XTG on the neck

[Hollywood67]

Hello Gents...and ladies that may be reading,

I have been doing some lurking lately and trying new things as I am seeing ideas posted. Everyone seems to be having trouble with the neck area, including me. The part I am having a time with is going XTG on my neck, I just can't seem to angle my hands and razor the right way. I tried it about a week or so ago and even as I put the razor to my neck, I thought "this is going to cut me" so I stopped. What I have been doing and it results in quite a bit of irritation during the shave and a little bit after is going WTG down my neck, then ATG back up, and then WTG down again to clean it up some more of the leftover stubble.

I understand I have only been doing it for about a month, but I can get my face very near BBS, but not matter what I have done with the neck, it results in irritation during and after the shave with never close to even relatively smooth. It still feels like sandpaper when I am done with my neck. Appearance looks good, you can tell I shaved, but very rough to the feel. Does anyone have suggestions for what I may be doing wrong? I appreciate all responses and since I am looking for criticism here, I will not be offended .

Thanks for stopping by!

[EggSuckingLeech]

I have the same problem however the stroke you mention having difficulty with (side to side) is actually my WTG pass. I just recently discovered this actually when I started to wonder why I kept nicking myself with a up/down stroke. However, I too can't figure out a good grip for the razor with this pass - especially with all the curves down there

[kwlfca]

I have to do diagonally up in order to go against the grain on my neck (if I don't go against the grain, I look like I haven't shaved at all) and I find that I'm actually more likely to slice myself with a disposable cartridge razor than my straight...mind you I have a round point.

[Cobre]

I am 5 months into straight razor shaving and I also find my neck to be the most challenging area of my face to shave, I have made tons of progress. What helped me the most was to carefully analyze my whisker's growth patterns using a magnifying mirror, that way I planned how to shave my neck better.

I still have to do a bunch of touch ups in my neck if I want a BBS. Don't forget skin stretching and blade angle!

[Kyriaco]

I've been at it for 30+ shaves, so everything I type should be taken with that grain of salt. I had trouble with ATGs for awhile, and read everything I could here, and then turned to my internet shaving guru, Geofatboy. After a particularly slicing morning shave, I watched this video

BOKER EDELWEISS 3 PASS STRAIGHT RAZOR SHAVE: SHAVING WITH, ACROSS, AGAINST GRAIN. BADGER BRUSH CREAM - YouTube

[bill3152]

After shaving I used to feel around for left over stubble and "practice the stroke" with my finger for the next shave. I finally tried something drastic and I shave my jawline up and face completely, dried off and used the dry upper face to stretch the stubble up so I could get to it. My grain is left ear to right, almost flat sideways. I Pull up on the face to get some parts, and then start pulling to the left to raise it up. Make sure you aren't pulling it down more. You may practice with a dry face. Another thing I did was go straight to ATG on the whole face. And I saw that 75% of my face was bbs, so now work on the problem areas only. After a while, you get to know your face. Good Luck!

[Hollywood67]

Yes I do suppose that getting to know my face is the issue. It seems by the replies thus far that nobody really goes XTG on their neck, just ATG, which is what I have been doing. By the way, thanks for the video post, that is pretty much how I have been doing my shaves. This is not a hobby that can be rushed to perfection, but I would just like to have one fully smooth shave haha. I will say, when the Dovo is out for sharpening, I use the Parker Shavette, maybe because of how sharp that blade is, I definitely get smooth on the neck with those shave passes. I do however get more irritation at times because of the pressure difference....live and learn I suppose. Keep the responses coming folks, I am enjoying this!

[kwlfca]

Is it even possible to go across the grain on your neck (as in ear to ear)...?
Even in that video, I see very little (if any) differences between what he does on his second and third pass on his neck.

[Padraig]

I'm a neck shaver only (upper cheeks as well) as I wear a full closely cropped beard. The neck is just a bugger of a spot to get BBS. I recall some veterans on here lamenting the fact they they never truly got BBS on the neck. My neck hair is so squirrely it's hard to believe, and ATG is something my neck really doesn't like though it does give amazing result but at a cost of MUCH irritation.

I go down from the jawline in the first pass, then on the second pass I shave chin to ear in a XTG pass. I use an 8/8 1/4Hollow with a nice smile. My other razors (spike points) are impossible to do this with.

On the XTG pass I just turn my chin the right way to make the skin taught, I keep a nice low angle and keep the pressure really light. I'm always happy with the result but it's not BBS.

[Java]

I wish I had an answer for you. I'm about 1 month in, and on my neck I do 1 pass top to bottom, and 1 pass bottom to top, but for me those are both XTG. For a true ATG pass (which I seem to need) I'd have to go diagonal from the ear to the Adam's Apple on each side. I haven't figured out how to make that happen, yet.