Thread: Not having much luck

Something in my technique is wrong and I am not having much luck with the straights that I have. I am not getting cut anywhere but and I am taking off quite a bit, there is a lot of shavings in the sink but I do not get a particularly close shave. So clearly I am doing something wrong. I have a DVD on how to straight razor shave and still nto getting far enough. Both razors were pre-honed for me before they got to me, so that's not the problem. Sugestions would be great? I have several double edge shavers in the shave den so I have had to rely on those since I am unwilling to use one of those terrible cartridge razors.

This is very typical. It takes some getting used to handling the razor, then finding which way your beard grows and then how to approach it. Most of us use two passes some three passes to get the close shave. The first pass is with the grain (WTG), then the second is against the grain (ATG). The first pass reduces the beard the second finishes it off. One of the major points of shaving with a straight is to get the skin taught or supported for the whiskers to stand up and stay put while the razors cuts them. If you can position your non razor hand oppssite the direction of your razor this will help draw the skin taught. I usually recommend finding an old school barber and ask him how to shave your face. I have never met an old school barber that wouldn not show you a bunch of pointers and tips.

I KNOW your razors are sharp. Hang in there, it will come.

Takes time to get it but it is worth the effort. How is your preparation ? That can make a big difference. I wash my face with hot water twice before I lather. Sometimes I use a hot towel out of the microwave. The skin stretching and short strokes too. Here is a Wiki article I wrote on gradual stubble removal which might give you something to go with.

So what you are saying is that this is normal and I am on the right track, what I need to do is to keep up the fight and practice more and eventually I will get it right. Troubble is that I do not have all that much time in the morning getting ready for work and need to get the job done and get off, I guess the old double edge razors will have to suffice for that job where as I need to save the straights for when I have more time to practice with the blade.

Shave at night if that is an option! You can touch up in the morning with the DE if you need to!

On most nights that is an option, I love the idea of working with my two straights and getting an excellent shave out of them. They I will have something valuable to teach my four year old when the time comes in another ten years. His mother and his grandparents already think I am nuts, but I have never been one to mind them on this sort of thing. And the Mrs loves the results so she is a little hardpressed to argue with how I get those results.

i think i may have been in the same situation you are in at one point (as have most of us i believe) and for me the thing that really made the difference was paying more attention to the angle of the blade. there is a sweet spot and it is hard to describe but too much angle and it pulls and too little won't cut all the hair. for me i do a 2 pass shave and then touch ups. this is WTG, then ATG (except the upper lip) and then touch ups (sometimes even with a DE). but i think 2o big factors for someone just starting out is to really pay attention to the angle and to also realize that one pass won't get BBS so don't overdue the pressure.

but i am still learning and i have been shaving for abouta year and a half. i can get pretty good shaves but am always searching for the perfect routine. but i find that fun also.

i would say keep at it and check out all the videos on youtube to try to find the best technique for your beard. if i had a barber that would give straight shaves then i would be there in a second, but i don't.

good luck

Well it's good that you are trying to get better even though you are not happy with the results so far. That shows that you have the determination to succeed. I had similar experience when I converted to straights except I tackled honing at the same time. Here's what I did to help improve my technique:


1) Practice a light touch on the strop. No matter how light a force I thought I was using it really wasn't light. I still have to focus on using light pressure or it gets beyond optimal.
2) Test your stropped edge on your arm hairs. Try cutting one hair at a time from the toe, center and heal of the blade. If all three cut hairs easily your stropping is fine, move on to the shave. If not, you may need to touch up the edge which is another topic.
3) Shave in the evening when I can take my time and think about what I am doing.
4) Good prep prior to shave. Shower first is best.
5) make a good lather, apply lather, wait a few minutes, apply lather again
6) have an adult watch you that understands what you are trying to do. CarrieM watched me and noticed that my angle was way off when shaving out of the corner of my eye. Also I shave without my glasses until I get to trim my mustache.
7) Take your time, focus on the chore at hand and remember what you did for next time and enjoy the shave.
8) Make minor improvements on your next shave. Don't change too many things at once. If you do you won't know what is working and what needs improvement.
9) Don't shave with straights when you are frustrated, stressed, quitting smoking or can't focus on what you are doing. There are probably as many approaches to learning straights as there are members here on SRP and beyond. This is what worked for me.

I've had my straight a month, but used it every 3rd day or so, so only around 10 shaves in all. A couple were so bad it was like I'd never shaved, but a few have been really good and the improvement is clear.

Knowing and using good technique is critical, but I think my big improvements happened when I stopped obsessing about things. I stopped honing my (bought non-shave-ready) razor, and did more stropping instead. Any shaving strokes that got resisted I would just stop trying, maybe doing the area at a different angle on a later pass. If there was a bit of stubble left behind at the end, I just accepted it.

Something eventually clicks into place. Certain strokes start seeming easy. You develop motor skills that enable you to get things done. Where you felt totally cack-handed to start with, you start knowing what works or not, and what is safe.

It's a bit like juggling. You can read a book on it and know the principles inside out, and still not be able to do it. But once you start practicing there comes a magic moment when it falls into place and you can just do it.