Thread: So I tried to go X the Grain.....

I recently began shaving with a SR for the first time ever. I'm using a Dovo 5/8 "Prima Klang." The first 5 shaves, all straight down, went well, no blood, no whiskers.
So I tried to go X-Grain. Not so good. I touched the razor to my face 2 times. I got 2 cuts. Not nicks, cuts. Being the wise individual I am, I stopped. I decided I should give my shinny new septic pencil a try. I had been warned that it "may sting a little." I now realize that "sting a little" means BURN LIKE THE FIRES OF HELL! (ok, I'm over it).
So I reviewed the grips page in the Wiki. After my face healed, I tried a completely different grip with great success. I shaved down with no blood, no whiskers and XG with no blood and even fewer whiskers!
Now, about the goatee....

Good stuff. Its all about experimentation and finding what works best for you. Congrats that you seem to be coming along well

I'm no expert but I think it is all about trial and error, at least for me it has been. I just remembered what worked and ran with it from there and read these forums.

i'm right there with ya i cut my self when i used the wrong grip to go xtg then changed grip better results, now im going to try against the grain to see if i can get the bbs action going, hopefully i wont give the alumi block and steptic pen too much of a workout.

Something else to be mentioned here is skin stretching. I stretch different ways for each of my passes & I use all three: wtg, xtg, atg. When the skin is tight, you have a light grip on the razor, face is well lathered, and your angle is low...it's hard to cut yourself. As mentioned above, we all learned shedding a bit of blood. Sounds like you may be a week into straight shaving...you will be comfortable and getting great shaves soon. Average time is about 30 days. During that time you are learning exponentionally as well as your face is getting used to a straight. It just seems to all come together about this time.

Keep it up and your face will thank you...eventually you will be giving "experienced" advice to others who were in your shoes.

It took me 3 months to get up the sack to do an up stroke on my neck !!! Baby steps and take your time, if it doesnt feel comfy, tomorrows another day!!

Thanks guys.
Ness, that's the hard part. Learning to temper the little kid excitement with the reality of a SHARP piece of steel on my face.

We all have/will bleed for this new found love. It takes some time to learn which direction you need to go on your skin. Sometimes, directly across the grain does not work and you just need to reduce the angle.
I can directly against the grain on my neck, I mean from the bottom of my neck, up to my chin without a problem. I cannot do that on my cheeks. I need to angle the blade a bit more from to between straight up and straight back. As you learn your face you'll figure it out.

On a funny note, maybe one day we can compare scars!!!

great advice, i agree that because we are very fresh the new toy exitment is strong i now i ususally cant wait until my whiskers are long enough to cut lol. the one thing i am having some issues figuring out is streching my skin around my cheeks because my growth is one direction around my sideburns and another towards the stash, and thats where i need to stop and re strech and start over. my chin i just lift my neck and go up and i have not had any issues with, that is xtg for my chin. shaving from right ear towards left ear is atg and again havent figured out how to strech there.

I've mentioned this a few times before, but you want to map the growth patterns on your face so that you can be sure that what you think is XTG, actually is. Unless you're familiar w/ your growth patterns, what you believe to be XTG, could really be ATG and thus causing the problems you mentioned.