Thread: Too much stroppin & too sharp?

ZiCheng,

Try reducing the angle of the blade, and see if it is still cutting cleanly. Many times, the razor can still do beard reduction passes at a lower angle, and save your skin from razor burn. As already mentioned, try to consciously reduce your pressure too (but not so much as to stall the blade's motion).

You might just be doing what I was doing (and I suspect many others), as you start to get used to shaving - you subconciously start to use more pressure and more passes as you "feel" that it's the right thing to do.

I started off well and then went through a phase of horrible razor burn about 2 weeks in to straight shaving. I had to make a concious effort to use less pressure, lather up much more frequently before passes/strokes, and limit the overall number of passes to 2 - while I found my way.

I'm definitely guilty for going across the grain, using multipe passes, as well as using a fairly aggressive angle. I usually do three passes, with the grain, across the grain, and against the grain. Maybe I'll start limiting it to two passes. I"ll watch my angle too. Thanks for those suggestions.

I've reduced or eliminated razor burn problems by reducing the angle (perhaps less than 30 degrees) AND using zero pressure on the strokes.
Let the weight of the blade do the work.
I can't imagine an edge being too sharp!
Ron A

I'm thinking about two old sayings. A little knowledge is a bad thing and familiarity breeds contempt. As has been said when you are starting out and you start getting some good shaves and you think well, I've got this thing down perfectly and then your guard goes down and you start getting poor shaves. With straight shaving you must always be careful and never let your guard down no matter how many years you have been shaving. Even the most experienced can run into problems if he's not careful.

I did everything that people suggested: Stropped like a madman (100+ passes), shaved very carefully, and only skipped the against the grain pass. Surprise surprise, no more razor burn. Thanks guys.