Thread: the continuing struggle

Hi Johnny68,
If you have been in a maelstrom for 3 weeks then you may have lost sight of your initial progress.You can do what lynn advised and go back to basics or try to shave when you are not being rushed and have more time-(when I started out i had to switch to shaving in the evening because it took 40 mins to shave).
At first you need to get into some sort of routine - it's the only way to measure progress.
Hand positioning problems are a symptom of the above -try to note which positions work and which don't.(re read the wiki and watch online videos to give yourself ideas).
Don't worry about lather quality unduly-you don't need to be a lathermeister to get passable lather ( i've only been concentrating on this after 100+ shaves!) As goog suggests ,try lathering up on the soap.
If your razor was honed by lynn then you can bet that it's sharp!
Take stropping slowly at first -if you get the strokes right with the spine down on the leather at all times-then you will be doing it right- pick up speed once you have this down.
If your lathering everything around you then you must be lathering far too aggressively-ease up a bit -you are supposed to be enjoying this stage of the shaving process more than anything else!!
Clean your blade carefully as soon as you have finished shaving- the longer you leave it wet the more chance of spots appearing on the blade (I wipe it on the towel after rinsing in very hot water,then wipe it down with a tissue folded -passing it between the scales to collect any water I may have missed).Then strop x20 strokes to clean the edge before storing in the plastic box (not a shammy).
The black spots should clean off with a good metal polish.
If you remember to enjoy the whole process -even learning should be enjoyable-allow yourself to improve over time-get into that routine and start to notice improvements ,they will come in time I assure you.
Keep going and ENJOY!
Best regards
Noggs