Thread: 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.

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.

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. 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?