Is it suppose to hurt the first time (and second, and third)?

Everyone, first off, thank you for providing and participating in, a forum of like minds. I love the practice of SRT8 shaving and doubt I will every return to any other method again.....however,

I have a new Carbon Steel Theiss razor honed in a place in NYC (NY Shaving Co.) and for whatever reason, it's been a mite painful when I shave, nonetheless, I do get a decent shave. (NOTE: I'm new, so I'm starting on the sides of my face as I build my skill).

I strop before my shave and shave right after a hot shower.

Do I need to get the razor rehoned?


Again, thank you all!

You need it professionally honed. Granted there have been some problems reported here about the quality of TI razors, but you definitely need it professionally honed.

Welcome to the forum. Hope you enjoy yourself. Check the classifieds for Member Services for honemeisters.:gl:

Sounds like something in your preparation is wrong. Even with a sensitive face it shouldn't hurt while you are shaving. Maybe some razor burn after until you get the hang of everything but not while. If so your razor isn't sharp enough you might be stropping wrong or may need a better hone done to it. Are you getting a good lather? Do you was/massage your face in the shower as part of your prep? Are you catching and pulling whiskers?

I'm far from an expert as I've only been doing this for a few weeks but even when I was figuring things out it didn't hurt when I shaved.

Welcome to SRP. If you have some sort of magnification you might take a look at the edge under it with a light. Not being familiar with the people who did the honing I can't say whether they are qualified. Look for micro chips in the edge that can cause an uncomfortable shave. These might be too small to be seen with the naked eye.

It could also be your preparation and/or technique. Skin stretching and blade angle are all important. It comes with time and practice. There are shaving videos here.

If you haven't seen it already there are tutorials here in the SRP Wiki on all things related to straight razor shaving. :gl:

Maybe don't shave right after your hot shower: Your skin becomes a bit sensitive when showering hot. Also keep an eye on your technique (spine not too far away from the skin). And keep an eye on the prep stuff. :)

Straight razors are more aggressive on your skin than anything else. They remove the top layer of dying skin promoting quicker replacement. It does take about two weeks for your skin to get used to this process and for the first fortnight or so you should only do WTG and XTG passes and shave every other day for comfort. It'll all work out.

X

Im relativly new to the straight razor game but I was able to do my first,second,and third shave with out any pain. A few good videos to watch is Jockey's shave videos on you tube. They helped me quite a bit starting out and they are very informative on technique. He also goes over how to make the best lather for shaving as well. Also the only thing that should really be hurting is your face after you nic yourself four or five times like i did on my first shave:gaah:. But now that im on my third and fourth shave i usually only nic myself once or twice (upper lip, and chin) which generally seems to be the problem area from what i've read in the forums

It wasn't for me, at least not until I nicked myself do to inadequate stretching. I'm guessing your razor is not sharp enough, time to go back to the hone or pasted strop.

I have always honed my own razors, it's not rocket science, and it's not hard to learn. It does require patience.

When I started I would get a painful case of razor burn. I was able to trace it back to improper strop technique. I would watch some of the stropping video's and recheck my technique. If that doesn't help find a trusted honemeister from this site.

My first 3 shaves gave me razor burn afterwards, sometimes it felt like my face was giving off heat like a radiator! It isn't uncommon and you shouldn't let it put you off.

In my case it was down to poor honing (my own!), not enough stropping, and bad shaving technique.

It gets better quickly, but if your vendor didn't sharpen it after it left the factory, it probably needs to be properly honed.

EDIT> Their website does mention a sharpening service, so the question is, did you buy the razor sharpened by them?

How is it remove the whisker? If you can tell that the area shaved is really smooth, you just may want to experiment with the angle alittle (30 degrees or less). The irritated feeling should definitely go away in a couple days. If the whisker removal is not great and the burning continues, I would recommend another honing. You can send it to me if you need to and I'll hone it for you on me. You can spring for the shipping.

Keep us posted,

Lynn

Newbie advice.

1) Throw some warm water on your face (right jaw), let it soak in.
2) Lather up your right jaw with a nice moist lather. Work it in, make sure its a bit wet.
3) Shave your right jaw at a nice 30 deg. or so angle.

Does it pull? Is it close?

In my short-lived experience, moist hairs and a proper angle, as well as the right jaw seems to go much better.

Having said that, I admit I got quite a bit of pulling at the start, but the above as well as a nice high quality stropping session fixed most of the problems.

Lynn: The razor you honed keeps getting better...errr....I mean, I think I am improving.

( Looking at the razor under a 30x microscope revealed a nice polished edge. My self-honed version had a few tiny chips and less polish. 30x shows this quite well.)

The answer is no - but you need to understand that honing a razor is not an exact science. What is sharp for one person isn't for someone else. A lot depends on the thickness/corusness of your beard itself as well as the sensativity of your skin. When we hone a razor we can almost always get it in the ball park for you but sometimes it needs to be "fine tuned". Anyone who does this for money - as I do when I sell new razors - should be willing to rehone a razor at no cost if it isn't quite right for you. I have had razors sent to me to be rehoned because they were "too sharp" as well as the ones I rehoned for mot being sharp enough. Like I said, it isn't an exact science, but the answer is no it shouldn't hurt at all and the gent would probably be happy to touch it up for you.

Having said that and then reading other posts I must clarify. Beard prep is as important as a sharp razor. Without proper preperation it doesn't matter how sharp it is - it will hurt! Stropping technique is important too. You can take a perfectly honed razor and within a few strokes round off the edge so it isn't very shavable. You must strop correctly. As Lynn says - your shaving angle between your skin and the razor has a lot to do with it too. it takes time to get the hang of all of this but once you do you will never pay Gellette another dime!

How long ago was your razor honed, if at all?

If it was honed within the last month, stropping technique could be the issue. My Thiers razor seems to like a bit firmer pressure when stropping. If light stropping doesn't get you a more comfortable shave, go firmer.

If the razor hasn't been honed, then get it honed like the others advised, and then continue to work on the stropping part.

If your razor is cutting hairs while burning your face, then it's probably honed ok. If not then send it to Lynn, he offered and he's a master at it. That's an incredible offer and I'd take it if he told me the same.

If your razor is cutting hairs on the first pass but burning then your angle is probably to blame, or the face prep stage. Make sure your soap isn't too dry, make sure you're stropping correctly also. I didn't know I was stropping wrong until three weeks into shaving. Make sure the spine is flat throughout the stropping and don't apply pressure on the strop if it's already drawing the razor (kind of like a suction under the blade).

If your angle is too high then you're going to get burn. Lower the angle and use negative pressure. If you need to use a very high aggressive angle to cut any hairs at all then your razor wasn't honed to shave readiness.

this is my prep routine for any pointers you may need:

1)Soak brush in very hot water while I shower also put a drop of hot water on the soap puck while I shower.
2)In the shower I wash my face and I don't use conditioner. It actually makes my hairs stronger on my face.
3) Get out of the shower and keep my face wet. Lather up on my face after squeezing and shaking extra water out of my brush. I lather on my face, I think bowl lathering is a waste of time. You can dip your brush slightly into hot water if your lather is dry and keep lathering.

After I lather I put a very hot steaming wash cloth or towel on my face and press it into the lather for about a minute. Then I wipe off the lather with the towel and then apply the lather for my first actual pass. I strop before I shower.

Hope all that helps you in some way.

EDIT: I Saw the website for the place that sharpened your razor and it seems they know what they're doing to offer straight shaves for 50$ and have a honing service online. I would think you're stropping is dulling the razor or your technique is just off during the starting out period.

Welcome to the board. Good advice all around. I'll have to check out that barber shop. I wasn't aware of it.

Jordan

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jnich67

Welcome to the board. Good advice all around. I'll have to check out that barber shop. I wasn't aware of it.

Jordan

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I just realized you live pretty close to me and I bought a hone from you that was shipped in the mail! :rofl2::OT

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Disburden

I just realized you live pretty close to me and I bought a hone from you that was shipped in the mail! :rofl2::OT

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Indeed! I hope it's working well for you. :D:HJ

Jordan

This is all good advice.
You did get an offer to get that razor honed by Lynn, you should jump on that.
:gl:

It hurts? like pricking while shaving or burns afterward? How were you shaving before?
I think using linen might offer some info about how your stropping is coming along. I have a feeling your blade is not so sharp that linen won't improve it.

If your stropping is dulling the razor- thus requiring more pressure and causing more snatching than cutting(more burn)- the linen will finish it off:mad:

I've had very little razor burn so thats a guess. seems to come from a dull razor -too many passes with too much pressure and angle to get it to cut.

prickling could be honed-in chips, high shave angle chips(some kind of edge damage from angle, bur or something along those lines.

A straight exfoliates so your skin may need to adjust to this new treatment //could be all you need is extra prep and TLC til your technique builds

The easiest problem for me to see out of all this is that the angle of the blade is too high due to inexperience or due to a dulled edge from improper stropping or honing.

No updates on:shrug:the shave?