How Many Passes

EXCLUDING any touch-ups which you might do without lather, what passes do you do?

Unless I'm in a terrible rush or I've beaten my face up with a bad shave the day before, I'm a 3 passes kinda guy. Doesn't seem to matter what kind of razor or blade I use, it's just the evasive nature of my beard.

Christian

Unless I have bleeders that require immediate attention and I have to cut my shave short, 3 passes, with, across and against, in that order.

RT

I use only 2 passes. Both with the grain except for under my chin. I hit it once with, and once against the grain. I usually don't need any "touch ups". That generally give me a smooth face, at least for the first few hours.lol

I shave daily and typically do a with the grain & across. If time permits and I feel like having a baby's butt for a face, I'll do an against the grain pass.

My daily routine consists of shaving one pass each: with, across, & against the grain. I finish up with two additional passes against the grain above and below the jawline.

I typically do one pass with the grain, one pass against the grain, both with lather, followed by a touch-up pass of water only. I've been experimenting with water only as a second pass lately.

3 passes total, excluding touch ups.....

one pass with, around 30 degrees.
another pass with, much steeper blade angle
third pass across.

This gets me very smooth. I can get a tiny bit smoother by going against, but the extra time and effort outweigh the benefits to me...

Jeff

For me its 2 passes total - one with, one against the grain. For my trouble areas (esp. Chin) I have to do a clean-up with my DE afterwards for this baby-butt-smooth feeling - can't get me to accept anything less :)

-Axel-

Each with lather. With, cross-grain, against.

Jeff

I do two passes, one with the grain and one against it. I'm still having trouble with nicks on my neck on the second pass so I may have to try something else.

Smokey,

I had the same problem. I found that learning to use different ends of the blade, i.e., the toe or the heel for different areas, made a huge difference!

RT

I shave daily. Usually two passes, one with the grain and one across. Sometimes a third if I want to get real close.

I'm still learning and developing my personal techniques and tricks so I haven't really settled on a set number of passes yet. Tonight I used 2 passes, with and against. Across the grain passes are difficult for me as my beard seems to grow in odd directions and doesn't seem to respond well (yet) to "across" grain passes. I keep experimenting though. I was also using a 6/8 for the first time. I also had some touch ups but we weren't counting those. Beyond baby butt smooth.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rtaylor61

Smokey,

I had the same problem. I found that learning to use different ends of the blade, i.e., the toe or the heel for different areas, made a huge difference!

RT

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ditto: The blade has 3 different edges as I see it. The heel, the middle and the toe. I use all three areas for different needs. I use 2 passes, one with the grain and one to take care of against the grain needs. I lather for the first pass, shave, then wet my fingers and massage my face to see where I need more attention. then I re-lather and shave the problem areas (against the grain). The chin always needs a second pass. The lower neck is the most awkward place for me to shave. My cuts or bleeding is seldom a problem. I have a very tough beard and have learned that 2 things are required, a very sharp blade and serious attention to face preperation.

I do three passes. I have such thick trees I need all three to get a baby butt feel and that is my goal.

jmsbcknr

Two to three, all against the grain. But my whiskers grow in all different ways in different parts, so sometimes when I'm INTENDING on going against the grain, I'm actually going with or across it, accidentally.

I do three passes. with the grain, against and one water only against.

I usually did onlt two passes one with and one against. But I now I go across the grain under my chin to get those crazy hairs.:)

Gents,

Some of you are discussing a water-only pass.
Whats the advantage?

Thanks

For me, the water-only has migrated back to 3rd place. One with, one against, then a clean-up pass to pick off any straglers. The water makes stragglers easy to find by feel, and helps the razor glide as you cut. I typically re-wet the section I'm working on, saving the chin for last.

I do the usual 3 passes; with, across, and against. I then wet my fingers and feel for any areas I've missed. I'll then wet those areas with my fingers and touch them up. The little bit of lather that remains then becomes really slick and my razor just glides over the areas I want to touch up. :cool:

Tom

I do 3 passes every day: with, across and against the grain.