Thread: Shaving comfort.

I've been shaving with str8 for about 2 1/2 yrs and do my own honing. I get a good close bbs shave but if I shave everyday I'm sure I'd have some discomfort.

My question is this - is it possible to hone my str8 to the level that an everyday shave wtg/atg and across the grain will not cause irritation?

Rich

“You ought never to take anything that don’t belong to you - if you can not carry it off” – Mark Twain

I use my razors every day with no irritation, so I don't see why you couldn't do the same. Assuming your razor is fairly keen, you might try using a pasted strop to further refine and smooth the edge. Most guys find that using some chromium oxide or diamond spray works wonders in the shaving comfort area while it adds a bit of sharpness. Seems like a contradiction in terms, but that's sort of how it works.

A preshave oil with a well prepped face along with a nice lather is the first place to start. As simple as it sounds, it does take a little experimenting to find your best results for your various passes. I will assume you have this down. When I have this in place, almost any blade will work as long as there isn't too much tugging.

Next, how many passes are you making to get your BBS results? When I was learning my techniques to get BBS, I was making more passes than 3 and my skin looked worse than it felt.

Next, perhaps some of your face will do better with an XTG pass vs ATG pass.

In the end, there are too many little variables to pinpoint it with one message, but I hope these thoughts move you along in finding a solution.

Pabster

Thanks fellas! I use the green paste as my last step in honing but I'll try a couple dozen more and see if it makes a diff. I'll also try and substitute the xtg in place of atg. I had a Torrey that I just sold and it seemed to give a more comfortable shave than my dovo.

Rich

"There is no native criminal class except Congress,"- Mark Twain

FWIW, my Torrey is my best shaver, I'm thinking it is a 1/4 hollow and it is super smooth compared to my full hollow Wostie.. both pass the HHT easily, but for comfort
the Torrey hands down..
funny they both feel smooth on the WTG stroke, it is the ATG stroke where the smoothness really shows..

I just shaved with my first Torrey this morning (thanks GW).
It looks to be nearly full hollow and measures 5/8.
Two passes, WTG/ATG and I am so smooth.
It's a phenomenal blade, and GW gets it really sharp with that cerium oxide stuff he uses.

I think being able to shave every day depends on your face as well as the blade. My blades are quite sharp and shave very smoothly, but my face is also very sensitive (before I found straights, I literally could not shave with cartridge razors without getting razor burn). If I go for two close shaves two days in a row, I will get irritation. I can either shave just WTG every day or have a really nice shave every other day.

my Torrey is my best shaver

I just sold a restored Torrey and had gotten a better shave from that than with my dovo. Have to get/restore another and keep it.

I think part of my problem is also sensitive skin.

Rich

Always acknowledge a fault frankly. This will throw those in authority off their guard and give you an opportunity to commit more.” – Mark Twain

May i ask what do you guys shave every day?
How fast is your facial hair growth?
i personally don't like too sharp blades and do use ok blades . fastest i can shave every other day.
I used couple times my sharpest blade and seemed like hair roots was gone. took 4 days my facial hair to growth and be shave able stage.
Questions is may be you guys don't get your blades sharp enough?
this is just theory?
My 0.02 cent.

I am self employed so I shave every other day. Before that, when I was shaving every day, my strokes were reduced to mostly XTG and ATG because I had so little and it was just to keep the face BBS. I tried to get away with every other day shaving when working in corporate america, but by the end of the second day, it didn't look good for me as people thought I got in a bad shave that day and my grooming was inconsistent. However, they were impressed how long my shave did last from Straight Shaving the day before. I had to wear the suit and tie and carry the professional look all day.

I rotated between my disposable straight and my Dovo Straight on a daily basis. I know just how many passes I need on the cavass, leather, and pasted strop pad to keep my Dovo sharp and effective. Through this effort, I understood why people have a bigger rotation and I picked up a third straight.

This way, you go through the timely stropping all at once after work hours or the week-end for all the razors.

I will recommend that if you have not shaved with a straight everyday and you work in corporate america, you better have a back-up plan for keeping a BBS look, thus that disposable straight shave was my back up plan to back my Dovo's, and my Mach 3 to back the disposable straight. I knew what I was doing on face prep, so everything went smoothly for me.

Once your corporate buddies find out you are straight shaving, they will always check out your shave as the bench mark to compare their shave.

Pabster