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

I have a week of straight shaves under my belt now and I guess it's going OK but there are a couple things that have got me stumped.

• I'm getting the razor hung up sometimes.
  At the beginning of a stroke or sometimes part way through the razor will stop and I have to apply more pressure or lift the razor away and try again. I think it's more often happening XTG or ATG but I've done it at least a couple times WTG also. I've cut myself once so far on one of these hangups.
• I sometimes skip the razor
  I'll be sliding the razor across my face and the blade will skip over a part of my face and land a fraction of an inch away from where it was.
• My beard grows sideways on my neck and under the chin.
  So far I have not found a way to go exactly ATG here. Am I right that the length of the blade and the configuration with handle at one end is going to prevent me from going exactly ATG and I will have to go somewhere between XTG and ATG? And is it possible to get as close a shave with a straight going X/ATG as I can with a DE exactly ATG?

Am I not being firm enough? Bad Angle? Skin too slack? Not enough lubrication? Or something I haven't thought of?

I have noticed that my WTG and XTG passes - when done correctly - give better results than the WTG or XTG passes with a DE. I have also noticed that the ability to finely control the angle means I can do multiple passes with no irritation - a far better outcome for me than doing that with a DE. On the other hand going ATG without properly reducing the beard is frightening with a straight. So far I have not gotten a uniformly BBS shave using a straight. I get very close on some parts but chin and some parts of the neck are proving very difficult. And if I try too hard, that's when I start to collect nicks. So I'm trying to limit myself to three passes plus one touchup max and just settle for whatever I get for now.

Was your razor honed by a pro , or does it still have the factory edge ? BTW , your progress seems pretty normal . At the stage you're at , you really shouldn't be worrying about BBS or trying to shave ATG . The razor skipping could mean it's not quite sharp enough , or it could be a problem with your technique .

I have experienced the same two problems you mentioned:
1: blade skipping-i started using Shave Secret oil on my face before I lather.Helped tremendously
2:ATG under the jawline-I had to learn(still learning it)to scythe.Jockeys has a pretty good video on here to show you whats up with that.Its the only way I can get smooth with a str8 in that same area

But,my blades are not 100% shave ready and my experience is slim.Only about 2 months with a str8.Please take my advice with at least one grain of salt!LOL

It was honed by a pro but it's been subjected to my stropping since then. I don't always remember to try a hanging hair test every time. And maybe I just need to be more patient.

Timj,
Like shinyribs, I too am new, keep the "salt" handy.
I have experienced the "skip' as well. I found that pulling the skin tight, then applying the razor allows it to move without the skip. And the other thing I've noticed is that blade pressure seems to be at the root of a lot of shaving issues. The less amount of pressure applied to the razor on the skin, the better. It seems as if you can not apply too little pressure.
Again, I am a newbie so clearly take my findings in stride.

Andy

You want to be careful with that shaving under the belt thing mate. You might want those bits that the razor is getting hung up on. :)

On the serious side, a week in isn't much. You will improve as you get better technique in both the prep and the shave. Right now, I think it may be a dull blade or dry lather, perhaps both.


Mick

You are shaving a week and doing ATG and the neck too? You are too adventurous and shaving beyond your experience. If I were you I would concentrate on the face only and WTG only then when things are going your way try across the grain then maybe the neck. take small steps. Each thing builds on the previous. Get too far ahead of yourself and it's like a house with a weak foundation.

+1... Only a week in so it's highly likely your prep, lather,technique & stropping are all contributing to less than stellar results.

To attempt advanced strokes eg. ATG is risky to say the least.

Yeah, I've been SR shaving four months, and very rarely go ATG. Every once in awhile I'll give it a shot. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Regardless, my shaves are of a higher quality than the triple blade beast I was using before. Shave prep is highly underrated by us noobs it seems. Gotta get the prep right, or nothing else will go right either.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I've been wet shaving for a long time with a DE so I think my prep is OK. But the dry lather makes sense. I've noticed that a lather which would be great for DE does not feel nearly as slick with the straight. And I am certain my stropping is not what it should be - anything which gets as much attention here as stropping does is probably not going to be mastered quickly.
I guess I've been moving pretty fast with this because I haven't been hurting myself. A couple nicks but no real cuts and very minimal irritation. But I guess I'd better slow down and get used to the idea that I'll be using my DE at least part time for a good while yet. Maybe I'll use some proraso pre shave for every shave for awhile and see if I can get some more water in to my lather. And some extra stropping practice won't do any harm.

I said no cuts. Funny thing about that. I prepared myself for the possibility of some cuts while I learn this and I did get one fairly bad one - on my finger! I was turning the razor over or switching hands or something and I got my finger on the shoulder. Wow that got my attention.

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Originally Posted by timj219

At the beginning of a stroke or sometimes part way through the razor will stop and I have to apply more pressure

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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.

You can assess your angle when the blade hangs up by dropping the spine lower. If it then cuts easier your angle was too high.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by timj219

I have a week of straight shaves under my belt now and I guess it's going OK but there are a couple things that have got me stumped.

• I'm getting the razor hung up sometimes.
  At the beginning of a stroke or sometimes part way through the razor will stop and I have to apply more pressure or lift the razor away and try again. I think it's more often happening XTG or ATG but I've done it at least a couple times WTG also. I've cut myself once so far on one of these hangups.
• I sometimes skip the razor
  I'll be sliding the razor across my face and the blade will skip over a part of my face and land a fraction of an inch away from where it was.
• My beard grows sideways on my neck and under the chin.
  So far I have not found a way to go exactly ATG here. Am I right that the length of the blade and the configuration with handle at one end is going to prevent me from going exactly ATG and I will have to go somewhere between XTG and ATG? And is it possible to get as close a shave with a straight going X/ATG as I can with a DE exactly ATG?

Am I not being firm enough? Bad Angle? Skin too slack? Not enough lubrication? Or something I haven't thought of?

I have noticed that my WTG and XTG passes - when done correctly - give better results than the WTG or XTG passes with a DE. I have also noticed that the ability to finely control the angle means I can do multiple passes with no irritation - a far better outcome for me than doing that with a DE. On the other hand going ATG without properly reducing the beard is frightening with a straight. So far I have not gotten a uniformly BBS shave using a straight. I get very close on some parts but chin and some parts of the neck are proving very difficult. And if I try too hard, that's when I start to collect nicks. So I'm trying to limit myself to three passes plus one touchup max and just settle for whatever I get for now.

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Did you check out the forum's information for beginners? If not, here it is: Beginner's guide to straight razor shaving - Straight Razor Place Wiki
and especially this article: First straight razor shave - Straight Razor Place Wiki

This all takes some time and not to be mean or such, you might be expecting too much too soon. Perhaps slow things down, take your time, and keep in mind it will all come together as you get more proficient with your technique, routine, and more experienced. Those beginners' guides are very helpful and make perfect sense. They worked for me and I still have my not so good shave days, but my good shave days do outnumber my bad ones.
All my best.
Patrick

I second that notion. It was weeks before I had any idea what I was doing. It takes time to bring it all together, so don't expect too much of yourself.

Quite a good read. So much to learn!

Time takes time. Very appropriate here for the learning curve can NOT be shortened. I had to learn that stropping is a art unto itself. I was told to get an old dull razor and to practice turning it in my fingers as I moved it across the leather. I guess I'm a slow learner, for it took almost 6 months before I had a good and confident rythm in hand. During that time I had to learn the growth direction of my beard, something I never heard of nor was it necessary when I shaved the "new" way. It also took me time to learn how to get a good lather, how properly prepare my face for shaving and on top of all of this how to use this wonderful tool. I am most grateful to the many on this site that have shared their learning experiences and I'm suggesting to any who is interested to follow the path laid out so well by Lynn. Take one step at a time. Don't rush, and be happy with your progress. This is a lot of fun!!!:tu

Took me almost a month before I could go ATG and get a smooth shave, but even with everything I have learned, there is one spot on my chin right below the goatee that no matter what blade I use, what angle I use etc always hangs the blade up a bit, I have had to use a scyting motion on it (not really a scythe, more of a rock the blade on the heel when mowing them whiskers) to get it without the blade hanging, I guess my whiskers in that area are just iron or something like that..

Sounds like you are doing fine, just slow down and realize that it's going to take time to build skills, this is a journey, not a destination :) It will take time, but it's a fun road to travel

Good luck!

I thought the same thing when I started a couple months ago. Some of us are just blessed with faces of steel. Ill second that you are coming along nicely and to not rush it. One of the best parts of the straight road is turning a quickie chore into calm soothing time massaging your face with a nice brush filled with good smelling warm lather.

For the skips and bumps, slow it down and keep a very shallow angle to your face. I find the buffing technique to help those spots.

I feel you about the hair under the chin, good news is that no-one can actually see those hairs even if you can feel them. I would either have to dislocate my should or poke the razor through my throat to get those whisker ATG. But a WTG pass makes them invisible to everyone else's eyes unless your job requires a lot of public staring straight up into the sky. I have tried scything and buffing to no avail, but I am still new. I know how I can get to them, when I am all dry and at work I can stretch the section onto the flat of my jaw, pulling hard and burrying my chin in my chest. Dont work well when the skin is wet though.

Take my advice with a grain of salt though, I can buff my chin until I can see blood spots under the surface. And that dont bother my face, its fine before I can get dressed and leave in the morning.

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I feel you about the hair under the chin, good news is that no-one can actually see those hairs even if you can feel them. I would either have to dislocate my should or poke the razor through my throat to get those whisker ATG.

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FWIW:

A Shick injector razor has a really compact head, and the blade is a little shorter than a DE blade. It would ideal for cleaning-up that section. A DE razor would probably work OK.

Of course, it would destroy the purity of the straight-razor shave . . . <g>

Charles

I am 10 months in and I am just now experimenting with ATG in a few trouble areas. I am much less brave than you. I also don't have a thick beard, so WTG is pretty darn good as long as the lather is really wet, my angles are right and I haven't killed the blade with bad stropping.

Keep at it, and try taking a step back and slowing the learning curve as the others have posted.

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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Quote:

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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.

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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.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by timj219

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.

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Take all of this in small steps. If needed, add some glycerin to your lather. Slow down your strop motion, try to keep the blade level on the strop. And I commend your progress! Good job!!!!:tu