Am I a freak or just doing something wrong?

Ok so I have been straight razor shaving for about 8 months now. It can be frustrating for me sometimes but I still enjoy it. Why is it frustrating? Well see I read so many posts here on SRP where shavers say they get a good BBS shave with 2 or 3 passes. First of all, for me, my stubble is tough and slick. Shaving with the grain does almost nothing for me. Unless I have a couple days of growth, I won't even bother shaving WTG because it usually takes barely anything off. My biggest frustration though is that going XTG or ATG works for me, I can get BBS shaves, but ONLY if I do like 3 or 4 passes at a minimum ATG. Sometimes I even have to do 5 or 6 passes to get a true BBS shave. Which brings me to another point....my razors are not dull, there is always a bunch of stubble on my razor and in the shaving cream lather after doing a pass but what is it that dictates HOW MUCH stubble is removed with each pass? Is it pressure? Is it angle? After 2 or 3 ATG passes is when I start to get the dreaded razor burn. I feel like I am might be doing something wrong here or do I just have freaky stubble?

It could be the angle you are holding the razor against your face.

nice stretching and beard prep also helps

Are you sure your razors dont need honed?

Not Dull and shave ready are 2 different things. You could remove hair from your face off the 1k.

But yeah.. If you are just doing multiple ATG passes and having to use pressure and a crazy angle to remove hair, something is wrong.


And like everyone else has said good prep and a quality soap/cream goes a long way.

This sounds to me like a prep and technique issue.

Try this:

- Shower before your shave and rub a good load of conditioner thoroughly into your beard.
- Once your showers over, strop your razor, then apply a good load of lather to your face.
- Take a flannel or hand towel and soak it in the hottest water you can stand and apply this over the lather for a minute or so.
- Relather and commence shaving.

The Shave:

- Stretch your skin to make the hairs stand up. What you do is feel which way the hair is growing then pull the skin the other way to make the hair stand up. This will get a closer shave on the WTG pass.
- Relather and do the same stretching on the XTG pass.
- Relather and do the ATG pass, again with the skin stretching.

And as mikedelo says, watch your angles for each pass! Follow the diagram below for guidance.

Make sure you keep a light touch as well.

I know this is always asked as well, but is your razor shave ready? If you are in any way unsure, send it off to a honemeister to get it sorted.

Good luck!

Where do you live? Maybe you could visit one of our knowledgeable members and get some first hand help. Sometimes having someone experienced watch what you are doing, can be immensely helpful.

Lynn

I agree with Lynn. There are way to many variables. It could be any number of things.
Let us know where you are, and maybe someone can help....

Rich

Lynn's suggestion was a good one. But then, who would expect otherwise? If you're too far from any members, maybe your barber could offer some advice. A question that came to mind involves how much of the blade is actually touching your skin. I can recall making a pass and thinking I've shaved an area because a two inch path of lather comes off, then realizing that only a part of the toe was actually in contact with my face. Check your blade and see where the whiskers are. If they only show up in part of the lather, that should tell you something.

Ok first, I know my prep technique is not the best. Never seem to have enough time to go through the elaborate prep techniques that some people go through so that is one area I could improve on.

Next, now I know I am no Honemeister but I do believe my razors are "shave ready". I have honed a razor that I sold to another SRP place user here. When he received the razor he was happy with it. Said all it needed was a stropping and it was ready to go and gave him a good shave. I KNOW that I still have a ways to go and there is a lot of room for improvement but I truly believe the sharpness of my razors is not the main issue.

Wow very cool diagram there about the shave angles. I have read a considerable amount of threads on SRP but I don't remember reading that when going ATG, i should be using an angle that is as low as 5 degrees. Maybe that is part of the problem. I will try a much lower angle.

I live in the Chicago suburbs. I would ALWAYS welcome someone with more experience to critique my shaving skills.

Thanks for all the help!

I haven't been striaght shaving for too long either, but as the others have posted, it can be the prep, and/or angle, or other factors. Try improving on prep, and do your regular routine and see if anything has changed, if not, the next time, change the angle, this way you can single out if the change in technique has affected your shave. I personally do a hot shower, if not, just wash my face for some time with hot water, I recomment the Musgo Glycerine Lime soap, as a prep, when you are done, its like a clean slate. Any ways, good luck again. For the record, sometimes I feel I need more than 3 passes as well, everyone's hair growth is different more or less.

Sometimes it takes an outside observer to tell you what you might be doing wrong. This is exactly the responses I was hoping for. I will try ALL of these recommendations. They all are great!!!

I don't want to give up on straight razor shaving. So far I love it but it is getting frustrating because my shave time is taking SO LONG because I have to do so many passes!

Shaving with a straight my take you more time than with a more modern razor (mach 3). But take your time. Enjoy your time.

For me, it is all about relaxing and clearning my head before I have to walk out my front door and deal with the world..

Let us know how you make out!

Well I tried a couple different things last night in my shaving routine. First of all I tried taking a warm shower and using a conditioner on my stubble right before I shaved. I also tried using a lighter touch while shaving and experimenting with angles, specifically a little lower of an angle than I usually use. My overall impression of implementing these changes in my routine did very little to cut down on my number of "passes" overall. I did note a couple things though which brought me a little more clarity on the issue. First of all, the very light pressure/touch that I was using helped to cut down on the razor burn. Good thing. Second thing I noticed was that it is not my whole face that necessarily needs more than 3 passes, it's just some very stubborn areas of my face and neck. I seem to have a major problem right down the outer sides of my hair growth on my neck, like if you drew a line from the bottom of my ear to the bottom of my adam's apple. That area I can never seem to hit right with the straight. I have tried every angle I could. Also two patches/area on either side of my chin, directly under the edges of my mouth down to the bottom of my chin. Both these areas a super stubborn and can take 5 or 6 passes to get them BBS. The rest of my face I can usually stretch my skin enough to give myself a BBS shave in 3 passes (ok sometimes 4). Another thing too.... I think it's quite possible that I am just forgeting sometimes how many passes I might have taken over area, if that makes any sense. I think sometimes I might miss a small patch and THINK that I have hit that area already 3 times.

Check out these videos, they helped me a lot with technique and angle. The wiki is so important.
Shaving videos - Straight Razor Place Wiki

Prep is critical.