Thread: Week one - Straight shaving

Hey all,

So, brimming with anticipation I received my vintage Tillotson shaver last week and since have dived into shaving with a straight razor for the first time. I'm posting now after my third shave with varying rates of success (as recommended, I've been doing the face piece-meal with the straight and finishing up with my DE). Today, I started to experiment and did my right cheek entirely with the Tillotson (Tilly? T-son? T-sizzle?) WTG, XTG, ATG with a couple passes over my neck. I did nick myself on the XTG pass, but apart from that, got a pretty good shave on that side (this I'm taking as a step forward). The chin, lip and moustache areas I still had to go over with the safety razor and found I got a bit of pulling when I attempted these with the straight, but I do feel, though daunting, I'm beginning to come to grips with the razor, how to move and work it. What I've found most important is being mindful of where the edge of the blade is when making different approaches to the face.

The big questions I had coming out of today were how you manage the razor for XTG passes on the sides of the neck - it took me a bit to find an angle that worked and actually allowed contact with the edge across that area. Any advice?

Guilotine and/or for want of a better expression "windscreen wiper" strokes are quite effective on the neck areas.

Just my two cents but aside from blade angle....always remember to use light pressure.If you force it, it will bite you.

Welcome and kudos on your progress so far.

I have to say that I still struggle with passes other than WTG and I have over 100 shaves under my belt (not literally they are all on my face ) The thing is though that I am still getting very close shaves that are comfortable and nick/irritation free. I try different things all the time, but always remember, no pressure!

One thing that I have added to my routine is a 45 degree pass, it's somewhere between WTG and XTG and it really works for me.

I am at the point now though where my blades are starting to feel like they need refreshing so maybe once that has been done added to the skills I have picked up I will be better able to the different passes.

Take you time, enjoy yourself and you will get there. My shaves today are so far ahead of where they were back in June.

A thought or two, pulling and resistance are two different things. I expect some resistance when the razor comes into the thicker and more wiry hair on my staches and goatee areas. pressure as mentioned can make for discomfort and rashes, early on, on the advice of others the goal was to just shave the lather, and the whiskers just one with it by default. The areas that take the most time to learn are the mustache, goatee, and neck. Progress is good and it is good to hear you are making your way to the most comfortable, and close shave possible.

That "windscreen wiper" stroke is what I use on my neck and I usually get good results with it. I also do the north/south passes prior to the wiper stroke. All great advise from the other posters.

Originally Posted by RezDog

A thought or two, pulling and resistance are two different things.

Thanks, Rez. I think you're on the money there. What I'm the describing is more the feel of the razor running into my moustache and chin hairs. I guess I just need to get used to that feeling, be gentle and trust the razor to do what it's built to do.
Fortunately, the last time I had significant irritation from a shave was using Feather's blades in my DE when I got started traditional shaving. Even starting off with the straights I've found they don't infuriate my skin.

Originally Posted by edhewitt

Guilotine and/or for want of a better expression "windscreen wiper" strokes are quite effective on the neck areas.

I had to look this up. Found the gif and descriptions. I think I'll work my way up to bringing this in. I've just had a 6/8 round tip arrive from Strazors that might be a bit easier to learn this stroke on than the square tip.


Thanks, all, for the advice and encouragement. I'll keep at it. It's a vastly different animal from DE shaving, for sure.
I'll keep shaving and let you know!

Congratulations on your new journey! Enjoy it!

Try using a concave blade. I picked up one with a gradual smile and it gives a great shave especially on the neck area.

Originally Posted by jkatzman

Try using a concave blade. I picked up one with a gradual concave blade and it gives a great shave especially on the neck area.

Funny you should mention this...

I've been using a vintage Belgian blade with a gentle smile and round point for my last few shaves and have found a way of comfortably approaching the neck for a WTG, ATG. I'm happy to say the DE has stayed in its case for a while now