Thread: I've been at this for a week now and I'm hoping you can help me a bit

I had a problem w/ the razor either sticking or jumping too, but I thought about it over about 2 days, and figured it out. Your problem could be completely different though.
I was shaving my strong side, and wiping the blade, when I went to the weak side (my left) the blade is turned around, so the covered with old hairy lather side was against the skin. My angle was so shallow, that the curve of the hollow blade was pressing into my skin (probably too much pressure also), and the semi dried puck soap after wiping the majority off was thin, dried quickly, and was sticky, and so the smooth part of the blade was actually sticking to the clean spot where the edge of the razor had just made the pass. I found that by rinsing the blade off, and leaving lots of water on the blade when I was going to do another pass helped tremendously. I don't have the problem any more. Hopefully that will help, and if not you, maybe someone else will read it and figure it out before exploding their mind over it like I did

Another tip, that I had an epiphany over, is watch your scales to determine your angle, not the blade. They are relative, and it's easier to see your angle over 4 inches of scale than it is to see it over 6/8 of a blade. Hope that helps!

- Lucas

Yes, slow down and take your time. Try not to change too many variables at one time. If necessary, only shave one part of your face with the straight until you are happy with the results.

Originally Posted by PSUOmega

I had a problem w/ the razor either sticking or jumping too, but I thought about it over about 2 days, and figured it out. Your problem could be completely different though.
I was shaving my strong side, and wiping the blade, when I went to the weak side (my left) the blade is turned around, so the covered with old hairy lather side was against the skin. My angle was so shallow, that the curve of the hollow blade was pressing into my skin (probably too much pressure also), and the semi dried puck soap after wiping the majority off was thin, dried quickly, and was sticky, and so the smooth part of the blade was actually sticking to the clean spot where the edge of the razor had just made the pass. I found that by rinsing the blade off, and leaving lots of water on the blade when I was going to do another pass helped tremendously. I don't have the problem any more. Hopefully that will help, and if not you, maybe someone else will read it and figure it out before exploding their mind over it like I did

Another tip, that I had an epiphany over, is watch your scales to determine your angle, not the blade. They are relative, and it's easier to see your angle over 4 inches of scale than it is to see it over 6/8 of a blade. Hope that helps!

- Lucas

Very insightfull, thank you. Double O

I've always got razor hangups when I have dry lather. I usually butter knife any lather I've picked up on my razor and reuse it for trouble spots where my razor usually gets hung up, usually my chin area

alex

I rewet my face just before applying the lather, no problems.

Originally Posted by markdfhr

I just wanted to write, do not apply more pressure when the blade hangs up. You can back away and try again, sure, but using more pressure will only cause you grief. The only plus side of this is the cool scar you'll get.

You are doing fine after a week. Like so many others here have written, do not attempt to do everything at once. There's no need to go atg or xtg right now. You're a wet shaver, do what you can with your straight and then clean up with your safety.

As you get more comfortable with your straight and gain the proper muscle memory for wtg, then you should graduate to atg and finally xtg. That's exactly what I'm doing. Going xtg was like learning to shave all over again, especially with my off-hand. So it's probably best not to bite off too much at once. A slower progression will pay better dividends.

Mark,
I hope you don't mind my chiming on your post, I had that hang up this morning I told you about, well as soon as it happened I backed off. What I did was stopped for a short moment before getting back to shaving; sort of like catching my breath if you will. Then the rest of the shave went fine. As I told you in the PM, I was quite blessed that I didn't sustain a cut or nick.

Patrick

Yep, Patrick. I think it comes with more experience that you learn to quickly back off whenever a hang-up happens. With your experience, which included having a light touch, and a bit of luck, you saved yourself a cut. I think that's encouraging for anyone new to straight shaving that things only get better with time.

Originally Posted by markdfhr

Yep, Patrick. I think it comes with more experience that you learn to quickly back off whenever a hang-up happens. With your experience, which included having a light touch, and a bit of luck, you saved yourself a cut. I think that's encouraging for anyone new to straight shaving that things only get better with time.

My technique has developed to where I only have the weight of the razor creating its own pressure with none from me. It really helps going ATG/XTG on my neck and under my jaw line. For myself, I just take my time and enjoy my shave.

Thanks for everyone's input. It's been a couple more weeks and I think I've worked out what was giving me trouble. As many suggested, my sticking and jumping was due to a combination of problems. Four actually. Dry lather/skin, bad angle, going ATG too early, and dull razor.
All the things that help give a better shave with a DE turn out to be even more important with the straight. For instance lather or skin that's a bit dry still works with a DE but fails with a straight. But the number one thing that's improved my shaves and eliminated my blade sticking and jumping is my gradually sharper blade. My razor was routinely failing the HHT but I was still using it because no amount of stropping seemed to make it any better. When I forced myself to work at my stropping technique til the blade passed (or just not straight shave that day) that made a really huge difference for me. Stropping is still a struggle for me. I can get a blade to pass HHT on one spot, take it back to the strop to improve the rest of the edge and actually dull what had been the sharp spot. Edge maintenance has definitely turned out to be the hardest part of this for me.
But I feel like I'm progressing even if it is in a two steps forward one step back kind of way. I'm regularly getting DFS with my straight now with little to no irritation. Just a tiny tingle from the alum so I know I'm on the right track. If I can get the stropping down to a routine and then maybe learn to hone I can see me putting away the DE altogether some day.

Originally Posted by timj219

Thanks for everyone's input. It's been a couple more weeks and I think I've worked out what was giving me trouble. As many suggested, my sticking and jumping was due to a combination of problems. Four actually. Dry lather/skin, bad angle, going ATG too early, and dull razor.
All the things that help give a better shave with a DE turn out to be even more important with the straight. For instance lather or skin that's a bit dry still works with a DE but fails with a straight. But the number one thing that's improved my shaves and eliminated my blade sticking and jumping is my gradually sharper blade. My razor was routinely failing the HHT but I was still using it because no amount of stropping seemed to make it any better. When I forced myself to work at my stropping technique til the blade passed (or just not straight shave that day) that made a really huge difference for me. Stropping is still a struggle for me. I can get a blade to pass HHT on one spot, take it back to the strop to improve the rest of the edge and actually dull what had been the sharp spot. Edge maintenance has definitely turned out to be the hardest part of this for me.
But I feel like I'm progressing even if it is in a two steps forward one step back kind of way. I'm regularly getting DFS with my straight now with little to no irritation. Just a tiny tingle from the alum so I know I'm on the right track. If I can get the stropping down to a routine and then maybe learn to hone I can see me putting away the DE altogether some day.

It's all part of the learning process. Just stick with it, learn from your mistakes, and take it one shave at a time.
The very best to you.