Thread: "shave the lather, not the beard"

That quote is in a post by Razorfeld in a thread on sensitivity, and he said it was originally posted by another member, but it struck me as so insightful that I thought it was worth its own thread in the Beginners section of the forum.

i think one of the worst mistakes I made when starting out (and still do occasionally) is bearing down on the blade to try to get a closer shave. I can testify, it leads to nothing good. Maybe you're trying to make up for a dull blade or bad technique, bad lather, or lack of stretching, but with a properly honed razor, the truth is that almost no pressure is needed if all else is done correctly.

I concentrated on it this morning, when using an extra hollow singing blade, and with just enough pressure to wipe the lather off, the razor swept through the whiskers.

For all those recent starters with a SR, try it with a razor you know is well honed. I think you should be pleasantly surprised to find that excess pressure actually gives you worse results than just "shaving the lather".

An excellent post with some very real advice and just in time for the new guy influx we seem to get every Christmas season.

For years I have had to remind myself to keep my pressure light to non-existent. The shaves always are better when I do.

Great post, and so true. I think a lot of the problem comes with the transition from carts where you can apply all the pressure you like. It took a long time to get my head around that.

That and when atg use less steep angle. Thought had mastered angle wtg. Finding bout one spine width rather than two is better atg. Don't know what damage would have done my face without all the great advice from the kind members on this forum. Thanks

"Just wipe the lather" is one of the best pieces of advice I've gotten, and I need to remind myself regularly. A simple idea that I never outgrow.

I still battle this after a year and a half of wet shaving. It applies to DEs as well.

This was one of the best lessons @razorfeld ever gave me as well. It's very true. Better to do more passes than try additional pressure.

I know I heard this early on and it really helped. I in turn pass it on when I remember. Simple advice for big results

I have just started SR shaving and the first shave I gave myself I didn't cut myself at all. As I was trying very hard to be careful. However I got a little cocky the next time as I applied too much pressure and wamo cuts. I am a firm believer in shave the lather, not the beard now.