Can't get a close shave!

I recently purchased the Dovo best quality black 5/8" razor and strop set, and the world of straight razor shaving DVD. After watching the DVD and reading quite a bit of material online at the Straight Razor Place I tried my hand at shaving. After several attempts shaving, about seven, I am still unable to to get a clean shave. After a pass with the razor WTH, ATG, and XTG I still have have stubble not a few missed hairs but full stubble. I can hear the razor catching the hairs and see cut hair in the soap I pull off but my face won't shave clean. I have tried using more pressure with slightly better results and a lot of irritation. I have worked to get the appropriate angle and to strop correctly but it doesn't seem to make it any different. I understand that this whole experience is a learning process and I can tell that my shave has improved but it doesn't appear that it will ever get where it should be. I bought the razor from Straight Razor Designs so as I understand it has been honed and is truly shave ready. Right now I can get a closer shave with my old norelco than I can with my straight and its just dissapointing. I would appreciate any help or advice anyone can offer, I figured I would see if anyone here had any ideas before I contacted Straight Razor Designs.

The only thing I will tell you is that when I started with a straight the first week shaving I was very happy I didn't cut myself and get massive razor burn. A shave approaching decency wasn't even in my vocabulary then. It was two weeks before the shave was reasonable and a month before the shaves were decent. it was 6 months before I was getting really great shaves and almost a year before I had real facility with the razor and somewhere between 6 months and a year before I was getting BBS all around.

So take this the way you want. It just takes practice and lots of it and you need to vary your technique.

First of all: relax, this is normal.It takes time, but with some patience you will get there.I would advice you to really spend time on your prepping.
Take a shower, AND use a hot towel, take your time, and make it as easy as possible to yourself.Using more force is not recomendable.


Kristoffer.

you really don't need pressure. let's start slowly
how does it work on the flat part of your face - between sideburns and jawline?
the razor should be about 1 spinewidth from your face.

Firstly learn to master your stropping technique.

No one gets a brilliant shave the first few times they use a straight. It takes a couple of months to get used to it.

Its all about the angle you shave at - 30 degrees with the grain, 15 going across the grain and virtually flat against the grain. Learn which ways your hairs grow - I have found this makes alot of difference.

Hairs growing one way may just happen to grow the opposite way within a few millimitres of another.

And buffing helps me to get BBS - lots of ATG strokes with the razor virtually flat, buffing the lather back across before the next stroke.

Read the wiki about angles.

maybe you should take a good hot shower before hand and then lather up really well and let that set for about 60 sec. then try stretching the skin and shave again and see how it goes. you razor should be sharp. but foremost is to go slow and do not rush, do not expect bbs shaves right from the start.

+1 on all the advice,proper skin stretching is a factor for me as well,especially on my neck area because the hair grows in different directions calling for different stretching directions and shorter strokes with my SR to get a clean shave there.:)

Relax, slow down. Be patient. If you bought a grand piano would you expect to play like Frédéric Choplin after seven tries? No?
Straight razor shaving isn't rocket science, but it takes time and practice to be perfect.

Read this post from Lynn:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/newbi...icipation.html

Again watch your angels, take it slow and easy and be patient. The BBS will come in time.

I think I just got my first decent shave this morning, and it's been about 2 weeks or 3 weeks? Still not as smooth as a four pass DE shave... yet.

Oh and one thing I think that helped me, figure out how your hair grows. For example, what might be a XTG pass for most on the neck is a ATG for me.

One of the best pieces of advice for me early on was that I should not think of straight razor shaving as shaving, but as beard reduction. Even if your cutting angle is right and the blade is sharp, moving from one cutting angle to the next angle too quickly might be a mistake. I would try shaving WTG as many times as it takes until the razor slips over the skin and basically doesn't cut any more hair. Then, when the beard is cut to skin level at WTG, move to XTG, and continue XTG until it comes clean also. Then, finally, if desired shave ATG.

The principle is that you are REDUCING beard each time, not worrying too much how much beard each pass removes, just as long as the beard is being reduced with each pass.

As an aside, repeating passes won't increase your shave time as much as you think. Possibly, it will reduce the time required.

Early on, I was worshipping the "one pass WTG, one pass XTG and one pass ATG" mantra. Once I realized that I could repeat the pass multiple times, I found that when I moved to a different angle at the proper time, it just worked much better.

I have come to the conclusion that the WTG, XTG and ATG idea is very good general guidance. But, that the idea that the passes should be exact 90 degree variants of each other is sometimes assumed, but assumed incorrectly.

I have one tough part of my face that I shave WTG until smooth. But, if I switch directions 90 degrees to XTG, it doesn't work well. Instead my next pass after WTG is 45 degrees from WTG. Each pass after moves about 45 more degrees, finally ending up at 180 degrees ATG.

My opinion is that the WTG pass is the primary pass to remove beard, and that every pass after that should not be removing much hair; just slicing off the tip of the bearc close to skin level. When this isn't done, I believe, is when most chapping and razor burn occurs.

I have one final thought on the direction of the cut. We all want that baby butt smooth shave, or we wouldn't be sinking so much money and time into this endeavor. Even after mastering the above techniques, there were some parts of my face that I just could not get BBS! These areas tended to be the areas where my beard was thinnest and easiest to shave. Frustrating! What finally turned the trick is actually a "violation" of WTG/XTG/ATG. I would shave WTG/XTG/ATG, each pass coming smooth. Then, would rub my hands across the area, and if the skin felt stubbly at all, would repeat one of the strokes. Before these areas came clean I might shave WTG/XTG/ATG and backtrack with XTG/ATG, or some other variation.

Truthfully, I don't think WTG/XTG/ATG much any more. It gave me the right idea. Now, each pass moves toward ATG as my beard dictates. (Sometimes, even going directly from WTG to ATG, for example.)

My two bits...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

So take this the way you want. It just takes practice and lots of it and you need to vary your technique.

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Last night when I got out of the shower I took some time staring at my face and trying to figure out how I was going to vary my technique. I just started stretching my skin and paying close attention to which direction my hair is growing and at what points that direction changes. It really gave me a better idea of how to start approaching each area. With that knowledge I made another leap forward and was really surprised by how much closer the shave was. I still have a ways to go but thanks to all of your posts I have now reset my expectations and have a better understanding how long this learning curve might run. I look forward to putting more of your tips and ideas to work tonight.

Welcome to SRP! Patience is the key. I did not expect the bbs shave the first 30 or so shaves. Fact is, I still have not quite got it yet with all 3 passes, close but not yet. The learning curve is steep and can be more so by rushing head long into it. I am a little over 2 months in and just now getting my technique down for my chin, enough so the gillette is rarely used. Learn an area at a time and do any "clean-up" with your old shaving method. You will be amazed with the results if you take the time.