Against the grain shaving

Howdy all,

Hope you all are enjoying your day today and your shaves!

So I wanted to ask you all on how to get that perfect shave even more perfect.

In my daily shave routine I always do 2-3 passes 1 with the grain and the other a semi across the grain.

Now while this gives me a shave that I consider good enough I know many of you would hate the stubble still on their face.

Recently tho I've been thinking about this against the grain idea you all love.

Now let me explain a bit. I usually have pretty sensitive skin. Whenever I would go against the grain with the shavette I would always have lots of ingrown hairs.

I know that the shaves are different but having to put up with the irritation really put me off of it. But I really want to give it a try now again.

I mean I have better equipment and way better skills than I did 3 years ago and think I can get it done.

But I wanted to ask you guys what your secret for against the grain shaving is?

Not of all us can. I'm in the sensitive skin camp as well and I do WTG, XTG for a great shave that gets me through two days.

By all means try some small areas first and then give it a day to see how your skin held up. Shave a nice path upwards from jawline to ear on your cheek (the easy area) with your dominant hand -- keep the angle small and use small, quick strokes (see the buffing section). If it's not comfortable during the shave then stop. If you get through it then follow it up (e.g. astringent, aftershave balm, etc.) and keep an eye on that spot for redness, bumps, etc. If all goes well then try a larger area next time. :)

Basil, I happen to be one of the fortunate ones who has never experienced an ingrown hair. I was subject to irritation before my technique improved. My default method of shaving, regardless of the tool, was a North south pass followed by a south north. Certain areas ,such as the upper lip and the knob of the chin, were shaved from whatever direction worked best.

Then I read a post by Lucky Cynic here with a PDF of a 1905 shaving booklet. This booklet led me to the cold water shave which I have been doing ever since the first time I tried it. The booklet also recommends one pass unless you want a really close shave. In that case the booklet recommends doing a second pass but doing both passes with the grain.

It took some time before I tried it and I don't always use that technique but it will certainly give me a great shave, sometimes bbs if I watch my technique and have a sharp razor. Check out the book and give some of the fellow's suggestions a try. Might pay off for you in getting rid of the ingrowns. IF nothing else it will be interesting. :)

Basil,

If you have pretty sensitive skin, you may want to avoid too much ATG shaving.

That being said, you can experiement by shaving ATG on certain parts of your face. Try a portion of your neck and see if it suits you.

Personally, I only shave ATG on my neck and then only rarely. The shaves I get are still smooth enough for my tastes.

I hope this helps. Take care--and continued smooth shaving.

Hi Basil,
For difficult spots when doing an ATG pass (my neck, Adam's apple, etc.), I apply the buffing technique. It's important to have the blade flat against the skin and to use almost no pressure whatsoever. Tight skin stretching is paramount as well.
Namaste,
Morty -_-

It seems Jimmy and I have more and more in common every day...

I also do a N-S then S-N routine with some other directions for my upper lip and a few other spots. With a sharp razor, stretching, a low angle and a light touch, I think you should be able to do an ATG pass.

I, too, have never had a problem with ingrown hairs, but AFAIK they're caused by the hair being cut so short the hair curls before breaking the skin. If I understand that correctly, guys prone to ingrown hairs might be best without that ultra-BBS. :shrug:

I also think that cold water shaving might tamp down any irritation, and since I've started shaving cold it's become my exclusive method. (It's especially nice in the summer.) I consistently get a good shave using cold water and get less irritation and less dry skin. I'd say give it a shot - maybe even a few - and see if you don't like it.

I've gotten a few BBS shaves just going WTG, so don't worry if ATG doesn't work. IIRC, Hi_Bud_GL once started a thread about not using ATG as a way to improve your technique. He might have a point there...

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

I have actually been cold water shaving now for the past month or so and you are right it does give great shaves and less irritation. Funny thing is I discovered it by accident.

It was killer hot one day and used cool water to cool down during my shave and noticed it gave a closer shave. Since then it's always been cold water.

As for the neck irritation I will try out what you guys said.

I'll try just a few spots first and see what I can do that works.

I also have sensitive skin and very coarse for that matter..I am into straight shaving 3.5months now and just starting to get the hang of under my chin/neck area..man whatta pain..in fact to get REAL close I go 4 passes..yea..sounds alot..but much better than 3 passes if i go one more as a "checkup" pass


pcdad

I'm one of those guys who cant do ATG at all. I get loads of burn and irritation, and sometimes ingrown hairs as well.

By all means try the ATG pass, but if it causes any problems, stop doing it! Its not worth the pain..!

Hey...I'm reading that 50's shaving book,.......fantastic read. Very helpful. Thank you for posting that.I'm halfway through it but it's gettin late.Gonna finish reading tommorrow night. This should be part of the wiki as standard reading for all of us beginners. Thanks you once again .:tu

I am Person who is against the grain shaving.
In fact i used to shave ATG every single time for almost2 years
This is what happen to me. i am not sure you will have similar case or not?
when i start to use straight razor's i never had properly honed blade.
i was shaving and unable to get close shave . that is why i tried to shave ATG TO get closer shave.
what happen is finally i find out how sharp razor should be(thank you to Randy) and i start to shaving ATG.
My shaves was getting better day by day. Only problem i had is my skin wasn't feeling smooth after the shave.
i did shave with this way almost 2 years.
In this time period i learned how to hone blades and my shaving techniques changed + i did learn how to lather up my face too.
i start to use straight razor as a hand saw instead of axe.
Basically scything motion shaving.
I learned biggest rule in straight razor shaving " PRESSURE IS ENEMY OF STRAIGHT RAZOR SHAVING"
After all this learning i start to shave only WTG AND XTG . That is all i need to get great shave and have smooth skin after shave.
Now i start to enjoy straight razor shaving. It was great enjoyable times.
(until i start to hone blades for customers).
After that i haven't shave with my blades and i shave wtg and some rare cases AGT. for testing purposes.
This is why i am at the moment saying . Please you can get great shave without going AGT .
Person needs to have right razor, right technique and patience.
In the other hand wile you shave AGT you always damage your skin. simple scraping out it is protective surface.
This will end up more infections etc more uncomfortable shave feelings etc.
hope this helps.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl

i start to use straight razor as a hand saw instead of axe.
Basically scything motion shaving.
I learned biggest rule in straight razor shaving " PRESSURE IS ENEMY OF STRAIGHT RAZOR SHAVING"

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I have to go along with Sham on this. It took me a couple of years to get the scything motion down but once I started using it without pushing the edge against my skin, gliding over the skin, I began getting closer more comfortable shaves. Slicing the whiskers off rather than chopping them off is the key here. That is the good news. The bad news is that if you do it incorrectly you can slice the skin instead. Blade angle, skin stretching and no pressure are key.

That's for the great advice.

All of my blades have been professionally honed so I know how a sharp blade should feel.

As for my shaves and technique, everyone could use some improvement but I feel like I am doing a good job so far.


When I shave my face is always smooth when I rub my hand across the skin with the grain. It's just when I rub across the grain I can feel some stubble left over. The reason for me wanting to try against the grain is to see if I can make it just a bit smoother.

I'm too busy with work to have a chance to shave so I'll be shavless until Thursday:( I'll test it out then.

Someone used to sign their posts "perfection ruins good". (was that Old School?) Anyway, some things are simply "good enough". If you want to spend all day shaving every last whisker down below the surface of the skin, well, knock yourself out, but be prepared when your skin rebels with redness, ingrown hairs, and burning.

Besides, I don't want my shaves to last 2 or three days ... I need the calming experience every day.

[QUOTE=JimmyHAD;620185] Then I read a post by Lucky Cynic here with a PDF of a 1905 shaving booklet. QUOTE]

Thank Jimmy for bringing this up and Lucky Cynic for originally posting it. Briefly browsed through it and looks great. I will be printing it out and reading it tomorrow. :)

I cannot get away without an ATG pass. My hair is black and thick, so stubble shows very quickly if the shave is not close enough, and I have to do an ATG pass to get close enough in order to get through the day with presentable facial hair.

A properly honed blade with proper skin-stretching technique is mandatory for a passable ATG pass for me. The blade has to be sharp, yes...but smoothness of the edge is equally important. I have had the best results when I use a coticule-honed edge, as they really seem to cut 'hair-not-skin'. Others have undoubtedly had different experiences.

Unfortunately, even with great hardware/software/technique, I still cannot get a completely smooth shave as I have hollows in my neck area where the hair grows in a direction it which it is impossible for me to do a proper ATG pass. :(

When it comes to straights, I can't go ATG. I'm still new to this so I do 2 WTG and 1 XTG. Gets me at minimum a DFS without the irritation. I think my newbie straight hands haven't acquired the skill yet to go ATG. When it comes to DE's though, I've got no problem got ATG after a WTG and then a XTG pass.

If it's burn and irritation..which I got in the beginning..any good str8 razor should improve these issues as I have..err..had the sane problem which goes away..but make sure your technique and blade is stripped well enough as I realized 1time before it wasn't

Good luck!
Pcdad

i always shave with the the grain and across the grain. i can shave atg just one area under my chin can hurt somtimes as that is my only sensative area , i could never shave every day atg no way my skin would not like it. i shave all my customers in the same wtg and axg this in my opinion gives close and comfortable sahve thats all you want . i find ultra close shaves don't feel right for me and tend to grow back faster and also with a prickly feeling that i don't like .

I'm with you, Gary; I have never seen the need to shave against the grain. That's just looking for skin irritation.

I don't shave ATG. I do one pass WTG and 2 passes XTG (each way). I can get a very good shave this way.

I figured I would repost to this as an update.

I've tried atg shaves and it's still not any good for me.

No matter how I do it and how sharp my blade is it just doesn't work out.

It's not that I get irritated or anything. After the shave my skin is fine and great. It's just that after a bit when my hair grows back it becomes all ingrown.

My skin is just too sensitive for that much of a close shave.

Needless to say I still go for close shaves. Ive just learned my limit to how close I can go.

Before I can do an ATG, I have to do a pass that is half way between ATG and XTG. Then my ATG is easy peasy and I get the smoothest shave ever.

I do two passes. One with and one against. Prep is a hot shower. Strop razor. Splash hot water on face. Make lather directly on face, 30secs work. Shave with the growth. Splash hot water on face. Re-lather. Shave against the growth. Wash face in cold water and pat dry. Clean teeth and apply some Nivea Balm to face. I have sensitive skin, but how sensitive copared to yours I don't know.


Mick