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I have been shaving with the straight razor about 4 times now and I go wtg and atg, my cheeks mainly feel very raw after, my neck is fine ever this troublesome spot feels fine but my cheeks just feel rubbed raw. Am I pressing to hard? Normal but maybe some aftershave instead of toner??
Yes, you're pressing too hard. Use a lighter touch. You should be thinking about removing the lather from your skin -- that's how light the touch should be.
For my own experience (with a DE razor):
http://straightrazorpalace.com/shavi...e-shaving.html
. . Charles
It's probably a combination of too much pressure and bad angle, try loosen the pressure, ideally you don't want to use any pressure at all and pay attention to the razors angle.
You should also stick to doing only one WTG pass in the beginning, and add a second WTG or XTG pass in a few weeks when you starting to get the hang of the tchnique.
BTW: Is your razors shave ready i.e professionally honed?
I think you're experiencing razor burn because you're going too far too quickly. You'll eventually get really smooth shaves with a straight razor. The ATG pass is best performed without pressure whatsoever. You can apply pressure and get a slightly better result, but there's a price to be paid for that, and you are paying it. Find a shave balm and use that instead of the aftershave. Your skin needs to heal instead of being dried out by aftershave.
There are plenty of guys in this forum who will hone your blade for you, some even without charging.
+1 to all the previous suggestions. A light touch is extremely important! It is almost counter intuitive, as men we are taught if something seems to be working a little more force makes it better, right? I didn't realize how light the touch should be until I watched my brothers start shaving with a DE at my encouragement. I told them, "you're not plowing the field, you're shaving your face!" Just enough pressure to remove the lather and the correct angle should have you smooth and irritation free in no time. Good Luck!
You're just suffering from new shaver syndrome. It's a combination of lack of experience with bad angle, bad pressure and sometimes dull razor. With experience comes facility with the razor and you figure how to best attack your beard and things improve.
I always strop before I shave, linen side 30 times and leather side 30 times, I do apply some pressure but I should only do wtg for a week or do? Shaving everyday or every 2 days??
The most important thing is if your razor is properly honed, if not get it honed by a pro.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ricpac
Stick with WTG until you are comfortable with the razor, the different moves etc. give it at least 10-15 shaves before you add a XTG pass and stick with that until you are getting pretty good shaves before you start going ATG, at that point your technique should have improved enough to be able to go ATG with little discomfort.
I bought it from SRD and yes it was honed. I'll try the wtg only for a while then.
Agree wholeheartedly. A lot of people were helpful in my quest to master the straight razor, but once the suggestions were received the rest of the process had to be learned, not taught.Quote:
Originally Posted by thebigspendur
Here are some videos that helped me a lot:Quote:
Originally Posted by Ricpac
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIM0Coix6Gg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y53SL9QMq6I
Here's one more helpful video:Quote:
Originally Posted by Ricpac
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mj5YliQQzg
There is very good advice in the previous posts. WRT stropping, it usually improves the edge making it more smooth. That is if you have good technique which you may not have in the beginning and you may be dulling or otherwise destroying the edge you already had pre stropping. You may want to start with a pro honed razor and skip the stropping the first time shaving with it to see what a good edge feels like to shave with. If it feels better than what you are used to then "part" of your problem was most likely a dull blade. If you strop that blade before you second shave with it and find the shave worse chances are you have dulled it by stropping. Sort of a damned if you and damned if you don't kind of thing when you first start out. Just a long way of saying be prepared to have your blade sharpened more frequently in the beginning untill you various shaving skills improve.
Bob
Anybody in ny mind teaching me lmao? It's a lot harder than I thought
I would cut out the the ATG pass for now. ATG shaving requires an optimally keen razor, an extrememly light touch and proper technique. I'm fairly certain at least 50% of your problem stems from this. Try two WTG passes or add XTG into your routine, but lay off ATG for the time being. You'll likely notice a difference right away.
Well I shaved again today and purposely shaved very light on my left side and on my right I used a little more pressure. When I was done. I relathered or another pass and felt my right cheek was already feeling raw. So my pressure is too much. Also today I nicked my strop while watching the YouTube video on stropping it nicked. Does this hurt me on my next strop?
Ah, I guess you know by now to just concentrate on the stropping alone. At the start I managed to nick my strop several times and I wasn't watching a video at the same time so don't feel too bad. If the nick is not too bad it can be repaired, just do a search on here for it. Hey at least you figured out the pressure thing.
Bob
You said 'Am I pressing too hard', which suggests you're pressing. There is no pressing. None. Pressing does not exist.
Now, who can tell me? What do we say about pressing?
Pressing is not necessary, as Carl stated. If you are following the advice on angles here and only using enough pressure to wipe away lather, one of two things will happen on the WTG pass: either your razor will shave the hair or it won't. If it does, it's probably sharp enough. If not, it's not. This is with no pressing.
You mentioned stropping 30 laps with linen and 30 with leather. The linen thing is debatable; do as many as 30 if you want to. The leather is a must, though, and in my opinion, 30 isn't enough on leather. I do 60, some do 50, others do 100, whatever, but if you are doing 30, you're probably under stropping in my opinion.
Pressing does not exist, Mr. Schneider. There is no pressing.Quote:
Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider
Check this list.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ricpac
+ thebigspendur... too much willing to do the thing on the right way. Relax, less pressure on the razor, and start with 1 pass at once for a while.
And most importantly do not give up!
Very helpful to me, thank you.Quote:
Originally Posted by CaliforniaCajun
Good. Well done that boy.Quote:
Originally Posted by roughkype
I'm finding it REALLY hard to not post a very good Monty python video that really matches that reply, but I must desist through fear of offending...
'Tis funny though...
I just kept reminding myself of the 4 P’s Patience, Persistence, Perseverance and Pressure…!