Thread: shaving against the grain

It is probably a combination of shave technique and sharpness Tex. I got into SR shaving the bullheaded way. I bought a flea market razor and sharpened it the best i could with what i had around the house. this was in early march of this year. first attempt at shaving i couldnt complete the shave. since then i have used a DE 3-4 times and other than that it has just been SR shaves.
the thing is the longer i am at it the better my technique gets, and the sharper my blades get (sometimes) things such as tugging and irritation recide gradually as you develop the skill to shave and to maintain your razors.

It is also important to note that people have different beards and a persons beard may be drasticly different in one area as opposed to another. there may be places on yrou face where its going to be very difficult to get the razor to "glide" when going against the grain. I do not mind a little effort to get through the tough stuff, i am happy if it is smooth, comfortable, and irritation free.

Originally Posted by texan

I get an incredibly easy and smooth draw that shaves quite close. However, going against the grain I still get some tugging, especially in the neck area. Is this due to shaving technique, or do I just need a little extra refining on the edge? I have thought about just sending in the razor and my money to Lynn to find out what sharp really is, but I hesitate because I am either too cheap, or too impatient, or both.

First of all, you should have the razor sharpened by someone experienced. That way you'll eliminate the most likely cause.

The chances are that you short experience with the razor has something to do with it too, but you'll never know how much until you have a keen edge.

The direction of your neck growth is typical. Most men have a NSgrowth on the cheeks, and it reverses on the lower neck. However, the flat whiskers are a tough problem. Assuming you get them down to a fine stubble before you go against the grain, you will minimize this problem.

Another thing is to be aware of the direction in which you stretch. Since the whiskers point up, stretching down will stand them up, but stretching up will flatten them even more. WHen you stretch the correct way it places the fingers directly in the path of the blade, so you need extreme care.

As a general proposition, flat whiskers are a difficult problem. Going with or across the grain, they may jus be too flat (unless you can stretch as above). Going against the grain, the blade may hook under the taller whiskers and have trouble cutting. If you apply additional pressure, you run the risk of irritation. That's why it's so important to have the whiskers down to a fine stubble. The greater thickness of a str8 blade actually works against you here. So, something like a Shavette might work better. Also, you can try reducing the angle of the blade to the skin (as flat as possible) , so your pressure will be concentrated in pushing into the whiskers, instead of your skin. With a blade really flat and the stretch standing up the whiskers, it may help to push the flat side of the blade slightly into the skin.

Some of us can't get a clean shave without going against the grain. And some of us have some very difficult whiskers. For example the toughest whiskers on my face are between the upper lip and nose, and the grain runs generally down. Very few razors of any type can cut against the grain easily, and if I apply pressure , I lose some control and risk cutting my nose. The only thing that works is an extremely sharp edge that lets me coast lightly over the whiskers. I also need a razor I can control tightly. I settled on using a "featherjector" (an injector razor with a Feather str8 blade) to touch up that area. The safety bar of the razor prevents me from cutting my nose.

Joe, thanks for that advice. I actually did my follow up shave last night to put to practice the things suggested on this thread. I did 10 laps on my .25 pasted strop, stropped, and then shaved. I payed very close attention to stretching my skin and the angle of the blade to my skin as well as the scything motion. I found that with the grain the shave was incredibly smooth and tug free. Across the grain was also smooth and tug free, although slightly more tugging than with the grain (very slight). I then followed up with the against the grain pass while keeping a shallow blade angle. This had some tugging, but was slight and I thought fairly comfortable. However, when I got to my usual problem area under my jawbone, I started having issues again, although not as bad as before. After reading your post Joe, I have realized what the problem is. My whiskers grow really flat there, and the first pass with the grain doesn't cut very close, so the following against the grain pass really snags.

My new solution since I can't part with my razor long enough to get someone to sharpen it properly for me is to keep working on my technique along with some blade touchups now and then to try and get it a little sharper. Someday soon I will buy a new razor (I've caught the bug) and then I can afford to part with one long enough to get a pro to sharpen it.

Originally Posted by texan

I have realized what the problem is. My whiskers grow really flat there, and the first pass with the grain doesn't cut very close, so the following against the grain pass really snags.

I have the same problem on my neck. I hold the blade very flat, pull the skin tight, and make sure that the blade is freshly stropped, which seems to do the trick for me.
I also usually do two against-the-grain passes on my neck, the first one I'm mostly trying to avoid getting cut, on the second one I go for closeness.

Originally Posted by mparker762

I have the same problem on my neck. I hold the blade very flat, pull the skin tight, and make sure that the blade is freshly stropped, which seems to do the trick for me.
I also usually do two against-the-grain passes on my neck, the first one I'm mostly trying to avoid getting cut, on the second one I go for closeness.

Do you stretch in a direction to stand up the whiskers?

If the Feather is good for one thing, it's awesome at going against the grain. I don't use mine much anymore because I enjoy honing and stropping too much. It's a control thing, fellas. Kind of like driving a car with a manual tranny. MORE CONTROL.

-R