Thread: Stretching is the key

After my 21st and best shave to date I came to realize just how important stretching the skin is. I am pretty much hooked on straights now. So for any new guys like me, getting to know your face is the first tidbit of advice I can pass on.

You bet. Stretching your skin in the correct direction is a key component to getting that really close, smooth shave.

Imagine how good your 50th shave will feel, now that you've figured the stretching part out!

Just remember that the idea is to simply keep the skin taut, no need to pull your cheek over your scalp.

Glad to hear everything is coming together.

Gentlemen:

Yes, my friend Ryan is correct: stretching has its limits. For me, over-stretching serves no purpose; rather, stretching just enough to do the job is plenty. Either way, geometrically proper stretching is extremely important.

Regards,

Obie

Thanks everyone. To me another piece of the puzzle is falling into place as I find out what works for me.

Since I'm shaving legs I was a little confused by what direction to stretch the skin. My solution was to sit in the bathroom in the same light I use to shave by and stretch the skin to see what happens. It's easier to see without lather on. I think I've figured out which ways work best for me.

Lori

Originally Posted by LoriB

Since I'm shaving legs I was a little confused by what direction to stretch the skin. My solution was to sit in the bathroom in the same light I use to shave by and stretch the skin to see what happens. It's easier to see without lather on. I think I've figured out which ways work best for me.

Lori

Generally speaking, the skin on a ladies legs will be naturally taut compared to the skin on a man's face, so very little if any stretching should be needed. I'm assuming of course - I've never shaved my legs so I'm not speaking from actual experience .

From what I know of lady leg shaving techniques, most shave ATG from foot to knee right off the hop. With an ATG pass, no matter where you are shaving, the accepted method is to stretch IN FRONT of the blades edge (making sure the hairs are standing vertically), very carefully I might add. It helps to do short controlled strokes when performing this maneuver.

Originally Posted by LoriB

Since I'm shaving legs I was a little confused by what direction to stretch the skin. My solution was to sit in the bathroom in the same light I use to shave by and stretch the skin to see what happens. It's easier to see without lather on. I think I've figured out which ways work best for me.

Lori

You can stretch the skin in two ways.
Pull behind the razor or in front. Both work.

I decide based on how I hold the razor
and what skin I have to 'tug' on and
WTG, ATG or DTTG (diagonal to the grain).

My old barber used to wipe lather from
small patches with his thumb and promptly
shave that patch. Then he would
expand from that small patch. He collected
the extra lather on the back of his off hand.

For legs you can try wiping a small area
so it is smooth (stretched) and visible then with a
light touch shave that small patch. You
can wipe a bit of lather back onto the patch
if it needs more lather, what ever.

A light touch needs less stretching..
so a goal is to think smoothing more
than stretch.

I see my gals razors and one thing
that she forgets to do is to clean
them out. While wrong, it seems to make
sense that the larger area can be shaved
with long strokes. Better to use shorter
strokes and rinse the razor more often.

You can save water by having a small
plastic bucket in the tub/ shower. A kids
beach bucket can hold water to rinse the
razor and will not break. It can also hold
a couple little yellow ducks.

I'm new and welcome the advise. I've noticed my facial skin is less taut than when I started shaving about 45 years ago. I always have trouble deciding which chin to shave first.