Thread: Skin stretching guidance

Hi folks,

I'm 4 shaves in with my straight razor, and one technique I really need to get down is stretching my skin. I think that is the reason for the lingering razor burn I am experiencing.

I have tried it, but I find that my skin is so slick with my shave soap that it just slides out from under my fingers. I don't have particularly saggy skin, so getting a grip from further away outside the shave area doesn't really help for the directions I need to shave.

Any thoughts on how I can work around this?

Thanks!

Rub you fingers on a stiptic pencil. One of the best pieces of advice I have gotten.

There are not a lot of shave videos that expressly show skin stretching, but they all show it a little here and a little there. I always shave with a hand towel near by so I can keep my fingers dry.At the start I reach over the top of my head and pull up near my side burns. From there it seems pretty simple. I often stretch from behind the blade, it took me a while to get that manageable due to often being in my own way. I also practiced a bit in the mirror without the razor. People may think you are loosing it if the walk in. There is also head tilting and jaw movements that help too. I'm sure if I made a shave vieo it would look more like I was making weird faces in the mirror and not shaving.

Like shaun says you can use your face muscles to aid in stretching too. What he describes is pretty much exactly what I do too. The other thing you will probably need to get used to is not having a proper line of sight, I find that some of my stretches require shaving by feel, it is weird at first but you do get used to it.

I have a towel and an alum block close by when shaving. You will learn how with experience and rarely need any aids but starting out, rub your fingers on Alum or a styptic pencil.

Depending on the pass will depend where you stretch from too. For wtg and xtg I stretch from behind the blade and atg from in front of the blade. I find with each stroke that I create an area I can stretch from for the next one working my way through that pass

As JTmke advised, rub your wet fingers on an alum block, you will be surprised by how well this works.

I may be completely wrong in assuming this; however, the way I read your post your placing your fingers in a place that still has lather on it. The stretch is done from a non-lathered or just shaved area.
If I missunderstood disreguard this and the alum bar works for me.

Yep alum does work, but I've found that really your so new , that is a problem too. By the time you get a good routine and know how to shave it'll get better with the facial conditions and the stretching, experience will get you there, it gets a lot easier after a few months. Tc

Thanks for all the advice. I've really been working on trying to stretch, but my skin doesn't seem to have much stretch to it when I angle my head/jaw to make the skin tight. So its more like a finishing touch than tightening up saggy skin (which I don't really have anyway).