Thread: razor burn

Originally Posted by JoshEarl

Tony,

My skin seems somewhat sensitive, and burn and irritation has been a problem for me, too.

I've found that the key to fighting irritation is limiting the number of times the blade goes over your skin. When I was DE shaving, the Tech actually gave me worse razor burn because it's so gentle that I had to do a lot of passes to get my face clean. A more aggressive Superspeed cleared more on the first pass, which meant I was less tempted to go over and over the trouble spots.

With my straights, I've found that a wicked sharp blade works best for me. Steve mentioned he can shave off the 8K Norton, and a lot of other guys have said the same thing, but right now that doesn't work for me. I have to go to 1 micron diamond paste followed by chromium oxide to get an edge that'll keep the irritation down. (Maybe someday my honing will get to the point where the 8K is enough, but I'm not quite there yet.)

While a lot of guys have luck with lowering the blade angle on their chin, I actually find that keeping it at 30 degrees--or even a little more--is helpful, especially on the with-the-grain pass. The aggressive approach is risky but it means there's less need to go back with more strokes later on. Using a light touch is extra important when you're using aggressive angles.

Just some food for thought,
Josh

Josh, I've heard a lot of other people say similar things regarding the chromium oxide. I actually am going to use that tonight and shave with it to see what kind of a difference it makes. I also agree that less passes are better when it comes to razor burn reduction. I try to limit my passes to the standard 3 but if I use the 30 degree angle on my chin (other than WTG) I run into all sorts of burn.

What do you do to get that wicked sharp edge? Is it just the addition of the chrom ox or diamond paste? I'd be interested as I think it might help quite a few of us

You shouldn't be relying on chrome oxide to get "wicked sharp" although it will put a keen edge on the razor it's mostly a crutch, and an addictive crutch at that. You are much better off getting the blade wicked sharp on the hone then giving it just a few laps on the chrome oxide paddle for that extra bit of polish. I use about 20 on my hardwood paddle, which is equivalent to about 5 on my leather-covered paddle.

Originally Posted by mparker762

You shouldn't be relying on chrome oxide to get "wicked sharp" although it will put a keen edge on the razor it's mostly a crutch, and an addictive crutch at that. You are much better off getting the blade wicked sharp on the hone then giving it just a few laps on the chrome oxide paddle for that extra bit of polish. I use about 20 on my hardwood paddle, which is equivalent to about 5 on my leather-covered paddle.

I do get a very sharp edge on my Norton. I make sure that this is my main sharpening tool. The extra bit is exactly what I'm looking for but since I've never used it, I was just curious as to what others did. Sorry if I made it sound as if I'm trying to shortcut the process.

Maybe we ought to start a thread on this topic and leave this one for razor burn. I don't want to take Tony's thread away from him.

feel free to continue with this, as it does concern the razor burn issue...and truth be told I'm also gaining knowledge from the posts

The product you use before the shave can quite possibly make your skin more susceptible. Same goes for the wrong (wrong for you, I mean) shave soap / cream.

Having said this, I am almost positive that it's a technique issue. I have very sensitive skin, yet I have been able to get irritation-free shaves with relatively dull razors. Light touch is critical but also blade angle and edge relation to direction of growth, stretching and more specifically how you stretch... And yes, fewer passes give less opportunity for an inappropriate angle, aggressive stroke, etc.

I still get razor burn if I shave too aggressive, sharp or dull blade.

Coral Skin Food works best for me. Classes above almost anything else I have tried.

Cheers
Ivo

Mparker,

I agree with your philosophy on getting sharpness from stones, but I just haven't been able to get that final smoothness from my 8K. I don't have a finishing stone right now, so the next best thing is the 1 micron paste on balsa.

My razors do pass the HHT very nicely off the 4K and 8K, which I know is limited in its usefulness but does tell me something. They shave well, but with my coarse beard I just need a little extra sharpness.

One of these days I'm going to send a razor to a true honemeister for finishing on the 8K, to see if it's my honing or my beard. I have had razors finished by other members on stones, though, that just didn't quite do it for me.

It's my goal to be able to get a great shave off the 8K. I know you can do it, and you have a pretty tough beard too. I'll keep working at it.

Josh

Josh - some of my best shaves came off the 8K. But it's a razor thing, imo.

When I say best - I mean smooth, just wiping the beard. Other worse shaves still come from very sharp razors - sometimes even sharper judging by tests, but these razors just did not feel as nice on my face.

It seems some razors show significant improvement with Belgian, Escher, Swaty, chromium oxide and boron carbide, etc.

Good luck!
Ivo

Edit: forgot to say that smiling edges and / or shorter blades might be easier to handle and let you focus more attention / care on one area. This can help both avoid unnecessary steel over already shaved sections and get a better angle.

Originally Posted by freebird

feel free to continue with this, as it does concern the razor burn issue...and truth be told I'm also gaining knowledge from the posts

For me there is less burn with a straight than any other shaving system I have tried for the amount of hair removed. That last part is the most important and bears repetition. I get less burn with a straight for the amount of hair removed. That means that if I go for BBS every day I will start to get burn. I have found that with a DE on the third BBS day I have significant burn, a straight will leave some burn in the same time frame but significantly less. If I shave two passes with the DE I have to take a day off every five or so to avoid burn and have only close shaves not BBS. When I do the same two passes with a straight I get a closer shave I can do day after day throwing in a BBS day here or there without any burn that isn't obviously associated with my own failures in consistent technique. Though I haven't tried it with a straight I assume that if I could force myself to stop after only one pass I would experience no burn ever and I know my first straight pass is closer than a one pass DE.

Originally Posted by izlat

When I say best - I mean smooth, just wiping the beard.

One of my best shaves ever came with my big W&B frameback straight off the 8k. Nowadays I don't worry about it so much, since I've got some higher-grit hones to finish with.

I know there are some pretty inexpensive 12k chinese waterstones suggested by other members - would that be equivalent to a 0.5 micron diamond paste?

With that in mind, if your edge is starting to dull and you want to keen up the edge, could you simply do some passses on a 12k and get the same desired effect as refreshing a blade on a pasted strop? Or is a total honing necessary?