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Do you have to shave your head every day if you want to do it with a straight? I don't. Even after buzzing it down with Wahl clippers, I have trouble. Head hair is less tough than beard hair, but grows much more densely. I always end up dulling the blade by using too much pressure, nicking my head, and getting a dappled, inconsistent shave where some spots have stubble & some spots don't. Do you head shavers out there shave every day?
I did every day for about 6 weeks and decided that was way too much of a PITA. Now I use my DE about 2-3 times a week and occasionally use a straight - maybe twice a month just for the heck of it. I get a closer and easier shave with a DE, although it's not nearly as much fun (or as cool :D) as using a straight. At least this way I get some use out of my DE though.
I recently bought one of those Wahl Balding clippers, they give a serious close shave for clippers. The only trouble is that the front of them sometimes gets stuck in my scalp, so I have to be careful
I do my head ever day. I made a video of it and posted in the video section if you want to look - it may be helpful.
James.
I watched that video way back when you posted it. You make it look so easy. IDK why it's giving me such fits.
Oh, sorry Johnny J. Gave a cursory answer and forgot we had talked before.
Have you tried the stubble reduction approach? Perhaps a couple of passes (even in the same direction) would be beneficial, particularly if you are not shaving your head every day. That could help with the patchy stubble issue. And given you are only shaving your head every few days or whatever, time is presumably not as big an issue as if you were shaving daily.
Another thing to keep in mind is that I find it fairly crucial to have the blade moving as it touches the skin. I can guarantee that if I don't have a nice smooth stroke going at the initial phase of the stroke, I will nick myself. This generally means that the blade needs to be nice and sharp and well stropped.
On the sharpness front, have you tried stropping mid-shave, or when the blade feels like it's pulling? Could be worth a shot. Also, maybe you could have two razors lined up per head shave - like a tag team approach. When one gets puffed, grab the other.
Also, it is worthwhile getting to know the grain of the hair growth on your head. You actually may be trying to do an against the grain first pass on some areas, which is never going to be pleasant, and could also speed up your edge deterioration.
Keep us posted on how you're going. And hang in there - you will get it with patience and time, I'm sure of it. :tu
James
OK, so I'm not the only one who eats edges during head shaving. That's good to know.
The problem seems to be that my head hair, though fine, is pretty dense. The blade doesn't just glide through it effortlessly like it does on my face. If I let it grow for 3 days, the problem gets worse. So I have to use a relatively high amount of force to plow through the hair, while making sure none of that force is directed downward, toward my scalp. Quite a trick. And I don't get a close shave; I get a mottled shave where some patches are smooth & other patches are stubbly.
If I shave it every day, it's much easier, because I'm just gliding on the stubble, and I get more uniform results. However, it's still not a close shave.
My blades are sharp enough to give my face a BBS shave in both directions, so I don't think blade sharpness is the problem.
When you do your head, is it smooth or stubbly?