So I just finished up my first straight razor shave a few minutes ago. My last shave was about 2-3 days ago. I used and old Straight that belonged to my grandfather, that I resharpened and honed yesterday.

I only used water..no shaving cream or special soap. It went smooth but I could not really go against the grain smoothly...I am wondering if using cream and or soap would make a huge difference in the "smoothness" of the shave?