Thread: Will I ever get as close?

As a rough guide your shaves will equal a DE shave after around 6 months. After a year your Straight shave will be far superior to a DE shave. This will vary from person to person but is about right on average.
It's a long road and there will be times when you will be disillusioned by it all but then out of nowhere you hit a new high and love it all over again.
I shaved with a DE for 15 years but now don't even own one as found they were never used so gave them away to friends. Have shaved with nothing but a straight for a year now and pretty certain I will never use anything else.

The quick answer is yes, you will. I had my doubts before I even tried a SR. I was getting, what was at the time, the best shaves of my life with my EJ DE loaded with Kai blades. I decided to try the SR. Things got off to a rough start and there were all sorts of spots that I simply couldn't get as clean as I was with my DE. And I noticed that on most of the message boards DE guys seem more obsessive with getting a perfect shave than the guys on the SR boards (I still think that). There are more conversations here about honing, restoration, eBay, and hardware in general. So I assumed that the SR shave might not be bad but it wouldn't really compare. Well, that's incorrect. In fact, my shaves are so damn close now that there really is no point in shaving every day. In fact, what was once one day stubble is now what I feel after two. I don't even start to feel the first signs of roughness until after my shower the next day. And it won't become visible until the day after that. You'll get there one step at a time. The key will be in dealing with each area of your face and getting used to the unique grip that you'll need to tackle each area. Some of that you can pick up from others, some you'll have to teach yourself. But you'll hit that state of nirvana just like you did with a DE. It just takes longer.

^ What they said.

Once you master the straight razor, your DE will be a close second. I Started wet shaving with a straight, then picked up a DE later for fun. I use both, but I am never as close with the DE as I am with the straight. Keep at it, the day will come.

When I started I used the DE to finish, after about 6 weeks or so I decided to spent the time finishing with the strt. About 3 month in to it, I started to get a few very good shaves. Now a year into it, I can tell better when the edge needs refreshing, when it needs more stropping, the lather is to thin and how to fix it, which soaps work better, the best prep for my face and which blades I like best. It all helps to the overall success of the shave. I do get consistently better shaves from my strt. than I do from my DE now. Hang in there,it gets better and better with time and practice. Double O

i am not one to say, "yes you will", as i still use a DE, but, of course you will be able to get as close a shave as a DE since it is blade only on your face. You just need more practice! Good luck.

Actually, I get a 'better' shave with a DE most of the time i.e. less hairs are apparent on the drive to work investigation while listening to the radio (you know, that contemplative, inquisitive, obsessive touching of face and checking out of stubble we do).

I find that unless I'm really very pedantic, I can't go completely ATG on ALL hairs with a straight as I can with a DE, esp on some spots on my neck. However, I enjoy my straight razor shaves more than the DE shaves.

I will say yes to your cheeks and not right away to your neck. I can't tell you the "right" way to do it but I'll tell you what worked for me. I went strictly with the grain for the first 8-10 months of shaving until I got my with the grain technique down pat. I tried going against the grain about 4 months in to get that baby butt smoothness, but what I found was that all I managed to do was usually nick myself somwhere, discourage myself and ruin the enjoyment of the shave. A year and a half in and I'm comfortable going with the grain when I want to. Hope that helps!

Originally Posted by dewey81

A year and a half in and I'm comfortable going with the grain when I want to. Hope that helps!

You mean "against the grain when you want to"? I think that's what you mean. Double O

I wanted to resurrect this thread for a minute. It might help some people.

I had my first straight shave on 9/29/12. As you can see, I was full of problems. Then later I started this thread here wondering if I would ever get as close as my DE. I shave every 2/3 days on average.

Since 9/29 I have used my DE only a few times when I am in a bit of a rush. Well, this morning I was in a rush and pulled out the DE with a feather blade. I wanted to share some observations from a guy who started new to 4 months later:

- I am closer with my straight than I have ever been with my DE. Hard to believe but it happened. The exception to this is under my lower lip. Must be the safety bar that flattens that spot so well.
- I took it slow but I make three passes without hardly any problems.
- I used to nick myself several times with each shave. I actually cut myself (like an inch long slice) maybe 3-4 times total. Now, I usually can make it with only one or two nicks. Sometimes none (still a bit rare).
- When I started it took me almost an hour for two passes. It takes me 30 min now for 3 passes.
- I'm MUCH better at making a lather now across multiple different soaps. They are all a little different but you get far better at it as you learn.
- I LOATHE using a cartridge now. I don't really know why but I get the worst shaves with them. I still need them for when I travel by plane (I never check on baggage) but they just plain suck.
- I don't hone (yet). I wanted to reduce the variables and I'm not ready to hone just yet but I intend to.
- I started with a vintage razor from my grandfather and a "Poor Man's Strop".
- In December I bought a new Dovo Bismarck and got a very nice 3" strop. I use this pretty much exclusively now.
- I have a hard time shaving with my vintage blade I started out with. I don't know why. Maybe I ruined the edge learning. I have tried a balsa strop with CrOx but it didn't seem to help. Might have to send it out again.
- Finally, this forum is so unbelievably helpful for beginners - USE IT! I used to post alot and these guys all go me riding my bike for the first time. After a couple months, I posted less but kept reading. These guys know what they speak of and the volumes of info in here is so valuable!

I'm typing this to encourage anyone else just starting. I'm hardly an expert and I'm still learning alot but there is hope if you stick with it!

Originally Posted by EggSuckingLeech

I wanted to resurrect this thread for a minute. It might help some people.

I had my first straight shave on 9/29/12. As you can see, I was full of problems. Then later I started this thread here wondering if I would ever get as close as my DE. I shave every 2/3 days on average.

Since 9/29 I have used my DE only a few times when I am in a bit of a rush. Well, this morning I was in a rush and pulled out the DE with a feather blade. I wanted to share some observations from a guy who started new to 4 months later:

- I am closer with my straight than I have ever been with my DE. Hard to believe but it happened. The exception to this is under my lower lip. Must be the safety bar that flattens that spot so well.
- I took it slow but I make three passes without hardly any problems.
- I used to nick myself several times with each shave. I actually cut myself (like an inch long slice) maybe 3-4 times total. Now, I usually can make it with only one or two nicks. Sometimes none (still a bit rare).
- When I started it took me almost an hour for two passes. It takes me 30 min now for 3 passes.
- I'm MUCH better at making a lather now across multiple different soaps. They are all a little different but you get far better at it as you learn.
- I LOATHE using a cartridge now. I don't really know why but I get the worst shaves with them. I still need them for when I travel by plane (I never check on baggage) but they just plain suck.
- I don't hone (yet). I wanted to reduce the variables and I'm not ready to hone just yet but I intend to.
- I started with a vintage razor from my grandfather and a "Poor Man's Strop".
- In December I bought a new Dovo Bismarck and got a very nice 3" strop. I use this pretty much exclusively now.
- I have a hard time shaving with my vintage blade I started out with. I don't know why. Maybe I ruined the edge learning. I have tried a balsa strop with CrOx but it didn't seem to help. Might have to send it out again.
- Finally, this forum is so unbelievably helpful for beginners - USE IT! I used to post alot and these guys all go me riding my bike for the first time. After a couple months, I posted less but kept reading. These guys know what they speak of and the volumes of info in here is so valuable!

I'm typing this to encourage anyone else just starting. I'm hardly an expert and I'm still learning alot but there is hope if you stick with it!

I've only been at it a couple months longer than you and am quite pleased with my daily shave. "Practice makes perfect" but I'm very pleased with practice making me better!