Thread: Advice : Sticky points going against the grain

Hi SRP,

I've been shaving with a straight on and off now for about 2 years. My technique has improved considerably over time, and I'm now at the stage where I can comfortably perform a 2 pass shave WTG, and ATG for most part. My sticking points are two spots, on my chin (think goatee area) and my moustache when going ATG. The problem is the blade will stick/stop. It's as though those two area's have a really thick stubble/growth. I obviously stretch the skin, and maintain a shallow angle, however this doesn't seem to help.

Can anyone offer some advice on being able to conquer this?

I grow a mustache and as for the chin I do an angled pass. Sort of half across and half against with a slicing action. Don't add the slicing until you try the other 2 at the same time. If you stop going perpendicular to the blade and just slice,,,well, that's what you get , a slice. It still takes more than 3 to get a smooth chinny chin chin.

Goatee here also but for the fools pass on the upper lip the stopping and sticking is a sure sigh of the blade dulling
I use 2 hands and a very flat angle with the blade pretty well against my lip, any tugging and the blade goes for touch up as is wont happen when fully sharp
ymmv

I don't go ATG in the upper lip area, but I do in the chin area, and I have pretty thick hair.

The blade will stick if:

A) The blade is not sharp, or
B) You're using too steep an angle, or
c) You're holding it too tight and not letting it gently glide.

For me, I've found that the edge needs to be perfect for the ATG pass to work. I then use it pretty much flat on the skin ATG. This is easy on the flat parts of the face, but it is not so simple in the highly curved chin area. The correct shaving angle comes with practice. Finally, I hold the blade lightly, so it can give if it starts to hang. This will cause a cutting motion that cuts the hairs.

Of course, the cutting motion can cut skin too if it is not a controlled motion. Again, this is a technique that will take time to master.

Good luck!

All of the above is important. But I have also found that if my soap is not slick enough, or if it's a bit on the dry side, the razor will grab on the chin ATG, regardless how sharp the blade. YMMV.

I place the blade flat up against my nostrils. Then touch the edge to my lip/skin with light pressure I begin rolling the blade WTG and down the lip.
And I commonly use two hands when doing the lip. One to roll the blade and the other to keep everything steady!

I have a beard as stiff as badgers teeth.

I never go ATG, anywhere. It usually leaves me with skin irritations.

On top of what others are saying, I will add my two duckets.

I have one spot on my neck that does that... gets grabby in that one spot, even with the grain.

I have found the heavier razors do not grab at all. The lighter ones, on the other hand do.

You may want to try a heavier razor to see if that fixes your "problem"?

I would say I have a medium full beard and if there is a part of the ATG pass that will give me grief would be the soul patch area just below my bottom lip. The whiskers here are particularly dense and for me is a bench mark if I honed my razor well enough. I usually have to tackle this spot with multiple angles and the blade may feel like its trapped during these maneuvers. My lower lip is rather pliable and its hard to get a good solid base to whack those pesky whiskers off without feeling i'm going to lose a lip lol. In the end it really depends how sharp I get my blade whether this is easy or a chore. If its good and sharp Ill get all those stray hairs off usually accompanied by a lot of lower lip acrobatics to do so. There is nothing that ticks me off more than running my tongue over my upper and button lip only to be jabbed by a stray whisker or two. So get the blade sharp as you can and just slowly take off the offending area with care experiment with angle and direction, don't try to plow through if it doesn't feel right take your time you will figure it out.
good luck and enjoy the process.