Thread: Chin shaving problems

Hello everybody. I recently started shaving with a straight razor and so far it has been mostly good except for my chin area.
I have done a lot of research beforehand about beard prepping, stropping, lather etc. and I've come across quite a lot of threads about problems with the chin area, but I've found no solutions that helped me.
My cheeks are getting a pretty good shave, but I just cant get the chin hairs.
The problem is not only with the wrinkly part of my chin but also with the flat area just under the lower lip, assumingly because the hairs there are thicker than my cheek hairs.
I have tried shaving with varying angles between my skin and the razor, as well as doing WTF, XTG and even ATG (always reapplying lather between passes), but nothing works. This morning I ended up shaving my chin with my electric shaver.
Is there any technique I haven't tried that might work?

Additional question:
My lather seems to dry very quickly. I use Taylor of Old Bond Street shaving cream and even when I get a lather that is too watery so I have to keep "stirring" it to get a good lather, it doesn't cover my face nicely and it dries up on my face pretty quickly.

Thanks for the help.

One thing you might try is instead of lather,wet your chin area good with cool water and apply some alum block to get the hairs standing and then stretch the chin area good and taught and shave using light pressure. I usually do this technique all over my face as a sort of finishing pass. The Alum as you know gets everything tightened up good but,your face still has to be wet.Hope maybe that helps?

Also try another soap.Different soaps react to your water quality or hardness/softness .

The chin can be a tricky area because the hair is usually coarse there and it grows in different directions. The best advise I got a few years ago was to do short, buffing type strokes on the chin area. It takes a little while to get the hang of it but that worked for me.

I believe the chin is one on the most difficult areas to stretch, especially for the older members. Actually for the older members as gravity begins to work its magic on your face stretching becomes something similar to what Gumby does....but back to your point, even with a cleft in my chin I have found XTG with off hand stretching is helpful. I hope more experienced members will give you some more tips but most of them are already in the database to be had with a search. Drying lather could mean 2 things: one your lather is not moist enough to start or two, you are taking a long time to shave...or a combination of both. Back to stretching your skin....use alum on your off hand (one not holding the razor) for a better grip. Finally, if it looks ok but feels a little stubbly....just go with that for awhile and don't worry about the Baby Butt stuff. Good Luck

This video did wonders for me a few years back.Watch his techniques carefully. very good watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oVituE1gNg

I just put in a better and longer link of that vid. Better info toward the end that the first copy didn't have.

Chins also have tight-radius contours, making it tough to get a good flattish area to shave. What works for me is a lot of moving my lower lip over my teeth with face contortions. That gives me little flat spots to shave with short strokes.

Not sure about the video for a beginner....a 'one pass' shave which was all over the place. Plus a one handed shaver and a lot of bare face scraping. I would look for a more conventional video to start with.....

I have found the short buffing strokes with a lot of stretching to work best for me.
It took me about a year to be able to shave the chin area well -- just have patience and a lot of practice.

Nothing wrong with touching up with a weedeater until you are able to get the hairs with a blade