straight razor not shaving

Okay, I am a newbie. I have read a lot online about straights, and I bought one off of an online posting like craigslist a while ago. It is a new Dovo razor that someone had got as a gift but didn't like it. It came with a strop. I bought some proraso shaving soap and a cheap (non-badger hair) brush to apply it. But when I shaved with it it really didn't work very well. Figured it may not be sharp enough (shave-ready) so, first I bought an 8000 grid waterstone and tried to sharpen it myself. Didn't have a noticeable improvement. Of course I read here that newbies don't sharpen properly so I decided I'd send it to someone who knew what they were doing. Got it honed by someone linked to here, and it came back with maybe a slight improvement (I didn't strop it before trying since they said they strop it before they send it back). It was definitely sharpened as there was more wear on the spine.

Is it possible that I just don't have the right type of beard? The razor doesn't seem to slice the hair. I get some ripping and then give up and do the job with my disposable gilette sensor. Is it my technique? I have never cut myself with it, and it doesn't really seem that it is sharp enough just to slice stuff. I tried the hanging hair test and it tends to grab the hair and tug it but never slice on contact.

If it was done by someone with a decent reputation here, then they shave tested it. A straight can work for any type of beard. Sorry, but that likely means it's your technique. Have you done any of the highly recommended reading in the Wiki for beginners? This ain't the easiest thing to pick up and for many it takes a while to get the proper feel for it--kind of like learning to ride a bike.

Keep trying and ask lots of questions--the more specific the better.

Welcome to SRP

your tecniqe being probably lacking probably has some of the blame
And good prep is also a Big factor in getting a good shave(hot shower, make lather,strop/wait 3 minutes, reaply lather if needed then shave
You could start with your blade flat at your sideburn area and slowly lift it till it starts cutting

Good luck

And more adwice will follow shortly im sure

yeah, it's probably your technique and/or prep.

it took me about 3 months before i got a truly good shave, and that was after getting the razor honed by lynn. i can't vouch for any of the other honemeisters, but lynn definitely brought my razor to a shave ready state.

do you use a preshave oil? is your lather truly adequate? i found that my lather took a bit of practice to get right, and the preshave oil did more harm than good because it killed the lather. btw, i use Col. Conk's soap, which i find to be quite good, but the other members have posted reviews of other soaps elsewhere.

they say that the three things you need for a good straight shave are a shave ready razor, good lather, and patience. good luck!

Thanks for the replies and advice!

I think next time I shave I will try and do a lot longer pre-shave preparation. I may have not been getting my whiskers soft enough. My pre-shave prep has just been shower, quick hot water soak and lather, so I'll try lots more soaking.

As for the lather, I am not sure that I am getting it okay (never having experienced it done by professionals). It is fine for use with my cartridge razor, though that's not saying much. I have watched some videos on good lather and tried to emulate them. I think I'm doing okay except that I don't have a badger hair brush (just a $10 synthetic brush). Is it possible to get a good lather with a synthetic?

I get a better lather easier with a badger hair brush but I got along just fine for about 25 years with cheap boar brushes. Your brush likely is not a major factor in your difficulty.

Angle of the blade relative to your skin and the stroking motion itself are critical. Consider how you slice a tomato. You don't just push straight down through the tomato, you move the blade lengthwise at the same time as the downward stroke. Your shaving is done the same way with a scything motion.

Hmm ... I reckon your preparation is perfectly adequate. Quite often I just wash my face, lather up, strop my razor and get stuck in; in fact I actively prefer the whiskers to have a little resilience left. Don't think it's that.

Not having used a synthetic brush I'm not speaking from personal experience, but they're supposed to be surprisingly decent for soap or cream, so perhaps it's your chosen shaving medium which is causing the lather problem: what soap or cream are you using, and are you using a bowl or going straight to your face with the brush? If you're having trouble, stick with the former for now and aim to make your lather stiff then add water till it still has some body but doesn't stick up in stiff spikes. Getting lots of soap into the brush and then achieving the right ratio of product to water are the keys here, along with practice.

Now the razor. Ten to one it's the angle, and if you haven't cut yourself yet it'll probably be too flat to your face. You're looking for something like 30 degrees, give or take, and it's easy to under estimate. One and a half spine widths of space between the razor and your face will be somewhere near for a 5/8, a bit more for wider razors. Experiment - carefully - and this will come good with, you've guessed it, practice. Your Dovo will most likely be a full hollow, so you should be able to hear it cutting quite distinctly, which is one of the pleasures of shaving with an open razor.

Finally, nil desperandum. It's not the easiest skill to pick up, especially coming from a cartridge razor I should think (don't know, never used one), but apply yourself and you will get there, no doubt about it. The rewards are considerable.

If your shaving technique is lacking using the best shave prep and soap and brushes in the world ain't going to make that much of a difference. If you have the technique down good those things will increase your enjoyment but your use of the blade trumps all.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

If your shaving technique is lacking using the best shave prep and soap and brushes in the world ain't going to make that much of a difference. If you have the technique down good those things will increase your enjoyment but your use of the blade trumps all.

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+1
I shave with no beard prep and it works just fine, its all about technique.
Not saying that good lather and some other beard treats is a bad thing though.

As you can see a lot people has advise you and in fact they all correct.
In straight razor shaving there is not such a only factor will stop you getting great shave.
It include many factors.
That is why you will need to find out where is your problem.
It could be anything . let's say
sharpness of the blade.
angle while you shave.
wrong stropping technique( i know you said you didn't strop before shave)
preparation for the shave.
cheap soaps
Making longer strokes then necessary
growth of the facial hair(many members will argue this factor)
etc
i would suggest try eliminating factors 1 by one.
1.st you have done it . get it sharpen by someone from here. contact that person and ask for help. has blade shave tested before shipping etc(mostly srp member very helpful)
Second. Please find right angle which your razor will cut most smoothly(without tagging etc.) doesn't matter how sharp your blade will be without right angle it will pull hairs and you will have uncomfortable shave/
Preparation i think you know already.
use small strokes.
Please don't shave against the grain at the moment.
hope this helps.

I agree with the previous posts. A straight razor should be able to handle any type of beard, even beards that defy a multi-blade razor. The angle at which you are holding the blade may be faulty. Check your blade angle--somewhere between 15-30 degrees ought to work.

Let us know how things turn out after you have incorporated the advice offered here into your shaving routine.

Well, since everyone has already answered your question, and given you advice on what you should do.... I'll ask about the other side of the issue.

Please tell us what you are doing in terms of:

• Prep (soaps, pre-shave shower etc)
• Approach (including areas you shave, order of those areas)
• Technique (including angles, stretching and strokes)
• Feedback (what does it feel like when you shave?)

Don't be afraid to give full disclosure here... it is easy to give a fix when someone tells us that they are trying to shave with the razor at 90 degree angles, but it gets complicated the more info is held back.
I bet you can see where this is going... lots of factors to consider, lots of room for learning, lots of ways to mess up, but nobody is going to think less of you for not knowing things at the start, or for not getting something right.


That said, you're going to love it when it clicks.

Lots of great advise in this thread, so here is my own 2 cents.

When I started (hell, I'm still pretty much a newb) I focused on 3 things:
Keeping the skin tight,
the touch light,
and the angle right.

I also overdid the beard prep and starting with a shave ready razor, which probably helped a lot.

thanks everyone for your advice! I have been trying better prep, making sure I'm soaking the beard for 5 or so minutes with hot water, lathering a lot. I'm still having problems though.

What I usually do for actual shaving is just do the sideburn with the straight razor right now. Doing anything else hurts too much. Going with the grain doesn't seem to shave at all but just tug. So I go across the grain which still tugs but at least it shaves a bit. It doesn't cut the hairs at the skin though so I still have some fuzz left over.

I tend to be fairly flat, I would estimate about 15-20 degrees angle with the skin. I find that tugs the least (probably the reason I don't slice the hairs right at the skin).

How do you stretch around the sideburns (especially when your face is covered with slippery soap)? I just pull my ear back a bit; don't really find that it helps.

Frankly I think it has to do with the sharpness of the razor. It may have been sharp when I sent it away but I may have dulled it quickly with poor technique.

Also, a question about care - I read to use mineral oil, so I bought some but how is it supposed to work? Do you coat it after you use it then wash it off with soap before the next time?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Panzer32

What I usually do for actual shaving is just do the sideburn with the straight razor right now. Doing anything else hurts too much. Going with the grain doesn't seem to shave at all but just tug. So I go across the grain which still tugs but at least it shaves a bit. It doesn't cut the hairs at the skin though so I still have some fuzz left over.

I tend to be fairly flat, I would estimate about 15-20 degrees angle with the skin. I find that tugs the least (probably the reason I don't slice the hairs right at the skin).


Frankly I think it has to do with the sharpness of the razor. It may have been sharp when I sent it away but I may have dulled it quickly with poor technique.

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Well now, this changes things a bit because it sounds like you are doing things exactly the way you should be...

The Sideburn to Jaw line stroke is the basis of a real shave test, if you are doing this correctly, the razor should cut and cut very smoothly with just a WTG stroke... You still have to do your part, but that part is greatly reduced in difficultly...

You very well might have dulled the razor down, through bad use, I would contact the person that honed it in the first place, and see if they won't tweak it up for you... It takes about 5 minutes to do that for the original honer since they know exactly what they did in the first place...

Can't hurt to ask...

Give it a good stropping, 100x on both linen and leather, if it doesnt get better contact the person who honed as Glen said and see if they wont touch it up for you.

seems to me that if your razor will pop hair, ie. hht. then it should shave. at least your sideburn. take your off hand and reach over your head put your fingers just above the sideburn and dig in and pull up. your proraso is a good one for glide so start with a spine worth of angle and let her slide . if that dosnt do it try 2 spine widths. keep your touch light. just enough to keep it from jumping around. if that works slowly increase your area of safety untill you can do the whole face

Hey guys,

a quick update after using my straight every other day for ~5 months now. I have gotten good enough that I'm definitely now getting a better shave than a cartridge, though I wouldn't classify it as amazing. I find that my biggest adjustment was lots of stropping. I usually do 50x on linen and 50x on leather before I shave. Is that usual or too much?

I think it could still be a bit sharper. Right now I have been sharpening it on a norton 8000 waterstone. I don't have a 4000 to do a pyramid on so have just been compensating doing more strokes on the 8000 (like 100 total). Would this work or just lead to 'overhoning', whatever that is (I am pretty sure I'm not getting a wire edge or anything)?

Also, should I be sterilizing the blade between uses? And is there a good way to keep it from rusting (besides drying it thoroughly) especially by the handle pivot (since its hard to dry between the handle and the blade)?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Panzer32

Hey guys,

a quick update after using my straight every other day for ~5 months now. I have gotten good enough that I'm definitely now getting a better shave than a cartridge, though I wouldn't classify it as amazing. I find that my biggest adjustment was lots of stropping. I usually do 50x on linen and 50x on leather before I shave. Is that usual or too much?

I think it could still be a bit sharper. Right now I have been sharpening it on a norton 8000 waterstone. I don't have a 4000 to do a pyramid on so have just been compensating doing more strokes on the 8000 (like 100 total). Would this work or just lead to 'overhoning', whatever that is (I am pretty sure I'm not getting a wire edge or anything)?

Also, should I be sterilizing the blade between uses? And is there a good way to keep it from rusting (besides drying it thoroughly) especially by the handle pivot (since its hard to dry between the handle and the blade)?

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You have interesting questions .
i have used norton years but never made 100 strokes in single blade.
what will happen if you make it ?
you will know better then me.
what i can tell you is this. if you move to 8 k stone after 6k stone you will need less then 20-25 strokes.
if you have 7k then even 10 strokes will be good enough.
You are using 8k after which grit stone?
after 1k or something else?
if 1k the answer then you should be fine
gl

Your question did make me think a little.
i went and tried to hone without 4k and see what happens.
this is what i did.
i set bevel on 3 razors using shapton 1k.
then i moved to 8 k norton.
it did take more time and laps then usual.
After making 50 strokes i was level of 4k .
then 30 strokes was ok but not where i wanted.
i made 30 more and edge come to close to where it could get.
your last 30 stroke could change it may be 20---60 .
Depends on razor temper , stroke etc.
This tells me you can do sharpen your blade with your method.
gl