Thread: Pulling like crazy

I bought a shave ready razor from Lynn that also "pulled on my whiskers something terrible" like you said wdChidester. I didn't strop before using the first time, and so this wasn't a factor. But, I got a great shave nonetheless.

Your problem might be a misconception of what the shave experience should be like. You will often hear SRPites suggest to think of straight razor shaving as "beard reduction" instead of as shaving. My analogy is to think of shaving like mowing tall grass. Mow it high. Mow it again a little lower. Finally, mow it again right above ground level. (If the grass isn't high, of course, just mow it to ground level with the first pass.)

Typically, my first WTG pass shaves off the top of my growth, and never reaches skin level. It reduced the stubble though. And, during this pass over the beard, definitely there is a "pulling" on the whiskers. If my beard is a bit longer, my next pass might also "pull" while I mow a little more of the beard away. But, whenever I get to skin level, be it one pass or several, the razor cuts cleanly and does not pull.

And, this was the experience with the unstropped "Lynn razor." If I had pushed hard, trying to cut my beard down to skin level with the first pass, I suspect I would have irritated my skin. Even with the shave ready razor.

I just had a conversation with one of the more frequent and experienced members of this forum about this aspect of shaving. And, even though I don't know how typical this "mowing down to skin" experience is, I don't think it is unique.

(BTW, I suspect that if a beard is longer, being several days old, the beard base is softer and the whole growth might be removed with one pass.)

My advice is to go slow, light on the touch, and don't worry how much it pulls while the blade is slicing off beard ABOVE the skin level. But, when you get down to the skin, it should not pull.

Try that, maybe.