Thread: New to straight razors

Originally Posted by Tylerbrycen

hello alembic to answer ur five questions
1. ive completed 3 shaves since i got my razor the last shave caused me major razor burn on my neck thats my trouble area.
2. well with the 3 shaves under my belt ive only tried going WTG and ATG and im finding really hard to find the right angle to shave my neck and face ATG and WTG i have not tried XTG.
3. take a hot shower and wash my face to exfoliate than afterwards i put a conditioner and finish my shower and wash it off and pat my face dry. Than i strop my dovo 25 to 40 times and put my brush in my hot mug while i strop than i apply my col conk glycerin soap im not sure if im applying enought lather or getting enough build on it but than i shave and reapply and shave again.
4.i pretty much wash my face with cold water and thats about it i havent looked into any kind of post or pre shave stuff yet or do i know where to begin.
5. and i kinda know how my beard grows but i need to look up info i grows everywhere in all sorts of directions.

ill take any advice u have to offer i appreacite u listening to my story

Ok thanks - so here are a few things to look at.

1. Drop the XTG and ATG passes until you master a WTG. It is generally the easiest to master and you wil find out a lot about your beard growth while doing so - especially your neck. The problem there is that the skin is thin and sensitive and the beard growth for many of us tends to be in all kinds of crazy directions. What that means is that even wheny you shave WTG (that is north to south) you may not be going WTG. For me, most of my neck growth is sideways. So if I make a north to south stroke, which on my cheeks is a WTG, as I get to my neck, it is XTG - so I have to drop the angle of my blade or risk major razor burn. That is why it is so important to know your growth directions. The stroke you make my have to have the blade angle adjusted on the fly to accomodate changing beard growth directions.

2. Don't pat your face dry - leave it wet from the shower. Your skin and wiskers will start to dry, harden aand close up on you.

3. Try soaking your brush and stropping before you go into the shower - again you are giving your skin and beard time to firm up after the hot shower, which is not what you want.

4. I have to say that I probably strop excessively - but I like to strop. I do 100 strokes. But I think 25 -40 may be on the light side for quantity.

5. Building a good lather is vey very important. The lather plays a lot of roles in getting a good comfortable shave. It has been several years and I feel like I only got the process down this last year. I don't want to scare you about that and make it sound like a lot voodoo. I just played around a lot. Also, make sure you shake out the excess water from your soaked brush. It is hard to load the brush while it is too wet because it starts building lather rather than loading. Don't be afraid to practice buidling lather on the side (no using it to shave with)

6. Post treatment I think is one of the great times in shaving with a straight - you definatley are minamalist there. Try Nivea Replenishing Balm. $5.00 at Meijer's if you have them there. Else I buy them in bulk on Amazon. It is a really good inexpensive balm. And I'll tell you this, if you get razor burn, you are going to need a balm - no doubt.

So let me tell you about the blade angle and pressure. If your blade angle is too steep, you tend to use a lot of pressure to mow down the whiskers. I discovered early on to lay the blade almost flat on my skin and then lift slightly as I start the stroke, finding the comfort spot that cuts but does not pull. Take a look on the Wiki at the blade angles. An ATG is only 5 degrees - that is almost completely flat. My guess is you are much steeper than that. People here tend to use the visual of 1/2 - 1 blade width for ATG. 1- 1 1/2 for XTG and 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 for WTG or so. You can watch it in the mirror.

Ok - that's about it for now. Try some of these and see if they work for you and let us know.

BTW, you may get different advice from other people. That is because people develop over time preferences based on what they like and what works for them. You have to experiment. Hopefully you have a lot of natural curiosity.

Originally Posted by randydance062449

Just one small point....... you say that you dry your face then work up and apply shaving soap...don't do that, leave your face wet and keep it wet. Then apply the shaving soap. The goal is to have the whiskers absorb as much moisture as they can. That makes them soft and easy to cut.


P.S. (2:28 am) You say your washing your face to exfoliate the skin. FWIW, using a straight razor to shave with actually exfoliates the skin, so...your exfoliating twice! That may be contributing to your "razor burn". May I also take a guess and say that your using a lot of very hot water on your face in the shower? If so, then your removing the oils from your skin and that makes for a very rough shave. Your shaving soap needs to replace those oils or use a pre-shave oil and massage it in before the shaving soap is applied.

Hope this helps,

Yep - right on the money with both of these.

well sir i just got done shaving and i took my time i stropped 50 times and let my brush soak in hot water while i stropped. Than i began to shake out my brush to add soap to it and it took a couple of minutes but i still dont think i got enough lather but it may be me or my brush im not sure yet i have to keep going till i get it. I applied the lather on one side of my face and shaved it piece of cake now its time for the neck i approached it very carefully and i had no nics so im proud of my self. I rinsed lathered and repeated the other side and my chin was last. i washed my face off with warm water than cold to seal it off and i applied mositurizer than thats it

So what were the results?

My face is very smooth WTG and my neck is alittle ruff still while completeing just WTG shave Im beginning to think that my neck hair grows sideways but other that that a great shave

Very nice - no razor burn I take it?

No sir no razor burn just a few nicks

is it ok that i shave day after day with the same ST razor. also i completed another shave WTG and its complete success i just need to figure out whether or not it i need to switch to creams or just stay with soaps.

Originally Posted by Tylerbrycen

is it ok that i shave day after day with the same ST razor. also i completed another shave WTG and its complete success i just need to figure out whether or not it i need to switch to creams or just stay with soaps.

Totally fine to shave with the same razor day after day..I dont think in the "old days" those gents had as many razors as some of us do.
All I can say is good luck avoiding the RAD bug...lol

You can stick with soaps or try creams its totally personal preference. It seems that those that choose creams over soaps do so more for the ease of lathering, but not always. Those who choose soaps over creams seem to do so more for the traditional aspects. But not always. Some say creams hydrate more, I don't always agree. Some say that soaps have more cushion, I don't always agree. I like to change things up so I own plenty of both. I would suggest that if you go the way I have start with multiple products all with different scents. That way you can find not only the soap or cream you like, but also the scent youy like. After the last couple of years of doing this I have found that scents don't do much for me, just vaying the company does more (except for 1805, yumm!).