Thread: NEED ANSWERS

I HAVE BEEN SHAVING WITH A STRAIGHT FOR ABOUT A MONTH NOW,
AND DOING OK. I SENT MY RAZORS OUT TO BE HONED AND GOT THEM BACK AND THEN SHAVED WITH THEM
NOW BEFORE I SENT THEM OUT MY SHAVES WERE OK, AND WERE GETTING BETTER. SINCE I SENT THEM OUT MY FACE FEELS LIKE IT HAS BEEN BITTEN BY A SHARK, I SHAVED TWICE SINCE RECEIVING THEM BACK WITH TWO DIFFERENT BLADES AND THEY BOTH ARE KILLING MY FACE.

MY QUESTION IS THIS
WAS THE HONING JOB DONE POORLY OR IS IT MY SHAVING STYLE OR TECHNIQUE.
I WAS NOT HURTING MY FACE THIS BAD BEFORE I SENT THEM OUT.

YOUR COMMENTS ARE APPRECIATED

I would suggest that the first point of call be the person who did the honing for you and let them know about the problems that you are having.

Ask them to take another look at the razors and see if they can tweak the edges for you.

Originally Posted by Stubear

I would suggest that the first point of call be the person who did the honing for you and let them know about the problems that you are having.

Ask them to take another look at the razors and see if they can tweak the edges for you.

For what it's worth, I started on a Kreigar (Junk razor) sharpened like a pocket knife... It shaved (not close at all) without any irritation. Then I moved to a real straight (Sharpened like a razor) and my first shaves, though close, burnt like Hellfire. Could be technique, pressure, having a sharper edge variant... Or it could be the honing in question... Call the honer, see what they say, and examine your technique.

Good luck!

Cheers,
Jeremy

Originally Posted by brick0572

I SENT MY RAZORS OUT TO BE HONED AND GOT THEM BACK ...SINCE I SENT THEM OUT MY FACE FEELS LIKE IT HAS BEEN BITTEN BY A SHARK.

MY QUESTION IS THIS
WAS THE HONING JOB DONE POORLY OR IS IT MY SHAVING STYLE OR TECHNIQUE.
I WAS NOT HURTING MY FACE THIS BAD BEFORE I SENT THEM OUT.

YOUR COMMENTS ARE APPRECIATED

Just so that I don't assume anything,

1. when you started out, were the razors honed by a honemeister before you first used them?

2. when you say you sent your razors out for honing I have to ask if you sent them to one of the members listed in the classifieds offering honing services, or did you send them to some knife sharpening place?

If you got it from a honemeister here, it's probably a technique thing. From your comments, it could be a pressure/angle thing. A super sharp blade with too much pressure and too high an angle would likely make your face as irritated as a blade that is getting dull (if not worse)

also, your caps lock is on

Originally Posted by brick0572

I HAVE BEEN SHAVING WITH A STRAIGHT FOR ABOUT A MONTH NOW,
AND DOING OK. I SENT MY RAZORS OUT TO BE HONED AND GOT THEM BACK AND THEN SHAVED WITH THEM
NOW BEFORE I SENT THEM OUT MY SHAVES WERE OK, AND WERE GETTING BETTER. SINCE I SENT THEM OUT MY FACE FEELS LIKE IT HAS BEEN BITTEN BY A SHARK, I SHAVED TWICE SINCE RECEIVING THEM BACK WITH TWO DIFFERENT BLADES AND THEY BOTH ARE KILLING MY FACE.

MY QUESTION IS THIS
WAS THE HONING JOB DONE POORLY OR IS IT MY SHAVING STYLE OR TECHNIQUE.
I WAS NOT HURTING MY FACE THIS BAD BEFORE I SENT THEM OUT.

YOUR COMMENTS ARE APPRECIATED

I would think technique is the culprit here.

Because the blade is very sharp, it may be less forgiving.

Two things are missing here ...

1. What manufacturer/model of razor?
2. Who is the honemeister?

Please turn off the cap lock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm new to this but have been spending a lot of time reading.

Is it possible the honemeister put a proper edge on the razor and poor stropping technique allowed the edge to be rolled?

Originally Posted by Desdinova

I'm new to this but have been spending a lot of time reading.

Is it possible the honemeister put a proper edge on the razor and poor stropping technique allowed the edge to be rolled?

That is surely a possibility, but the description would probably be slightly different (one side feels smooth, the other doesn't, or it feels smooth but doesn't cut).

The most likely, IMHO, is technique/perhaps pressure and a SHARP less forgiving blade. Again, knowing that it was done by a real honemeister would help.

When someone is starting out and they have these problems it is very difficult to diagnose issues because there are so many problems.

True the razor might not have been properly honed or there could be a technique issue or it could have been stropped improperly.

If the razors were OK before being sent out and you were doing OK and now you have problems then it would seem the razor is the issue.

I would contact the honer.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

When someone is starting out and they have these problems it is very difficult to diagnose issues because there are so many problems.

True the razor might not have been properly honed or there could be a technique issue or it could have been stropped improperly.

If the razors were OK before being sent out and you were doing OK and now you have problems then it would seem the razor is the issue.

I would contact the honer.

I agree, however, I think there's another way to look at it. For conversation sake I will assume the razors are of decent quality, and honed by someone who professionally sharpens razors.
You may have gotten use to using the duller razor, and to get a good shave trained yourself to use more pressure and a different angles.
Now that the razor is sharp, you are still using those angles and that pressure, which is no longer needed and causing skin irritation.
This is all speculative. It very well could be the razor, and how it was honed, but if you haven't already tried, try shaving with a very light touch and see if that changes things.

If you could provide some more information, like the make of the razor, where you found the honing service, your prep, your stropping technique it might be easier to help you out. There are so many factors which go into getting a good shave.