Thread: ATG SHAVING?

I do a 3 pass WTG,XTG and ATG shave every day and have no skin irritation at all. I'm not claiming everyone can do it, just that I can do it. Personally I don't like a " one size fits all " philosophy when it comes to shaving rules and guidelines, that sort of thinking belongs with the cartridge razor using masses.

Sorry Sham, you are way off base. I rarely get razor burn and I go ATG every day. In fact I should probably call my skin leather or even human hide. For me to get razor burn I need the trifecta of dull razor, wandering mind, and excessive pressure. If I lose one of those three I am still going to have a nice shave.

Originally Posted by CraigJ

Sorry Sham, you are way off base. I rarely get razor burn and I go ATG every day. In fact I should probably call my skin leather or even human hide. For me to get razor burn I need the trifecta of dull razor, wandering mind, and excessive pressure. If I lose one of those three I am still going to have a nice shave.

We all don't have same skin. That is why in your mind i am way off base. You can shave against the grain easily and without any trouble . That doesn't mean all people are the same. I have heard someone shaves with knifes ,another person just shaves ATG nothing else and gets bbs shaves. This things will happen . when i mean ATG shave will hurt more then benefit to the people i was thinking about general straight razor users. There is a lot people out there have very sensitive skin.
hope this helps

I agree with you.

If I do ATG at all it feels like someone has poured jet fuel on my face, and I'm red and sore all day.

A master barber at Trumpers also told me to never shave ATG, for the reasons you mention. He also told me never to put anything alcohol based on the skin after shaving as this irritates and dries out your skin, which is what happens to me. He told me to use something like skinfood or a balm on the areas you've shaved, and use the AS on the sides of your neck for the scent.

Then again, its definately horses for courses. Some people can do the full three pass shave and then put on some splash with no problems. I cant do either..!

Boy, you opened up a can on this one. I know you are supposed to do the scything motion WTG and that particular motion does require a little more x-perience. I am working on that. And also to use both hands. I do shave ATG and and I only use my RH. It works for me. And I am getting BBS shaves, probalby because my razors are wicked whisker flingin sharp.
Cheers..

I have a patch of the skin right under my chin where hair grows practically in parallel to the skin and regardless of the angle i could never get it all shaved smooth with WTG neither with straight, Mach 3 or double edge. If anyone has any advise on how to get it w/o going ATG I would really appreciate...

ATG is the only way for me to get "BBS".

I do an ATG pass every day, have no irriation and my skin is like a supermodel.

I'm new to straight razor shaving but the only time I get a burn is XTG. I'm still in the honeymoon phase though.

I should mention that I have a beard and shave only the topline and my neck.

It is interesting how things can change. If you would have told me that I would switch from hot to cold water shaves I would have said not a chance. Then I read the pamphlet (you know the one) and now I am enthusiastically a cold water shaver.

The book also said that one pass WTG would suffice but if you wanted bbs to do two but always WTG. It warned of ingrowns, razor bumps and irritation if the ATG was used. Now I've been doing a first pass WTG and a second with a mix of XTG and ATG for years. I've never had an ingrown or a razor bump in 61 years. OTOH, I have had irritation but I learned to avoid that with technique.

So I tried two passes WTG and wasn't happy with the results. Not bad but not as good as I'm used to. I went back to my default mode. Just shifting gears here ..... Glen (gssixgun) posted a thread a long time ago suggesting a one pass shave. I tried it once and it was a no go for me.

The other day I took a Genco Fluid Steel that was NOS but dull and honed it to shave ready on my naniwas up to 12k. I stropped and it passed HHT all along the length of the blade ..... with my super fine hair. I did my cold water shave with a WTG pass and felt my neck, chin and cheeks. There was simply no point in doing another pass. If you have bbs what more do you need ?

The following day I did the same routine with an equally sharp Robert Williams custom. Same result, one pass WTG and no need for a second pass. There is no doubt in my mind that part of the difference in my earlier failed attempt at a one pass shave versus my current success can be attributed to improved technique. The scything motion that Sham mentioned was critical and took me a long time to finally get the hang of.

I would also repeat what I have said before, that we are not all playing with the same deck of cards. My skin/whisker combination may not be as tough as some others and as in all things in wet shaving YMMV.

Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

We all don't have same skin. That is why in your mind i am way off base. You can shave against the grain easily and without any trouble . That doesn't mean all people are the same. I have heard someone shaves with knifes ,another person just shaves ATG nothing else and gets bbs shaves. This things will happen . when i mean ATG shave will hurt more then benefit to the people i was thinking about general straight razor users. There is a lot people out there have very sensitive skin.
hope this helps

Sham, I think your original post was read (by me and others) to be a challenge to ANY straight shaver to prove why shaving ATG was advantageous over not doing it. I accept that challenge. I go against the grain every time without problems. It took me months to develop the technique, as it does everybody, but now it's standard operating procedure.

So... challenged accepted!