Had success initially, now things are worse.

Despite my initial success with a straight razor, things have turned for the worse lately and I'm looking for some clarification and/or guidance from some of the old hats. I've been shaving with a straight razor for about three weeks now, and I have a few questions regarding what a WTG pass with a straight actually is... especially in regards to shaving on the neck. Before starting with a straight, I had been using a safety razor for about three years with wonderful results. With the safety razor, my WTG passes were done like this: I start under my right sideburn and work inwards toward the goatee area with straight downward strokes. I then do the same procedure for the left side of my face, and then clean up the goatee area with the same downward strokes. All of the downward strokes stop at the jawline. Then I use straight upward strokes on my neck that stop just under the jawline. I then go back to downward strokes to clean up directly under the jawline.

I've tried going straight downward for the entirety of the first pass as well as trying to emulate my DE technique, and neither was has met with much success. One shave might be great while the next will leave me burnt. I know it's something that I'm doing, but I can't put my finger on the cause. The last two shaves have been with such a light touch that I'm leaving behind more hair on my neck that I'm taking off, and I'm still winding up with razor burn on my neck. That being said, my face has never been smoother!

I would love to hear what any out there might have to say regarding a situation like mine. I remember it taking a while to get good shaves with the safety razor, and I know that this is the same kind of situation but with even more of a learning curve, but it just seems like I'm not making progress and maybe even getting worse.

If you have been shaving for three weeks on a daily basis, the razor could need to be rehoned. I say this because things should be starting to come together for you. Please explain your straight razor maintenance before and after the shave.

We can't give you an actual "direction" of a wtg pass as each and every one of us have different hair growth directions. I too suffer from razor burn in the warmer months, but always have. I personally use an alum block after the shave, followed by an alcohol based aftershave.

Where are you from? You should check http://straightrazorpalace.com/vbgooglemapme.php and find a veteran shaver within driving distance to you. A FTF meeting with someone would help you tremendously. If you are anywhere near SE Oklahoma or NE Texas, PM me and I'd be glad to help you out.

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Originally Posted by shooter74743

Please explain your straight razor maintenance before and after the shave.

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Maybe a stropping issue? Especially since you're coming from a safety.

I live near Dallas, so I know there's at least a few members nearby. I'll check the map and see if I can find someone who wouldn't mind a FTF.

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Originally Posted by myersn024

I live near Dallas, so I know there's at least a few members nearby. I'll check the map and see if I can find someone who wouldn't mind a FTF.

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If south of it c'mon down to the houston get together this sun

I wish it was south. I live east of Greenville.

Shooter, check your PMs

Sounds like I'm your Huckleberry...

It sounds like you may have similar hair growth direction on the neck to me. After shaving with a DE for about 8 months I switched to a straight last week. I'm still struggling to get a comfortable shave on the neck, though I did manage to remove most of the hair for the first time today.

Back to the growth pattern, my neck hairs grow down and out on the top half of my neck then up and out on the bottom half. After a month or two of nicks and razor burn with my DE I finally figured out that I should shave up on the bottom half and down on the top. That got it sorted with the DE and I've enjoyed comfortable daily shaves ever since.

Like yourself, I'm trying to shave up on the bottom half of my neck but getting razor burn. I'm thinking of trying to shave down tomorrow, but as I get to the bottom half treating it like an ATG and flattening the angle of the blade right out so the spine almost touches the skin.

I'd be very interested to hear how you master the neck shave.

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Originally Posted by Ragamuffin

It sounds like you may have similar hair growth direction on the neck to me. After shaving with a DE for about 8 months I switched to a straight last week. I'm still struggling to get a comfortable shave on the neck, though I did manage to remove most of the hair for the first time today.

Back to the growth pattern, my neck hairs grow down and out on the top half of my neck then up and out on the bottom half. After a month or two of nicks and razor burn with my DE I finally figured out that I should shave up on the bottom half and down on the top. That got it sorted with the DE and I've enjoyed comfortable daily shaves ever since.

Like yourself, I'm trying to shave up on the bottom half of my neck but getting razor burn. I'm thinking of trying to shave down tomorrow, but as I get to the bottom half treating it like an ATG and flattening the angle of the blade right out so the spine almost touches the skin.

I'd be very interested to hear how you master the neck shave.

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My neck hair is the same. I just shave the neck down on the entire thing. sharpen your angle where it goes atg and you'll do fine. Go light....

@Ragamuffin: as quick as I figure it out, I'll post it here.

@jeffegg2: what do you mean by "sharpen your angle"? Do you mean steeper or flatter? On my neck I keep the spine of the razor barely above the skin, so my angle of attack is quite flat.

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Originally Posted by myersn024

@Ragamuffin: as quick as I figure it out, I'll post it here.

@jeffegg2: what do you mean by "sharpen your angle"? Do you mean steeper or flatter? On my neck I keep the spine of the razor barely above the skin, so my angle of attack is quite flat.

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I think what he is getting at is to lift your chin way up to tighten and stretch the skin, then yes, have the tang almost on the skin with VERY light passes. It's what I do.

Ok, I thought a steeper angle of attack sounded wrong... just wanted to make sure I understood what we said.

As suggested, I shaved straight down with blade fairly flat this morning and the results are pretty good. Quite smooth and slightly less burn than yesterday, which I think is good considering my skin was still irritated from the day before. I think with more practice this approach will work nicely. And I have to say that around the Adam's apple is smoother than anything I achieved with the DE.

By the way, I haven't found anything better for soothing razor burn than Proraso pre/post shave. If you don't have any I highly recommend some, and go for the big tub as it is addictive. Unless you don't like menthol...