Thread: Shaving against the grain - ouch

I've had a couple of really good shaves with my razor since it reached me a month ago or so, and a many mediocre shaves. I don't think my blade is quite sharp enough yet but I plan to get a pasted strop soon to address that issue.

I mention this because a couple of weeks ago I decided to attempt shaving against the grain on the second pass. In the past, I have occasionally done so with a mach 3 which invariably resulted in bad razor burn and ingrown hairs. This attempt was not very different - despite having shaved my beard down pretty close, I was finding that the blade was biting into the remaining hair really hard and almost causing the blade to 'skip', regardless of how lightly and evenly i attempted to apply pressure.

I gave up after doing my cheeks, but I am wondering whether this will always be the case when trying to shave against the grain, or whether this is just a symptom of a not-yet-sharp-enough razor.

Does anyone here finish their shave with a pass against the grain?

Yep, I have to for that close shave. I'm betting your razor is not sharp enough.

Sometimes when I'm feeling squirlly I'll go against the grain at about a 45 degree angle. Takes a really sharp blade and its not easy for me to do. Funny though the whiskers just grow back.... :-(

a very sharp razor will work. . .I get pretty close with the grain so its not really worth the extra pass though....that takes practice too but stretching the skin and shaving down makes more sense than shaving against the grain. Given a sharp blade and enough time though you can shave against the grain if you want. I suggest you purchase .25 paste, .5 paste, and 1 micron paste and a 4 sided paddle strop if you feel you need to go against the grain. You'll need an ultra sharp blade.

I go against the grain and I have a pretty thick beard, sometimes on the first pass if I'm in a bit of a rush. All I use is a Lynn honed razor touched up occasionally with 0.5 paste and it does the job rather well.

First guess is your razor isn't sharp enough. Second guess is technique. Some 0.5 paste, be it chromium oxide or diamond, will refresh an edge. Try about 30 round trips on the paste, wipe the razor (you don't want the paste to find its way to your non-pasted strop), then about 30 round trips on the plain strop. The other possible issue is technique. Make sure you are really pulling the skin tight. Use a very light tough -- let the razor do it's thing. Experiment with stretching the skin from behind the razor, as well as in front of the razor. Be careful with the latter, because if you slip nothing good will happen.

I shave against the grain every day. I have to agree with the prior responses the blade is not sharp enough.

I tend to go with the grain on initial pass and more of across the grain, than against on the second. Totally opposite against the grain on lower section of my neck always gave me your results. I now make sure I pull that area tightly from neck are behind stubble (from the ear area) and then shave in direction more like 90 degrees across rather than completely against. My motto ...Keep it tight, keep it light

well, I emailed tony yesterday about buying a pasted paddle strop.. hope he gets back to me soon so i get my blade sharper

I go against the grain on my second pass. The key for me was getting a good stretch. I have to use a small towel to get a good grip under the starting point of each stroke, but it works perfectly that way. A super-sharp razor certainly helps.

Originally Posted by gegtik

Does anyone here finish their shave with a pass against the grain?

I do. I find it necessary to get a close shave.

It seems your razor isn't sharp enough. Even when it is, you might have a little difficulty going directly against the grain in some spots; try at an angle against the grain. You could also try getting the whiskers even shorter before the last pass. In other words do a with and across the grain pass to get down to a fine stubble, then going very lightly, you may be able to go against the grain.