Thread: Against the grain woes...

+1 to all the good info so far!

ATG is a tough one for me, and I don't even attempt it anymore really.

I can get an amazingly smooth shave now just going WTG/XTG.

My neck was the trouble area...could never get it really smooth, but I tried stretching tighter, and attacking it from different angles, and it made a world of difference. I may never try ATG again

ATG is the ultimate sharpness test. As a daily 3 pass straight shaver, I find if a blade's edge is breaking down it appears in the ATG pass. When shaving with a DE, I assume you also went ATG and had no problems. Assuming that's so, your face can take ATG. Forty passes or so on finishing stone should cure your difficulties.

I'm an oddity on here, I think, in that I ONLY shave ATG - because of how my whiskers lie, it's the only way I can get a good clean shave. I used to have trouble going ATG, but I now have it completely sussed out. As well as the earlier mentioned stretching, here's three things to try before giving up on it:
1. Make sure your lather is perfect - I used to have very uncomfortable ATG shaves, until I realised my lather wasn't right, so wasn't giving me enough slick. I'd also never consider going water-only on an ATG pass - I need that slick there to protect me.

2. Re-prep your beard before the ATG pass - it may be drying out and losing its softness, making it harder for the blade to cut it and causing sticking. Try a hot towel, copious lashings of your favourite pre-shave cream (GFT Skin Food or Proraso pre-shave both appear to be fairly commonly used on here) or simply apply a layer of lather, leave to sit for a wee while (perhaps while stropping the blade) then rinse it off and reapply lather before shaving.

3. Try a heavier grind - I personally love wedges, becuase the lack of flex means they're less likely to catch while passes through my coarse beard. If, like me, you have a coarse beard, you may have good results with a quarter-hollow or similar wedge-type blade.

I usually do a 3 pass shave, wtg,xtg, and atg. Going against the grain is my favorite pass. I usually wind up near bbs and I think it's due to good prep, good lather, and an extra shot of glycerin in my lather. This really slickens up the shave and leaves me with no burn or irritation. Another prerequisite for a really good shave is a truly SHARP razor. Thankfully, mine came from SRD in perfect shaving readiness and so far, I've been able to maintain that keen edge through slow, careful stropping. And as for stropping, I do thirty laps every time before I shave.

I too have had to give up ATG passes. I found I was wearing a perpetual rash. After backing down to a WTG and XTG passes only the rash is gone.

I've just recently (today) thought of trying shaving with one pass but shaving twice a day. Solves that irritating problem of wanting to shave more often.

Also tonight is "Date Nite". Taking the Wife to the local live theater for dancing, snacks and a movie.

Zacsdaddy