks using white vinegar leaves the washing machine spotless and the socks surprisingly white.

Other resources.

The official Burning Man RV page

Good pointers for an RV at Burning Man

Short answer, yes, use an alum block. Long answer, here's a copy/paste from one of /u/Leisureguy's many posts; it answers your questions pretty well:

>For acne, I recommend:

>a. Use a high-glycerin soap such as Whole Foods 365 glycerin soap with vitamin E (that's one of several glycerin soaps they offer), $2/bar, as a pre-shave beard wash. Wash beard at the sink using your hands, then rinse partially with a splash and apply lather.

>b. Rinse razor head in high-proof rubbing alcohol before and after each shave.

>c. After the final rinse ending the shave, glide a dry alum block over your wet skin, then set block aside and clean up around the sink, put stuff away, etc., with the alum on your beard. After a minute or two, rinse the alum off, dry, and do your usual aftershave. This step is particularly helpful: alum is a mild antiseptic.

>d. Use a fresh towel for every shave. You can buy thin, 100% cotton, lint-free towels called "barber towels" or "bar towels" for under $20/dozen. They're easy to launder and a fresh one for each shave helps a lot. Here's an example. You can also use surgical towels, like these. A wet towel is a microbe incubator.

>e. Buy a bunch of pillowcases from a hotel supply house and use a fresh pillowcase every night.

The best kitchen towels!

https://www.amazon.com/Towels-Doctor-Joe-Surgical-Towel/dp/B003YCEMUA/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?keywords=blue+surgical+huck+towels&qid=1564586303&s=gateway&sr=8-4

Surgical/ hospital towels are a similar good option (lint free, 100% cotton, and come in a lovely blue!) that can be found for even cheaper. Amazon link here.

What's your prep and post shave like?

a. Check the ingredients in your shaving products and know which to avoid---menthol, for example, is not a good idea. Until your acne's in remission, favor unscented shaving creams and soaps.

b. Use a high-glycerin soap such as Whole Foods 365 glycerin soap with vitamin E (that's one of several glycerin soaps they offer), $2/bar, as a pre-shave beard wash. Wash beard at the sink using your hands, then rinse partially with a splash and apply lather.

c. Rinse razor head in high-proof rubbing alcohol before and after each shave.

d. After the final rinse ending the shave, glide a dry alum block over your wet skin, then set block aside and clean up around the sink, put stuff away, etc., with the alum on your beard. After a minute or two, rinse the alum off, dry, and do your usual aftershave. This step is particularly helpful: alum is a mild antiseptic. You may need to wet the block in colder climes during the winter, when indoor relatively humidity plummets.

e. Use a fresh towel for every shave. You can buy thin, 100% cotton, lint-free towels called "barber towels" or "bar towels" for under $20/dozen. They're easy to launder and a fresh one for each shave helps a lot. Here's an example. You can also use surgical towels, like these. Also, these towels from Ikea are said to be good. A wet towel is a microbe incubator.

f. Shave daily. Use very light pressure---think of your skin as being sore, but the razor still must touch it. That kind of light pressure. Daily shaving probably helps by being exfoliating and by the daily alum block and good aftershave---try one of the Thayers witch hazels with aloe vera or one of the witch-hazel-based aftershaves by ProspectorCo.com or StirlingSoap.com. Even store brand witch hazel will be good. Since the shave itself is exfoliating, I suggest restricting exfoliating scrubs to the forehead and nose and not use them where you shave---this is to minimize skin damage.

g. moisturize. moisturizer will help.

h. Buy a bunch of pillowcases from a hotel supply house and use a fresh pillowcase every night.

i. If you have choices on how you eat, try observing this diet (but without the dairy) for a month and see what happens. It works for some. Here's another description of the same diet.

Read this post on blades so you can see why you will need a sampler pack of blades.

Avoid the four most common mistakes cartridge shavers make when switching to a DE razor.

// this post was a modified version of one leisureguy used to post.

Keep these by your bed. Classy as a mofo. http://www.amazon.com/Towels-Doctor-Joe-Surgical-Towel/dp/B003YCEMUA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421892814&sr=8-1&keywords=huck+towels