First Shave - Did not go well

Hello All,

I attempted my first straight razor shave and it did not got well. I purchased a razor from the classifieds and sent it to Lynn for honing so I know the razor was not the problem.

The lather was good, thick and creamy like cool whip.

I fully accepted that I would probably nick myself, and I did, but that wasn't the problem. From the first stroke, on my dominant side, even in the "easy" spots, it was very rough. Pulling, tugging, scraping are the adjectives that come to mind. Sounded like sand paper. I didn't shave at all yesterday, so I had 48 hours of growth, maybe that was a mistake for the first shave.

I know it was my technique, and I assume my angle was off. I tried my best to keep the 30 degree angle, but guess I didn't pull it off.

Oh well...will try again later.

There r alot of variables that could have gone wrong, but the fact that Lynn honed it is a great start. It could definitely be the angle and the strokes( i tend to do short quick strokes) Im sure the more u do it the better it will get:) Also how is your prep? what did you do for prep?

I, like Matt, wonder what your pre-shave preparation was. It is not clear from the description of your shave. You need to prep your beard, either with a hot shower and/or hair conditioner or a hot towel to soften the whiskers prior to shaving.

You may also want to recheck your blade angle, perhaps reducing it a bit from the 30 degree angle you are holding the blade at. Perhaps 20-25 degrees?

Just my 2 cents

Thank you all for the quick replies. Here was my routine...

1.)Soak badger brush in hot distilled water while I took a shower. I used distilled because my water is so hard here it is hard to lather anything.

2.)Took shower being sure to get my face good a wet

3.)Get out of shower, dry off, just pat dry my face

4.)Build lather using almond sized bit of unscented shaving cream and soaptopia sweet almond soap

5.)Didn't do any other beard prep except to apply lather with brush

6.)Attempt to shave with straight razor, have bad experience, finish with Mach 3. :)

Pretty much how it went.

It's going to take a few shaves before you get the hang of it. The angle is tricky. If anything, try less of an angle. Two days of growth probably didn't help matters either. Maybe just try the sideburn area first, until you get the hang of it. Like the other guys mentioned, prep is important, Hot Shower, or Hot Towel...Pre shave oil helps, you can even use Olive Oil if you don't have anything else, a few drops goes a long way....Some guys even use hair conditioner in shower on their beard.....

I`ve only been straight shaving for a month. I had loads of tugging on my first few goes aswell. Angle was a big problem for me at first too, I was too shallow. When you eventually get it right (and you will) it`ll be so satifying ! I felt like I`d hit a sweet spot with it, all of a sudden, I got the angle right and it worked really well so stick with it and just take it easy! Eeeeeasy. I caught myself getting a little frustrated a few times and had the good sense to put the razor down before I cut myself and finish up with my M3. My point is, it just takes a while. I`ve gotten to the stage where I can do an acceptable shave (nothing special) most times. I`ve been lucky enough to have ONE amazing shave so far too which was very very encouraging. So dispair not! Only a few steps down the line and you`ll start making progress...... :)

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Originally Posted by JSMaxwell

Thank you all for the quick replies. Here was my routine...

1.)Soak badger brush in hot distilled water while I took a shower. I used distilled because my water is so hard here it is hard to lather anything.

2.)Took shower being sure to get my face good a wet

3.)Get out of shower, dry off, just pat dry my face

4.)Build lather using almond sized bit of unscented shaving cream and soaptopia sweet almond soap

5.)Didn't do any other beard prep except to apply lather with brush

6.)Attempt to shave with straight razor, have bad experience, finish with Mach 3. :)

Pretty much how it went.

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The prep u do may be everything you need, and it just may be your angle however if i were u i would try this and see if its better.

1) hot shower , use your hair conditioner as a scrub and scrub your face with it in the shower. also use a hot towel in the shower after the conditioner has had time to sink in and soften your beard.

2) when u r about to get out of the shower wet your face one final time and dont dry it off or pat dry leave it wet.

Then do the rest of your routine, i found that i had to do a lot more prep then what i use to do when i had the mach 3 but it is totally worth it.

If ur still getting tugging, pulling i would bet its your angle :)

good luck!!

also make sure to steer the lather into your beard for a good minute to further prep your beard

+1 on the blade angle. I think it's easy to use to steep of an angle to start because when using a cartridge razor you really can't tell while shaving what the angle is. Drop the blade angle and you will use less pressure which should improve the shave.

Just curious,did you strop this razor after Lynn honed it?

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Originally Posted by aroliver59

Just curious,did you strop this razor after Lynn honed it?

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I did not. When the razor came back to me in the mail there was a note saying it had been honed, stropped, shave tested, disinfected, and stropped again. It said no stropping was necessary, that it was ready to shave.

You will get tons of advice from folks that know their stuff. I started back in February and am now able to get a great shave.

The technique and angle are important and takes time and experience, Go slow, ask questions here on the SRP and eventually you will get a great shave.

Hang in there it is worth it. I only give pep talks since I am too new to give any shaving advice!!

O.K. then,we can eliminate this as part of the problem.....

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Originally Posted by JSMaxwell

Hello All,

I attempted my first straight razor shave and it did not got well. I purchased a razor from the classifieds and sent it to Lynn for honing so I know the razor was not the problem.

The lather was good, thick and creamy like cool whip.

I fully accepted that I would probably nick myself, and I did, but that wasn't the problem. From the first stroke, on my dominant side, even in the "easy" spots, it was very rough. Pulling, tugging, scraping are the adjectives that come to mind. Sounded like sand paper. I didn't shave at all yesterday, so I had 48 hours of growth, maybe that was a mistake for the first shave.

I know it was my technique, and I assume my angle was off. I tried my best to keep the 30 degree angle, but guess I didn't pull it off.

Oh well...will try again later.

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I've been on this straight razor odyssey since Easter weekend and boy does your experience sound familiar. It's not easy to master and there is no substitute for repetition. One day you are going to go through the same motions you have been going through since Day 1 and suddenly realize something you never noticed before and make a proper adjustment. That makes you feel great. I'm still trying to get consistently good shaves every time out of the box. One thing I have found out is that I shave better on days off than in the mornings before work because I am more relaxed and have fewer things on my mind.

If you want it bad enough you will get there and enjoy it immensely. It sounds from the tone of your post that you have the desire to get the job done.

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Originally Posted by Mvcrash

Hang in there it is worth it. I only give pep talks since I am too new to give any shaving advice!!

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I'm definitely in the same boat. Even though I have only had 5 shaves, each one gets progressively better. I haven't nicked myself or had razor burn since the second shave.

It gets better, I'm on my fourth shave and it is slowly getting better. My first shave pulled and overall was very uncomfortable, with my last shave I didn't really notice any pulling but parts of my face burned. I'm sure it will pass as my face adjust to a straight razor and my technique improves. Stick with it and I'm sure things will get better.

Good Luck
Adam

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Originally Posted by JSMaxwell

1.)Soak badger brush in hot distilled water while I took a shower. I used distilled because my water is so hard here it is hard to lather anything.

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That really must be hard. I live in an area surrounded by chalk hills, & have no problem. Having to boil up distilled water would be enough to put me off. Might be worth trying a top end cream & seeing how it performs with your standard water.

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Originally Posted by JSMaxwell

2.)Took shower being sure to get my face good a wet

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It's obvious, but use a decent face soap to remove oils without drying the skin. This will allow water to penetrate the stubble & soften it.

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Originally Posted by JSMaxwell

3.)Get out of shower, dry off, just pat dry my face

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Stop doing this. Leave the face wet. It keeps the lather from drying out for far longer.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JSMaxwell

4.)Build lather using almond sized bit of unscented shaving cream and soaptopia sweet almond soap

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And this. You have enough variables without mixing your own formulas. Just use each good quality product at any one time.

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Originally Posted by JSMaxwell

5.)Didn't do any other beard prep except to apply lather with brush

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A good hot shower should be enough. Conditioner can help, but a shower & good lather do more than enough.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JSMaxwell

6.)Attempt to shave with straight razor, have bad experience, finish with Mach 3. :)

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30 degrees? Did you have your protractor? It's hard to judge. Aim for the spine to be two to three spines width from the face. As you make progress, tighten up the angle for successive passes, reducing the number of spine widths.

Learn to stretch properly. The skin should not be moving too much as the razor glides over it. The act of stretching in conjunction with the direction of the blade should lift the hair, not encourage it to lay flatter.

More passes are better than more pressure. Don't aim to take off too much on the first pass. There's no harm in doing two or more WTG passes, till you're comfortable enough to move on to XTG etc.

Really thick lather sometimes doesn't have enough water in it.

Hollow blades do sound "like sandpaper". Don't worry about that. Full hollows may ring, wedges are fairly silent. The sound a blade makes can be a useful tool when you know what it's telling you, but right now, you probably haven't the experience to read it.

Don't be disheartened. If you could just pick up a straight & get fine shaves where would you get the satisfaction from when you master it?

Good luck.

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Don't be disheartened. If you could just pick up a straight & get fine shaves where would you get the satisfaction from when you master it?

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After my first straight razor shave this morning (which didnt go nearly as badly as I thought it would) what a great quote to read, thanks Ben!

I'm about 60 shaves in and I've found that moving the razor in a slight sawing manner cut the beard much smoother. What I mean by sawing is that the razor is not hitting the beard hairs straight on but rather pulling across them in a downward motion thus sawing.

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Originally Posted by WineGuyD

I'm about 60 shaves in and I've found that moving the razor in a slight sawing manner cut the beard much smoother. What I mean by sawing is that the razor is not hitting the beard hairs straight on but rather pulling across them in a downward motion thus sawing.

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That is called scything motion shaving.(if you search you should be able to find some information about it on srp)
that is the correct way to use straight razor.( use as a saw instead of axe)
Stretching is very important part of this shaving.
if you are learning after 60 shave scything you are way front many of people.
Soon you will find you don't have to shave ATG to get BBS shave.
good luck and have fun.

Be encouraged. I think your story is pretty typical of all of us who started out recently.

One thing I don't think anyone has mentioned is just the fact that your razor is straight and your face has undulations. I find I do better if I let the "swaths" overlap. So I work down from the sideburn letting the sections overlap maybe a third. Different parts of the blade will engage the whiskers with different degrees of "bite" depending on the dips and curves in your face.

I also realized I was not really maintaining that angle consistently. Going slow, being gentle, using short strokes of maybe an inch or so did better.

Also be careful about stretching the skin. I have found generally that stretching the skin from the "beginning" point of the stroke works better than from below. That is, if the whiskers grow downward, in a WTG stroke I stretch the skin from the "up" side but in the ATG stroke I stretch from the other side. I hope that's right--I know others will gently correct if I'm mistaken!

Be patient. Don't even go for the whole face at first. Don't let it ruin your day!

I like short strokes "sawing motion". Also experiment with blade angle. You will get the hang of it