Thread: Against the Grain

Yes, I did forget to mention stretching. That has been a technical downfall as well. I've tried with pulling down on my neck but maybe I should try different angles to see if they work better.

I think there's a lot of merit in the WTG, XTG, ATG pattern though. Progressively shorter whiskers might be easier to deal with. I think I'm trying to get too much done too fast in that respect.

Would thinning the lather (or not using any at all / rewetting the face only) be better than using a fuller / thicker lather? I see that it can add to the 'stick' effect but I'm not sure what adjustments to play with in that respect.

I do two passes: WTG and ATG. I keep the razor more like 40-45 degrees for the WTG pass. On the ATG pass I hold the razor on the shank between my thumb and pointer finger and let the tang (monkey tail ?) rest against the meat at the base of the thumb. This allows an almost springy touch to the razor. The meat there acts as a shock absorber. On the ATG pass I lay the blade almost flat just keeping the spine of the blade off my skin and use a very light touch...the cushioning affect helps keep the pressure light. With this technique I get a BBS shave almost every morning.

You might make sure the blade is honed and stropped properly. I touch up my blade about every third week.

If all of the suggestions made so far don't help, there is nothing wrong with making up your own grip...whatever works for you is best.

Oh yes, the stretching is a must. You might also try a stroke that is kind of like a pivot letting the point lead. You must be careful tho. The pivot point should be at the end of the tang.

My Personal opinion will be DON'T shave against grain.

when i start straight razor shaving i had problems to get close shave. That pushed me learn how to shave against the grain.
This made me happy i mean very happy . Seems like i was proud of myself.
Time goes on you shave more and learn.
The day come up i get pretty good on straight razor shaving.
Now i start to make experience.
it was try to shave each half of my face differently and see what happens.
I did.
1 st half i will call wtg+AGT
2 half is wtg +xtg

The results were

1 st half of my face was the closest shave. hair grow in 3 days.
skin was feeling not good.
2 nd hald face was close to ATG HAIR grow was in 2 days
skin was feeling very smooth and nice.

My result.
By doing against the grain we do scrape the skin including it is protective function decrease.
But after xtg i didn't have that feeling i felt great.

Now pick you choose and good luck

WTG, XTG & ATG are useful concepts, making it easier to understand the concept of pass directions. In your case, I think you need to temporarily forget about WTG, XTG and ATG. Rather, approach it like this....

WTG works fine...
What angle works best after WTG? That might be 45 degrees toward the ATG. It might be less or more.

Just keep increasing the degrees, maintaining comfort with every pass, until you get to ATG. Or, better stated, until you get the shave you desire, which might not require getting to ATG.

Work it by degrees, without obsessing on 90 degree increments...

Originally Posted by ionthejester

Yes, I did forget to mention stretching. That has been a technical downfall as well. I've tried with pulling down on my neck but maybe I should try different angles to see if they work better.

I think there's a lot of merit in the WTG, XTG, ATG pattern though. Progressively shorter whiskers might be easier to deal with. I think I'm trying to get too much done too fast in that respect.

Would thinning the lather (or not using any at all / rewetting the face only) be better than using a fuller / thicker lather? I see that it can add to the 'stick' effect but I'm not sure what adjustments to play with in that respect.

I also just want to mention that if you do multiple passes, you don't need to do repetitive strokes. In other words, you don't need to do 2 WTG strokes over the same spot. This will leave your face more raw than it needs to be.

Typically, I go WTG, XTG, and ATG. Each time, just doing enough strokes to get the shave soap off and whatever lies underneath it. Anything that's left will be levelled on subsequent passes. More passes = more irritation. You'll find that if you go lightly, pass the same spots 3 times from 3 directions, you'll not only have a good close shave, but your skin will feel great afterwards.

Of course, those passes take practice, but if you can master that, your face will thank you.

I'm not sure about this because I can't quite remember, but I get the feeling that skin adjusts too. For my first few shaves I think my skin was a bit softer, but after that it seemed to become a little more taught, like it knew what was coming and adapted. Would anyone care to back me up on that?

Don't put too much emphasis on going precisely ATG. Your best angle might be...

20 degrees from true ATG. Or,
20 degrees from true ATG, but with a slight scything motion. Or,
20 degrees from true ATG, but with a slight scything motion, with blade at 20 degrees elevation instead of the typical 30 degrees.

I'm a newb and have been having the same problem. From the advice I've gotten on the forums, they fall into these categories:

1. Your razor is not as sharp as it needs to be for a comfortable ATG pass.
2. Stretching is the key to a close, comfortable shave. Stretch the skin ATG so that your blade can catch the hairs easier.
3. For ATG passes, a more watery lather is preferred.
4. Very shallow blade angle for ATG passes, almost flat to the skin.

The last 3 are easier to vary, but none of those will help if your blade isn't sharp enough. You can check out some of the sharpness tests on the Wiki, but the shave is the ultimate sharpness test. Do you have any tugging problems going WTG or XTG?

Originally Posted by DanS

1. Your razor is not as sharp as it needs to be for a comfortable ATG pass.
2. Stretching is the key to a close, comfortable shave. Stretch the skin ATG so that your blade can catch the hairs easier.
3. For ATG passes, a more watery lather is preferred.
4. Very shallow blade angle for ATG passes, almost flat to the skin.

+1. Nicely put.