Straight Razor shaving - worth it?

Hey guys I've been shaving with a straight razor for a little over two months now. I'm starting to wonder if this is going to work for me long term. I expect to give it another three or four months but I'm not really seeing the results that I expected to see.

At the beginning I saw quite a bit of progress. I used to nick myself on a regular basis and that is pretty much a thing of the past. I also was unable to shave my chin for the first week or so and now I can. I have also learned to shave with my off hand which was something that had never occurred to me. On the technical side I also feel pretty comfortable sharpening an ebay razor purchase and have done that successfully with two of them. That gives me three razors in rotation including one that was purchased from one of our vendors here ready to shave.

My main issue is that the shaving process is more time consuming than what I had experienced with either a double edged Gillette razor or my favorites the Gem JR single edged razors - I expected that. I am also not seeing a real improvement in the quality of the shave - I did not expect that. I can get some really really nice shaves off those Gem JR razors. The straights on the other hand require more time and a lot more attention than those other razors and I am not really seeing a closer shave. If you are not paying attention it can be much worse. I have to admit that I cannot get as close a shave on my chin with the straight as I can with the others. I also have to pay a lot of attention under the jaw and a spot on my throat to get a close shave there.

Maybe it just takes a longer time to get the process down. As I said I am planning on putting another couple of months into it I'm just venting here with you.

One thing that I have found interesting is that the straights will ride over facial imperfections - such as an occasional acne blemish without slicing it off. I find that very unusual.

Ed

Ed,

I feel your pain/concern! I have been straight shaving for a little about six months now and the shaves continue to improve. I learn something new every shave.

I will say that I saw very fast improvement for the first month or two and then I seemed to hit a wall. My shaves did not get better or worse, they just stayed about average. My problem areas (chin/neck/stache) continued to give me fits.

I will say that around the five month mark, things started to improve again. My shaves are now as close and almost as comfortable as my DE shaves.

To me, it is not just about the result, but the entire process. For me, shaving is relaxing, fun and enjoyable and I start every day out with a challenge. I look forward to it.

Stick with it. It will continue to get better and better as long as you have the motivation.

I can shave as close with a straight as I can with any other type of razor at this stage of the game. I can also do it from start to finish much faster than I could when I started. OTOH, I never rush when shaving with a straight razor. If time is an issue I would find an alternative that day. Try the cold water shave. That alone cut my shaving time considerably and I get better shaves. YMMV.

Straight shaving isn't for everyone especially in our disposable hurry up world. When Mr Gillette came out with the DE men switched in droves and never looked back.

Having said that I will say using a straight is something you really need to be motivated to do. I find no other shave method can shave as close. You just need to decide what you expectations and priorities are, and if they coincide with a straight to keep using it. If done correctly your shaves will continue to improve.

I think sometimes we see all the guys who seem to pick this thing up and are getting BBS shaves within a week or so. This is not normal. You just need to have patience and of course realize the extra time it takes to shave (which should decrease over time) is something many of us enjoy.

Str8 shaving is going to take more time than the other stubble removal alternatives. Shaving takes more time than not shaving which is why yours truly grew a beard for about 30 years - lazy is as lazy does. I started shaving with a straight razor - went to DE in the Army - went shaveless out of the Army - returned to straights about 6 or so years ago.

Among the reasons for the extra time involved with straight razors is using the traditional strops, brushes, soaps, etc., and then the time consuming caution needed in dealing with that unguarded and marvelously sharp blade you are using. Shaving time will get less as more you become experienced with the razors and accessories, but it will never become as quick as other wet shaving methods. Canned goop and a Bic disposable is about as quick as you can get with shaving wet. Or you can use the Norelco while driving to work - faster yet.

:beer2:

Straight shaving is culture!

So far, you have not described anything that most people do not experience along the learning curve.

It took me 6 months to give up a cleanup pass with a DE, and maybe 8 months to get consistent results. It took 4 or 5 months for my skin to break in.

Then there are the things that help in such an incremental way that they are hard to realize. Such as the amount of pressure you are stropping with or how tight you pull the strop. These things matter, but only experience gets them right for you.

Just get yourself to consistent passable shaves right now. If you are going to give it another 3 or 4 months, you won't believe how much better things are going to get for you.

You have already passed the "I Suck" stage. Stick with it and you will be rewarded.

David

From many threads, I know many of us find the zen or essence of the experience the payback, maybe more than the shave. I relax best when I walk or drive or do something that is rhythmic or mindless, but nonetheless occupies some part of my brain so the squirrel on the wheel in the other part of my brain can slow down.

If the straight razor shave doesn't feed that part of you, if you are in it only for the shave, the payback will still probably be there. But, as others have said, it might take longer.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by eddelgado

... One thing that I have found interesting is that the straights will ride over facial imperfections - such as an occasional acne blemish without slicing it off. I find that very unusual...

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I think your observation is significant, and is related to my reason for liking straights. My theory is that DE and safety razors slice off the top layers of dead skin cells while shaving, and that straights float on top of the skin, pushing the skin down on the hair follicle slightly before cutting. Both give close shaves, and maybe the DE is even closer. But, not all close shaves are created equal!

I just like the feeling of a straight razor shave. I think it is less traumatic to the face, and leaves better feeling face throughout the day.

Yes I am planning to stick with it for several more months at least but just felt a need to vent today.

I estimate that using the straight probably takes about twice as long as a DE or Gem does and I always made two passes with those. Part of that has to do with the stropping and part of it has to do with the additional concentration and different passes - WTG, ATG, etc.. The Gem used to provide a closer more reliable shave than what I am getting from the straight. I'm not saying that the GEM shaves closer everywhere or maybe anywhere but overall it makes the whole face a lot smoother - in hard to shave areas significantly so.

I'll keep plugging at it. It's the harder to shave areas that are the real challenge.

Ed

I feel proud after I'm done shaving with a straight. It took time to be able to get a decent & comfortable shave with a straight razor, whereas I was able to shave well right off the bat with a cartridge razor.

I'm pround of being able to do some electricity, plumbing, construction, etc.., all by myself. It would be alot faster if I called a pro to do the job for me, but I find it important to find pride in the things I do.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by eddelgado

Yes I am planning to stick with it for several more months at least but just felt a need to vent today.

I estimate that using the straight probably takes about twice as long as a DE or Gem does and I always made two passes with those. Part of that has to do with the stropping and part of it has to do with the additional concentration and different passes - WTG, ATG, etc.. The Gem used to provide a closer more reliable shave than what I am getting from the straight. I'm not saying that the GEM shaves closer everywhere or maybe anywhere but overall it makes the whole face a lot smoother - in hard to shave areas significantly so.

I'll keep plugging at it. It's the harder to shave areas that are the real challenge.

Ed

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Different people have different learning curves. Do not worry about getting bbs shaves on the first two or three months. You will know once you are there. Once you start to get close to good shaves you will find that shaving is more relaxing than worrying about the bbs results. At least that is how it happened to me.
I can honestly say that nowadays shaving with straight doesn't take much more time than shaving with DE.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by eddelgado

Yes I am planning to stick with it for several more months at least but just felt a need to vent today.

I estimate that using the straight probably takes about twice as long as a DE or Gem does and I always made two passes with those. Part of that has to do with the stropping and part of it has to do with the additional concentration and different passes - WTG, ATG, etc.. The Gem used to provide a closer more reliable shave than what I am getting from the straight. I'm not saying that the GEM shaves closer everywhere or maybe anywhere but overall it makes the whole face a lot smoother - in hard to shave areas significantly so.

I'll keep plugging at it. It's the harder to shave areas that are the real challenge.

Ed

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I have gone from 1 hour to 30 minutes for 3 full passes plus clean up. That includes making my lather and cleaning my area.

Now for those hard to get at areas. I am betting that your trouble areas are just below your jawlines and about 1/3 of the length of your neck down. These are areas that you can't get your blade vertically into and the whiskers are growing crazy in.

This is where you really have to develop your guillotine (or scythe) cuts. I could not get a good shave in those areas until I got that technique down.

Can you let us know if that is the case here?

Wow you spend a long time shaving!

I'm probably taking about 15 minutes doing two full passes. I used to run a third partial pass on just the chin.

Hardest areas for me are the are right under the jaw on both sides, the chin, and a spot around my adams apple on my neck.

Currently I basically shave with a top to bottom motion across my whole face for pass1 - I have a mustache so I do not need to worry with that.

Second pass is typically from the center towards the outside on the cheeks and neck and towards the center on my chin. I use a scything motion on the area around my adams apple.

Ed

I tried straight razors shaving and I can do it without needing sutures. But it's slow and awkward for me and there's more maintenance involved than I'm willing to live with right now.

For me a DE is ideal. It's simply a better tool for me. I can get extremely good shaves, as good or better than with a cartridge, and do it faster.

I have the utmost respect for straight shavers, so please forgive me for mentioning this, but there are good and practical reasons why there are very few people that use these tools today.

I realize that quicker and easier is not always better. So many things these days are designed and engineered with one primary goal, that being higher profits. It was my desire to reject the modern greed-is-good mentality that made me want to use a straight to begin with. But I've found a very acceptable compromise in the DE.


There seem to be two extremes in shaving (I'm going to leave out electrics because imo that's not really shaving). At one end you have the expensive, horribly bad for the planet but fast and easy to use cartridge and canned foam/gel. On the other you have inexpensive, good for the planet but slower and harder to learn straight blades with a brush and soap. Doing the math on the per shave costs is an excellent illustration of those extremes. I couldn't begin to analyze the two carbon footprints but I expect there to be just as big a gap.

For me these extremes can be defined in terms of good and bad. I don't think I need to say which is which. I found that I can get really close to the good side with minimal fuss and not have to spend an excess of time to get the results I want.

Hey man not trying to talk you out of it as this is such a relaxing thing to do you should do whatever makes you feel the best. But also consider you could do a hybrid shave where the first pass or two is with the straight and clean up with the DE. I did this for a while and only moved away as my straight technique improved.

It gave an awesome shave (not sure why but the straight/DE hybrid gave a better shave than DE alone) and was much quicker as I didn't spend so much time on the ATG piece.

Anyway, just a thought.

Edit: sorry, I confused this thread with another that the OP was giving up. Still hold the hybrid might work for you.

Just one thing i have found, and this may be just because i am only using my right hand to shave, you cant get BBS everywhere. I can get BBS on my cheeks, chin, most of the left neck and the top of the right. Pretty close on the mo area but look at beard reduction everywhere else.

I think as eTom has said its culture. I love the stropping, lathering and everything else. One guy said to me one time that men love ritual and doing this is about as ritualistic as it gets.

I recommended sticking with it mate.

Worth it? Depends no what you define as worthy of your time.

I came crawling to the forum after trying to have a go at it for just over a month. Within a few days, my shaving improved- dramatically. I am able to keep my fur looking like a '3 to 5 o'clock shadow' versus the patchy, bloody and burned wreck my face had previously been.

I can't thank this forum enough for their patience. If you are willing to slow down, focus, ask questions and work at it, I'm willing to bet this forum, and your faith in yourself, will pull you through.

Good luck. I know others do this all the time successfully. Why can't you? Why can't I? :-)

I've only been at this a few months now, but shaving doesn't take nearly as long as the beginning. Of course, it took me an hour in the beginning. Shaving takes about 5-7 minutes, longer if I'm going on a date. Shaves are better than mach3 ever gave.

Guys my plans are to continue with the straight for at least 3 or 4 more months.

I tried cold water shaving this week and the results at least for me are about the same as with hot water. That saves me a couple of minutes in the morning so I'll continue that way.

I guess the biggest thing with the straight is that you have to pay attention to what you are doing to get a close shave. You have to watch your angle, your direction of strokes to get good results. I still hate shaving my damned chin! That is a huge effort and the results are not as good as I can get with other shaving methods.

Thank you all for all of the feedback.

Ed

Have you thought about growing a goatee for awhile? Makes shaving go much faster and easier.

I ran a full beard for quite a few years but stopped that because I started having a big patch of white hair start coming out on one side of my chin. It looked pretty funky to me. I fell back to just a mustache.

Ed