Rough Times, rough face.

Hello, I am new to straight razor shaving. I have been wanting to get into this for sometime now. I have my razor and soap, and bowl and strop and brush. I tried shaving yesterday for the first time with the razor (after watching just hours of videos.) I watched videos on stropping, and making the lather, and the actual shave. I took a nice hot shower and even placed a warm wash cloth over my face for a few minutes before I put on the lather. I lathered up fairly well, making sure to coat all of the hairs. I took my razor to my face...and I took of zero hair. Zero. I thought well maybe my blade isn't sharp enough. So I tested on my arm and i have a bald patch on my arm from very little pressure on the swipe. And I thought perhaps my angle is wrong. I tried all different sorts to make a 30 degree angle as well. So i kept trying.
Nothing, well I shouldn't say nothing, I have some wonderful razor burn on the right side of my face, and my neck. I tried again today, and the same thing. Besides the razor burn I really enjoy the whole act of shaving with a straight razor. The stropping, the making of the lather, all of it. I am coming here because I do not know what else to do. I am sure many others have posted here before with similar stories of their first shave looking for help. If this has been answered before please point me in the right direction. If need be, I can upload some photos or videos of what I am doing.

(just a heads up a lot of the videos that I watched were from geofatboy)

If there is any help you can give, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you,
Garrett

Starting with a straight is like learning to drive a manual tranny. it's rough at first and you stall the car. using a straight takes time and the first few shaves if all you got was some razor burn you are the plus side of average. You just need to develop facility with the blade which takes time. Assuming your razor is proper sharp then you need to watch your angle and pressure you are applying. It's easy really. Just practice, practice, practice.

I am wondering how sharp your razor really is. I can shave arm hairs when the bevel is set of a 1K Naniwa hone but would not care to try and shave with it. You say it is your first shave but that you also like the stropping involved in the process. If you stropped it before your first shave it is possible to dull/damage a shave ready edge by stropping poorly. If you put your location in your profile there might be a member near you that could personally help you find out what the problem is.

Bob

I found a barber shop not too far from me that still does a straight razor shave. I think I am going to take my razor to them and have them teach me.

I agree with Bob, sounds like your razor isn't sharp enough, plus your angle sounds way too steep. Stropping takes some time to learn too. Hang in there, you are in the right place to learn.

Okay so doing much more research, I have determined that yes, My angle was too steep. I found this out from your suggestions, also an app that I got on my phone to tell me what a 30 angle looks like. I was at about an 8 degree to 10 degree angle. so there is that. when I get home, I am going to do the hair test. In stropping, I may have botched things up. Thank you guys again.

In finding the angle, start with the blade literally laying on your face (edge and spine) then slowly increase the angle until it feels right and is comfortable. Practice stropping with a butter knife or other non sharp razor shaped object to build up some muscle memory

I would have never thought of a butter knife! I've been practicing with a pen for the past few minutes just on the desk here at work while I watch videos. The angle idea is a great one too. Thank you Rodb.

The 30 degree mark we always talk about is just a guideline (generally 2 spine widths from your face); a lot of members say they get the best results with the blade almost flat, which is a lot closer to the 8-10 degree mark you were using. So angle may not be the culprit....

Blade sharpness could definitely be an issue. As well, are you stretching your skin while shaving?

I don't think I am stretching it well at all now that you point it out. I'll work on that a little before my next attempt.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by garwmart

I don't think I am stretching it well at all now that you point it out. I'll work on that a little before my next attempt.

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To be honest it might be as simple as that. Just stretch it enough to keep it taut and see if you notice any improvement.

I'm going to throw in a different approach to consider when you get angle, pressure, edge sharpness and prep to a comfortable level and you still, after all that have irritation and/or razor burn (depending on your definition of the problem). If irritation is still present try a cold water shave. Start by trying lukewarm water shave and see how that goes. Id=s irritation is still present go to a cold water shave. After much playing around with hot lather and constant irritation because of sensitive skin I took the plunge and right from he first cold water shave, little or no irritation. And I hate cold water! But since my face likes it who am I to complain.

Hey everyone, So a follow up. Last night when I got home, I sat down I practiced my strop. for about an hour I practiced. I played videos while I stropped and during those videos I found I was pressing too hard on the blade. I am afraid I have ruined my razor. I had seen on here that some suggest to get two razors. So you have one when the other goes to hone, and you can tag team from shave to shave. Because of pressing too hard on my strop while I work on my razor, is it possible that I need to have this one re-honed and start from scratch with it? It feels sharp, but not sharp enough to shave. In your honest opinion should I get a second razor and continue to practice stropping with the one I have until then?

I is possible that you "rolled the edge" of your razor while stropping. This would cause the razor to dull. However, I would give it another shot an see how it goes. The hardest part of a new hobby/interest is the first few months when you are trying to translate all of the abstract knowledge you have obtained from books, video, internet into tangible real world feedback. Don't give up! Keep on trying and things start coming together.

I believe you should try to figure out how to do a hht (hanging hair test) or at least learning how to do a thumb pad test. Likely some in the playlist you can find on this site (still trying to figure out where things are around here, but maybe in the wiki?). Really probably not a good idea to practice stropping with your razor as has been pointed out--when you get the feel right then do a few light laps and then repeat either of the above tests (hht or tpt) to see immediate feedback.

Cheers

So an update. Thank all of you for your help! I purchased a second blade. This time from the Forum. I purchased a shoulderless C.W Hackett. That was the best thing I have ever done for my face. I have a few nicks and cuts, but all in all smooth as a bottom. Thank you all again!