Determine Your Beard Grain Direction
Hi Guys,
I thought this would be a good topic since we get so many questions regarding WTG (With The Grain), ATG (Against The Grain and XTG (Across The Grain). All of us have a beard growth that grows in different directions and determining yours will really aid in your not only learning to use the straight razor, but enjoying it forever.
I had always thought that if you shave down or from the eyes or sideburns to the jaw that that was shaving WTG and that when you shave from the jawline up the face that that was ATG. Same for the neck going down the neck and then back up.
Well........here is a pretty nifty way of determining the growth direction of your beard. If you run your index finger in the directions we are talking about above across your face, I think you will be surprised.
If I run my index finger from the side of my mouth across the face to the ear, I am actually going with the grain. The hair feels smooth. If I run my index finger from the ear to that side of the mouth, I am going ATG. How do I know this???? When I run my index finger from below the eye to the chin I can actually feel some stubble, but it is not as stiff as when I go from the ear to the mouth. This then, for me is XTG. Seems counter intuitive, doesn't it?
So..... When I start off shaving with the downstroke, I am actually shaving XTG and then when I shave from the ear to the mouth across the face, I am actually shaving ATG. This is why I normally have a really baby butt smooth or sticky smooth shave in two passes.
The neck is a little trickier as I notice that the ATG stroke is more side ways under the chin and around the adams apple.
I had done a tip previously where you use your index finger after making a couple of passes to pick up those problem areas as rubbing the index finger will give you the direction to cut to get rid of those pesky areas. It also helps you establish the stroke you will need so you don't have to experiment with the razor first.
Now the challenge for you is to educate that index finger and see if this will help in your shaving endeavors.
Hope this helps.
Have fun,
Lynn