Thread: ATG on first pass

Has anyone tried to shave with only the against-the-grain pass?
Just wondering why it is necessary to go WTG before ATG.

ATG is preferable for final pass to remove anything missed on the other pass or passes if you use cross the grain between the two.

My advice is always go WTG first to remove the majority, then cross if you like. Then use light buffing strokes against the grain.

fortunately for me it makes little difference to my face what I do, its all supurb once I left those cartridges behind.

To answer the question, yes I have done it, and did it for a while thinking it was a great idea...Ingrown hairs is the reason why I went back to my usual two pass WTG/ATG routine. Now, no more ingrown hairs.


Mick

For a clean successful shave its all about hair reduction. Not trying to take it off with one swipe. By going with the grain , then across, then against, you limit your irritation.

Ouch Ouch Ouch Ouch Ouch!

I did it once, and let me say right now. Not at all very pleasant. For me, my hair doesn't like to be attacked at that angle unless its exceptionally short (i.e. a pass wtg beforehand) Just thinking of doing it again makes me cringe. Microcuts galore.

"Has anyone tried to shave with only the against-the-grain
pass? ."

Like Chuck Yeager famously said, "It can be done, but
I don't recommend it."

Parts of my single natural pass are ATG, other parts are WTG or XTG, I find little difference in the closeness or comfort between these as long as I do them correctly.

I can't get a good shave without going ATG.

But if I start with an ATG pass, I won't be able to get everything, which means at least another ATG.

If I do more than 1 ATG in certain spots of my face, the irritation is insane.

Short answer:
Yes.

Longer answer:

Yes - been doing this for last couple of months (I think) as an experiment - to answer the same question you are asking.

My thinking was - why 'cut down the tree' in 3 stages, upper, middle and base, when you can just go for the base.

How?
You can do it comfortably, but (for me) it requires a step up in technique and attention. Lots of scything and buffing - whatever is needed.

Strictly speaking it is probably a mix of ATG and ATG/XTG, depending on where I'm shaving.

Why?
My thinking has shifted somewhat since I started doing this - It occurred to me that it didn't really matter whether I was shaving WTG, XTG or ATG - the important thing is to use whatever works!

My approach is to aim for the simplest, most efficient and most comfortable shave (with the straight razor).

It is a bit like parkour - getting from a to b in most direct and efficient way. (Although with parkour you aim to be able to get back from b to a...)

My current routine:
Strop
Lather
Shave one side with one hand (with razor in it...) and clean the blade.
Shave other side with other hand and clean the blade.

Strop, clean up, done.

Around 15 min from set up to packing up and done at comfortable relaxing* pace. (*Yes I mean 'relaxing' not 'relaxed')

The only thing stopping me from going back to WTG is working out a more efficient 'flight path' than the one I'm currently using.


Should you do it?
Your call - but work on developing your technique with your WTG pass followed by XTG/ATG passes. You can experiment later with ATG only if you want.

All the best,
Michael