Thread: Hi from Iowa, beginner question for close shave

Ok I'm fairly new to this as well, like you moving from DE to SR. It took me about 30 shaves maybe even more to get as close as a DE. It's down to confidence technique and learning the angles of your face. I'm now getting smoother shaves with a SR but it's taken some time. Remember back to when you started with the DE I'm betting it took you a while to find the groove, it's just that we soon forget the learning curve as it becomes second nature.
So keep at it and you'll get there.
Forgot to mention from what I can see of the edge it looks ok to me

Are you stropping after every shave? You could have easily rolled the edge since you're new to stropping. You might try something like a paddle strop at first that takes some variables out of stropping. Are you noticing the shaves are getting better or worse as time goes on? They should get better as your technique gets better, if they are getting worse you have probably unintentionally dulled your edge. What are you using for shave soap? Nice razor BTW!

CrazyCloud

Thanks for the info. I am stropping before each shave rather than after. I haven't noticed it get better or worse, about the same as the first couple times I used it. I wonder if maybe I did dull the edge if I wasn't careful enough with stropping. I am using Proraso shave soap.

If you don't want to buy a paddle strop, some people find it useful to strop on newspaper on a flat counter at first. Do a search for "newspaper stropping" and read on. It can restore a lightly rolled edge, but it does take a while.

Proraso is good stuff, as long as it's not drying out as you shave you should be good there. Good luck, you'll figure it out soon!

Hi and welcome. As said it is going to take a while for you to get all the variables right including angle, pressure, etc. Keep going and you should notice the shaves get better bit by bit. For many they post about 90 shaves before being where they were with a DE etc. Go slow and steady and take note of the results snd exactly how you get them and you will find it comes together. Good luck

Thanks for the tip, I will look into newspaper stropping.

Thanks for the input, I probably came into this with my expectations a little too lofty. I will keep at it and hopefully it will begin to improve over time.

Don't worry about it. I thought I had made a hugely expensive mistake the first few shaves. I loved the feeling of shaving with a straight but frequently oscillated between not close and razor burn. It all evens out to a v happy medium! I spend hours on here reading older threads about different methods for stretching skin, holding the razor, strokes to use for awkward areas. The other point for me was finding a cream/soap with good protection and also glide. It's all part of the fun - I guess like lots of guys on here I wasn't taught growing up, so it is nice to find out what the experienced shavers suggest about things.

And if you can make one of the upcoming meet's your learning curve could be shortened quite a bit.

It could be a few things, and it does take some time to be able to match or best a DE you're used to using. Try looking at the edge straight on under a light, you shouldn't see any reflections along the edge, if you do, there is likely some damage to the edge. I started stropping with the strop lying on a flat counter for the first couple weeks to get used to it before cautiously moving to hanging strop, and I did dull an edge due to poor stropping. It's sometimes difficult to troubleshoot with just the 1 straight razor and no other comparison points. Where are you in Iowa? I'm in Des Moines, if you're in the area we could probably meet up and you could try one of my razors to eliminate a variable there.