Thread: Status -- 3 Weeks With Straights

If you will start with the blade flat it won't cut you, your laying it n your skin at an angle that's ready to cut. If a blade is right it will do this, also been mentioned if you have the blade moving and the skin is stretched it should be fine but watch the angle, these razors will shave your beard with no angle at all. So you must not do the "scraping " angle. By the way it just takes time so don't think your going to get it in the beginning. Tc

Thanks for the encouragement and advice. I am glad to hear that I am progressing through the normal mistakes.

Here's a new mistake. Had a razor in my hand and was pulling together some other things for a HHT. Slice a finger on the other hand. My new rule: Do NOTHING but shave or sharpen with a razor in my hand. For every thing else, put the razor down!

I do think I've been needing to reduce the angle, which seems to sync up with lighter pressure.

Yesterday, I needed a quicker shave. So, I ran my DE once on my goatee area. Then I shaved as normal with a straight. I even re-did the goatee, but it was quicker and easier.

Originally Posted by MrHouston

Thanks for the encouragement and advice. I am glad to hear that I am progressing through the normal mistakes.

Here's a new mistake. Had a razor in my hand and was pulling together some other things for a HHT. Slice a finger on the other hand. My new rule: Do NOTHING but shave or sharpen with a razor in my hand. For every thing else, put the razor down!

Happens to all all of us, I bet! Very, very easy to cut your digits when you are trying to carry something more than the razor.

I retired from the military in 2015 and immediately grew a goatee.
While doing that, I laid off the straights (I can hear the boo's).
Hated the results of the shave but loved the goatee.
I've been back at it for about a month...almost zero loss of muscle memory. POINT BEING AFTER TAKING THE LONG WAY AROUND THE BARN, I noticed that the blade is in motion before touching skin. GREAT POINT.
Shaving and shaping the goatee...well that takes some 'learnin' but I'm doing it without resorting to anything but the SR.

Dang but I missed my SR's and all that goes with it.
Nothing starts the day of better than Winning with a SR!!!!

Glad to be back Gents!!!

You should be encouraged.

Much of it is finding a comfort level with the equipment and that only comes through repetition.

In the beginning I found there was little repetition as I kept trying different things. Once I settled on a routine the learning curve shallowed significantly.

Keep at it and you will not only get better shaves, but you will enjoy and even look forward to the daily routine.

Like you I cam from DE shaving, I still go back to DEs when I travel and I have found that my DE shaves are better now than they ever were before. You take things from one style to another.

Good luck.

Sounds like you are on the right path. Even after 16 months with straight razors, it seems like I get little improvements in technique from time to time.

Don't give up!

Sounds like your on the right path. The 100 shave benchmark is only an average some are sooner some are later, but once gotten you'll rarely ever want to use another way of shaving. And you will notice that it keeps getting easier and closer shaves. I've been at it about 10 months and still have areas that don't always make it to bbs. Some is skill and some is equipment. Like the neck area using a shorter or smiling blade helps most of the time. Also I found that I nicked my strop way less by laying it flat on the counter.