Having Trouble Shaving and Need Some HELP!

First things first; I am new at shaving with a staight razor but I am having some trouble. I watched the informative video and I have honed and stropped my razor to where it will cut (pop) the hair on my leg before it even touches my skin but when I shave my face WTG or ATG it doesnt seem to cut the hair at all. I am using canned shaving cream and hot water. Does any body have any pointers?

Thanks,

Ryan

I guss you can always go back to your mach 5 little easyer to understand lol
J/k make use you use a 30* angle

This is why it is good to start with a pro honed shave ready razor. It eliminates one possibility. namely that the razor isn't sharp enough. You've honed it to the point where it will pop leg hair which is one indication that it should shave but you haven't been honing for long I take it ?

It may be sharp enough and the problem may be one of shaving technique. Aside from good prep skin stretching and blade angle are very important. With proper blade angle and a sharp razor pressure is not called for. Hard to say what the problem is exactly. If you've got a quality pro honed razor to compare to that would help sort things out.

at first welcome to SRP.
Please always try get your first blade honed by Pro's. this will help you a lot in long run.
you can see how properly honed razor should act and learn from it.
Popping hairs is not sign of the shave ready blade. OPPOSITE it is sign that your blade is not shave ready yet.
After getting shave ready razor you are eliminating most common problem. then you can figure out angle, soap, pressure, stropping mistakes.
hope this helps.
gl

I'd start with prep. Make sure your bead is nice and wet, and SOFTEN it with a hot shower or a hot towel. Then, you might consider a good brush and cream instead of your foam...but if that's out of the question, try a slick shave gel.

Welcome to SRP from another newb, Ryan,
Starting out with a razor that is honed shave ready by an experienced honemeister is excellent advice. It gives you a known baseline to evaluate your budding technique & prep. Learning how to hone and learning how to shave (with the same razor) at the same time makes it difficult for you to evaluate either skill.

I bought my first three razors shave ready from SRP members selling them in the Classifieds. If you don't want to do that, then I would suggest sending your current razor to one of the homemeisters in the "Member Services" section of the Classifieds.

Good luck to you!
Namaste,
Morty -_-

Hello, Ryan:

Welcome to Straight Razor Place.

As everyone suggests, please send your new razor to a professional for proper sharpening. Once that is taken care of, then comes the concentration on preparation. Find a good boar bristle or a "pure" badger shave brush, (about $25, give or take), and a good soap (Mama Bear, about $10).

On your shave, the general blade angle is somewhere around 30 degrees. That's a general figure. I keep mine about 20 degrees, as much as I can determine. That angle, however, changes while shaving different parts of your face.

Keep the pressure light; the razor itself offers the necessary pressure. Shave slowly, methodically and, obviously, carefully (pardon my adverb parade). Also, experiment and improvise.

But it all starts with a well honed razor. For a newcomer, a razor honed by a professional. After that, comes everything else. Stick with it. You will get there.

Regards,
Obie

Ryan,

+++1 on the previous advice, especially that of Obie. First, send your razor out to be professionally honed. Second, forget about the canned stuff and purchase some decent shaving soap or cream and a brush. Neither need be expensive, but those two items--along with the refinement of your shaving technique--will do wonders to improve your str8 razor shaving experience.

Take care--and smooth shaving.

also keep in mind that the hairs on your arm or leg are alot thinner than the hairs on your face. so they will cut alot easier. and the skin on your arm and leg is stretched tighter which helps,thus the stretch technique someone mentioned. and remember just cause it will cut hair on your arm doesnt mean its shave ready. so if its cutting hair on your leg but not your face well then you should hone some more on higher grit and finisher hones. and as that 20 and 30 degree angle someone mentioned,that prob doesnt apply here cause as you stated you watched a few shaving vids and im sure you picked up and there blade angle,if not then yeah,angle of the blade helps alot. and another thing that might help, also when testing on your leg or arm hair, make sure you test the heel (the back end of the blade) and the toe (the tip) because you might just have the center of the bevel shave ready and the heel and toe is not. you want the whole blade able to pop hairs. so if you ever do a hanging hair test,(search it on youtube)do three one at the heel, toe, and middle. then you should be good to go

RBF,

Congratulations on honing your first razor! Hey you are the bomb! I have been at this only 6 months now and I just honed my first razor this week! So.. you are much further along than I am when it comes to honing.. and brave to take it on to boot.. What kind of honing equipment are you using to get your edge? I have Naniwa hones... 1000 for the bevel setting then a 5000, 8000, 12000, balsa strop with cro2paste and then the leather strop of course...

I started however with a professionally sharpened (honed) and stropped razor... so that on my first shave... I didn't even get the chance to ruin the edge with the strop... I got a great first shave and I new what a sharp razor was supposed to feel like... then I carefully and i mean carefully kept the edge sharp with careful stroping which I practiced a lot on an old flea market razor I bought... before I touched my razor sharp new straight to the strop myself... the edge can be ruined and not shave ready in a few seconds of improper strop technique...

So.. you've gotten lots of great advice... only thing to add is my congrats to you for taking on the honing in the first place... I think it's great and the only thing better would have been if you could have written us that you got a first class shave too!! You will... and you can either find someone to help you hone to the correct sharpness... or send it out for a pro to get it there so you know what to copy... but one way or the other you need to know for sure that your problem isn't that your razor isn't sharp enough which is obviously the most common problem..

Then with a sharp razor at the sink... shower.. best pre shave possible... then I like a preshave oil.....while the oil is soaking into you beard ...strop your razor if it needs it ( may not if you get it from honemiester)... make some lather... apply and shave... bet you get a great shave after that... if not its technique which mostly means your angle is not quite right...

You'll figure it out! Just start knocking off the variables one at a time .. Razor first!!

Have a great weekend... I lilke it that you took on honing... much braver than I was!!

Maq

My number one rule for new guys that want to learn this hobby:

* Don't try to hone your razor at all until you can shave with a well honed one you bought from someone that's known for their razor honing.


That's it.

Hope that helps.

After listening to that rule following some others:

2) learn to strop, turning your wrist, incorrect strokes. etc, they all lead to dull razors in just a few shaves.

3) Don't buy hones for a few months!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jhenry

Ryan,

+++1 on the previous advice, especially that of Obie. First, send your razor out to be professionally honed. Second, forget about the canned stuff and purchase some decent shaving soap or cream and a brush. Neither need be expensive, but those two items--along with the refinement of your shaving technique--will do wonders to improve your str8 razor shaving experience.

Take care--and smooth shaving.

---

++++1 on the previous.
Of interest using an inexpensive boar brush to work
a bit of extra water into the goo and help clean the
face with a bit of gentle brush action can help a lot.

For beginners that are asking and have a limited budget
I recommend the kit that Walmart and others have.
It has a decent boar brush, a lather bowl and a puck
of Van Der Hagen soap. i.e. Van Der Hagen Premium Shave Set

Follow this link to see what I am talking about.

Amazon.com: Van Der Hagen Premium Shave Set (Soap, Bowl, Brush): Health & Personal Care

Build from this with a better soap or cream and later add
a better brush if you wish... Since a good shave depends
on your preparation this is the easy place to start.

The vdh soaps are great, they're cheap and you can find them in pretty much any drugestore or super maket.

A properly prepared razor will seem to just wipe the hair off when you shave. Use the HHT to determine if it is sharp enough before you shave test it.

Good luck and have patience it takes time to get where you can consistantly hone your razor to do the HHT test.


Silver2

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Disburden

* Don't try to hone your razor at all until you can shave with a well honed one you bought from someone that's known for their razor honing.

2) learn to strop, turning your wrist, incorrect strokes. etc, they all lead to dull razors in just a few shaves.

3) Don't buy hones for a few months!

---

+1 with what Disburden said. Get a professionally sharpened razor and forget about honing for the first while. Removing the "honing factor" at the beginning allows you to concentrate on the basics like prep, proper stropping and shaving techniques. Don't worry, there will be plenty of time to learn the honing ropes!

RBF:

To put this in perspective I had to go with some of your older posts

starting here: where you comment on the wealth of Knowledge that is SRP...

http://straightrazorpalace.com/membe...hello-all.html


Then here where you ignore that wealth of Knowledge that is SRP..

http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...ld-razors.html

You got two razors with unknown edges, that you Sharpened (not honed) on unknown stones with no razor honing experience..

Then you post this thread and ask why you can't shave???

My suggestion and I realize that Robin is now grinning from ear to freaking ear...
Start in the Wiki with the Newb section and explore that wealth of knowledge first, then realize that you did EXACTLY what we say not to do, follow the links from the Wiki to more detailed explanations of this hobby we persue...Read Lynn's section on the first shave...

And send me one of those razors so I can get you started off with a real edge, (God I hope these razors are honable) which I will hone for free, but only if you promise to read all that while the razor is here and in the mail.. (Postage is on you)

My dear RBF:

I concur with Glen — absolutely.

Please take his advice and do the necessary research. While reading up, also please take his offer to hone your razor — without charge. Glen is a master of his trade and he will turn your razor into a gem.

Regards,
Obie

I got my first straight razor in college from my room mate. Fortunately, he have me a good one (Double Duck). I was working at a bike shop at the time and a couple of doors down was a barber shop where my dad used to go and I did as a kid. The same old barber was still there. I asked him to teach me how to shave with it. The first thing he did was check the razor's edge and strop it, showing me everything. If you can find an old barber who still knows how to use one, that might be a place to get some first hand advice and a lesson.

BTW, I remember asking him where he learned how to shave with a straight, and his reply was ....prison! :eek:

Goog

Razortrader,

LOL :) I figured it out, it was my angle. Thanks for the pointer.

Ryan

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Razortrader

I guss you can always go back to your mach 5 little easyer to understand lol
J/k make use you use a 30* angle

---

JimmyHAD,

It was my angle. I havent been honing razors long but I have been sharpening knives for over 25 years so the honing wasnt as hard as I thought it would be. You were right that it was all in my technique. Thanks for the help.

Ryan

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

This is why it is good to start with a pro honed shave ready razor. It eliminates one possibility. namely that the razor isn't sharp enough. You've honed it to the point where it will pop leg hair which is one indication that it should shave but you haven't been honing for long I take it ?

It may be sharp enough and the problem may be one of shaving technique. Aside from good prep skin stretching and blade angle are very important. With proper blade angle and a sharp razor pressure is not called for. Hard to say what the problem is exactly. If you've got a quality pro honed razor to compare to that would help sort things out.

---

gl,

Thanks for the pointers and the warm welcome. It was all in my technique. Razors are shaving nice now.

Thanks again,

Ryan

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

at first welcome to SRP.
Please always try get your first blade honed by Pro's. this will help you a lot in long run.
you can see how properly honed razor should act and learn from it.
Popping hairs is not sign of the shave ready blade. OPPOSITE it is sign that your blade is not shave ready yet.
After getting shave ready razor you are eliminating most common problem. then you can figure out angle, soap, pressure, stropping mistakes.
hope this helps.
gl

---

JimR,

Thanks for the help. The hot towel works nice.

Ryan

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JimR

I'd start with prep. Make sure your bead is nice and wet, and SOFTEN it with a hot shower or a hot towel. Then, you might consider a good brush and cream instead of your foam...but if that's out of the question, try a slick shave gel.

---

Morty,

Thanks for the advice. I will stroll over the classifieds.

Thanks again,

Ryan

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Morty

Welcome to SRP from another newb, Ryan,
Starting out with a razor that is honed shave ready by an experienced honemeister is excellent advice. It gives you a known baseline to evaluate your budding technique & prep. Learning how to hone and learning how to shave (with the same razor) at the same time makes it difficult for you to evaluate either skill.

I bought my first three razors shave ready from SRP members selling them in the Classifieds. If you don't want to do that, then I would suggest sending your current razor to one of the homemeisters in the "Member Services" section of the Classifieds.

Good luck to you!
Namaste,
Morty -_-

---

Obie,

Thanks for the pointers. The problem was all in my technique and angle.

Ryan

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Obie

Hello, Ryan:

Welcome to Straight Razor Place.

As everyone suggests, please send your new razor to a professional for proper sharpening. Once that is taken care of, then comes the concentration on preparation. Find a good boar bristle or a "pure" badger shave brush, (about $25, give or take), and a good soap (Mama Bear, about $10).

On your shave, the general blade angle is somewhere around 30 degrees. That's a general figure. I keep mine about 20 degrees, as much as I can determine. That angle, however, changes while shaving different parts of your face.

Keep the pressure light; the razor itself offers the necessary pressure. Shave slowly, methodically and, obviously, carefully (pardon my adverb parade). Also, experiment and improvise.

But it all starts with a well honed razor. For a newcomer, a razor honed by a professional. After that, comes everything else. Stick with it. You will get there.

Regards,
Obie

---

jhennry,

Thanks for the help. I corrected my angle and got one of the closest shaves I have ever gotten. I'm hooked!

Thanks<

Ryan

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jhenry

Ryan,

+++1 on the previous advice, especially that of Obie. First, send your razor out to be professionally honed. Second, forget about the canned stuff and purchase some decent shaving soap or cream and a brush. Neither need be expensive, but those two items--along with the refinement of your shaving technique--will do wonders to improve your str8 razor shaving experience.

Take care--and smooth shaving.

---

huttman,

Thanks for all your help. Turns out it was my technique/angle. Got a great shave.

Thanks,

Ryan

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by huttman333

also keep in mind that the hairs on your arm or leg are alot thinner than the hairs on your face. so they will cut alot easier. and the skin on your arm and leg is stretched tighter which helps,thus the stretch technique someone mentioned. and remember just cause it will cut hair on your arm doesnt mean its shave ready. so if its cutting hair on your leg but not your face well then you should hone some more on higher grit and finisher hones. and as that 20 and 30 degree angle someone mentioned,that prob doesnt apply here cause as you stated you watched a few shaving vids and im sure you picked up and there blade angle,if not then yeah,angle of the blade helps alot. and another thing that might help, also when testing on your leg or arm hair, make sure you test the heel (the back end of the blade) and the toe (the tip) because you might just have the center of the bevel shave ready and the heel and toe is not. you want the whole blade able to pop hairs. so if you ever do a hanging hair test,(search it on youtube)do three one at the heel, toe, and middle. then you should be good to go

---

Maq,

Thanks for the advice. I am new at the razor honeing but have been sharpening knives for over 25 years. Not too difficult with the right stone. Turns out it was my angle. Once I got my technique down, I got a very close shave.

Thanks again,

Ryan

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Maq

RBF,

Congratulations on honing your first razor! Hey you are the bomb! I have been at this only 6 months now and I just honed my first razor this week! So.. you are much further along than I am when it comes to honing.. and brave to take it on to boot.. What kind of honing equipment are you using to get your edge? I have Naniwa hones... 1000 for the bevel setting then a 5000, 8000, 12000, balsa strop with cro2paste and then the leather strop of course...

I started however with a professionally sharpened (honed) and stropped razor... so that on my first shave... I didn't even get the chance to ruin the edge with the strop... I got a great first shave and I new what a sharp razor was supposed to feel like... then I carefully and i mean carefully kept the edge sharp with careful stroping which I practiced a lot on an old flea market razor I bought... before I touched my razor sharp new straight to the strop myself... the edge can be ruined and not shave ready in a few seconds of improper strop technique...

So.. you've gotten lots of great advice... only thing to add is my congrats to you for taking on the honing in the first place... I think it's great and the only thing better would have been if you could have written us that you got a first class shave too!! You will... and you can either find someone to help you hone to the correct sharpness... or send it out for a pro to get it there so you know what to copy... but one way or the other you need to know for sure that your problem isn't that your razor isn't sharp enough which is obviously the most common problem..

Then with a sharp razor at the sink... shower.. best pre shave possible... then I like a preshave oil.....while the oil is soaking into you beard ...strop your razor if it needs it ( may not if you get it from honemiester)... make some lather... apply and shave... bet you get a great shave after that... if not its technique which mostly means your angle is not quite right...

You'll figure it out! Just start knocking off the variables one at a time .. Razor first!!

Have a great weekend... I lilke it that you took on honing... much braver than I was!!

Maq

---

Goog,

This is the best advice I've gotten.

Thanks,

Ryan

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by greatgoogamooga

I got my first straight razor in college from my room mate. Fortunately, he have me a good one (Double Duck). I was working at a bike shop at the time and a couple of doors down was a barber shop where my dad used to go and I did as a kid. The same old barber was still there. I asked him to teach me how to shave with it. The first thing he did was check the razor's edge and strop it, showing me everything. If you can find an old barber who still knows how to use one, that might be a place to get some first hand advice and a lesson.

BTW, I remember asking him where he learned how to shave with a straight, and his reply was ....prison! :eek:

Goog

---