Thread: Shaving Cuts

Cuts are not the normal fare. If I do not do a HHT and the like I can not tell how sharp my razor is. When you shave if you are leaving hair behind you have a razor on the dull side. It is hard to tell sometimes because it sneaks up on you gradually. A light touch on the razor is an absolute necessity if you are not going to cut yourself and it seems counter intuitive that one need a sharper razor not to cut yourself. With the light touch also comes almost ZERO irritation. Do you do the touch ups on your blade when it needs sharpening?

The soap that you are using seems good and I would not worry to much if your lather does not look textbook. Is it slick to the touch? I can not stretch my skin if soap is on it because it is to slick and my fingers slip.

Give us feedback on how you are doing! It is going to take a couple of shaves to get it.

Take care,
R

Thanks for the replies, guys.

I do appreciate it. I am surmising that I am just heavy handed with the bloody thing. I feel pretty conifident that this particular blade is sharp. My beard is pretty coarse, though. So, I have the mindset that a few passes is necessary. I think the heavy handedness combined with the awkwardness of the hand positioning is giving me the trouble. I'll give her another go in a day or two.

As far as the lather is concerned ...
Yes, I am getting the slickness sans bubbles and I do notice a difference when the skin is slick from the soap. When I shave with a disposable, sometimes I use a very light coating of olive oil as pre-shave and shave without lather. Yep. plain ole olive oil... one drop is too much on a wet face. This leaves me with a smooth shave and hydrated skin without irritation. I think I might bag the lather and do the same with a straight.

Are you using a badger brush or a boar bristle brush? I have a boar brush and can't get lather to save my life... it's kinda sad, really. I switch over to the badger brush and it's amazing. The difference in textures is simply coarseness of the bristles/hair. I've even heard that some badger brushes are a little too coarse and if the brush itself is irritating your face, maybe you should try a different one.

There is also the off chance that you have rolled your blade while stropping, which would lead to a miserable shave. Trust me - it's the hairiest, bloodiest baby's bottom you ever saw.

As far as the beard thickness/coarseness, the pre-shave oil is only part of it. I do a hot towel, then pre-shave oil rubbed in thoroughly, then a slightly hotter hot towel for 2 minutes. I then apply my lather to only one sideburn/cheek. I have great success with shaving sections of my face with a re-lather and hot towel between each. If your lather situation is an issue, you might still try multiple hot towels during your shave and re-application of whatever lubricant you're using as needed.

Best of luck,

Adam

P.S. Search the forums for "uber-lather." It's a combination of shaving soap, cream, and a few drops of glycerine. It might be overkill, but it just might work

Honestly, I bought my brush brand new as a badger hair brush .... but now I am beginning to wonder if it is made from boar hair. The hairs are quite coarse and stiff. I do better making lather in my hand then I do with that brush.
It doesnt seem to hold alot of water either. Probably boar, although I really dont have any other to compare it to.

I've shaved sucessfully without lather for years .. with a disposable and DE, of course. I guess I am reluctant to plunk down on a brush when I am on the fence with lather to begin with. I think handling the razor is more important right now .. the lather will come in time.

Thanks for the reply.

I don't believe lather is your problem. Proper hydration of your face could be, but I think it is a combination of your stropping and shaving technique. If you are stropping correctly, your razor should not be dull yet.

If you are not stropping correctly your razor will get progrssively worse. If your shaves were gradually reduing your beard when you got the razor, and now 5 fives does not do anything, there is a problem with the razor. You may be able to touch it up with a pasted strop if your have one. What are you doing for stropping?

As far as technique, slow down and focus on blade angle and pressure. Take your time and focus on applying light even pressure throughout the stroke. You'll get it. Do not EVER go sideways in your stroke. That is the easiest way to get a real cut.

I cut myself rather badly, twice, on my way up the learning curve. That was about 2 years ago.

For me the lesson is to go slow and think about what you are doing. I think the notion of "danger" makes shaving with a str8 a little more enticing. When you tell someone you shave with a str8 usually the first reaction is that of fear for your life. I never really had anything more then a nick here or there, occationally when learning a new shaving routine I would get the stretching wrong or be to gingerly with the blade and get some sideways action, but nothing that scared, untill my worst cut.

My worst cut was when I was hurrying to head out to play golf at a really exclusive club with my friend who works. When doing the first pass, cutting down on my sideburns the tip of the razor went in my ear and OUCH! It was in those first hasty moments when I grabbed the razor and put it to my face that I did not think about what I was doing, this was about 3 years with a str8 under my belt. Cut right through the cartilage in my ear. Finished the shave with a stream of blood coming from my ear. I had to tape a wad of gauze in my ear, that was hard to explain to my friend and the people at the course. I'm sorry to say that I probably propitiated the "dangers" of shaving with a straight that day.

As long as they aren't gory, would you mind posting a photo of a few random cuts? It might help with diagnosis. I've yet to cut myself deeply, but I have given myself 4 or 5 cuts by now that bled momentarily 10 to 15 minutes after the shave (weird?) Each of those occurred when my blade hung up on hair and I applied more weight behind the razor to overcome the hang-up. Everytime I did that, the blade slid perpendicular to the direction I wanted it to go and I immediately lifted the blade off my skin. I know what those cuts look like

Regarding lather: try Mama Bear's shaving soap. I can go from suds to a super-smooth lather with my cheap boar bristle brush in under two minutes. It makes enough lather in one go for both of my legs, and it doesn't "melt" away.

I started shaving with a straight about a month ago. I had severe issues with cuts at first. Ended up buying another pre-honed by Lynn straight thinking it was the new factory blade, I was right, to a point. I didn't have the correct technique as well. I was forcing the blade too much and I was using the incorrect angle of approach. There are several VERY important things to remember while using a straight based on my own personal experience. I was seriously a freddy kruger victim until I learned these.
1. Proper lather- make absolutely sure you have a properly lathered face re-lather over and over again if it dries up, and if you have a drying lather issue consult how to make a proper moisture balance.
2. Properly honed and stropped blade - Do not under any circumstances use any pressure while
stropping, and make sure you do about 50 strokes on the leather side.
4. Slow it down - I mean really take your time.
5. Angle of approach - remember that the straight is 100% adjustable, if you come across any resistance while shaving flatten the blade back on your face and slowly come up with the angle.
6. Take very, very short strokes with no pressure- the blade should be able to cut those little bastards and if it doesn't do one of two things, change your angle and or change your shaving direction.
7. Do not try going ATG until you are competant with the WTG and XTG process.
8. Also always keep a keen focus on your attention as to where the blade is located at all times.

I am having a great time now and have learned that using a DE to clean up after satisified my need for a clean shave until I started getting good shaves with the straight. The DE also helped me learn how my particular beard needed to be shaved without the risk of slicing my face off one stroke at time. There are some that would disagree with the DE approach but it certainly helped me. There was no learning curve for me nor has it messed up my straight technique. One thing about the DE, if you use it do not stretch your skin as much and make sure you hold the razor from the very bottom so you don't apply pressure of any kind. Pressure while using the straight or DE will definitley result in nicks and cuts.

Don't give up hope we need more guys out there with RAD!


Have fun.

Regards,

Sean