Thread: 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.