Thread: against the grain tips?

Lots of skin stretching and low blade angle works for me.

Skin stretch is important doing WTG, ATG or XTG. All my ATG and XTG is in small buffing motions, this keeps plenty of soap under the edge. We all know the edge is sharp, instead focus on where the spine of your razor is while shaving WTG, ATG and XTG.

When in doubt always lay the spine against your skin first and adjust to calculate the correct angle. I apply slight pressure to the spine of the razor which cuases the skin to push up in front of the edge while shaving. this pressure on the spine creates a wake or swell effect in front of the edge. Kind of like the prow of a ship cutting through the water.

Go slow with ATG and pick an area you are comfortable with razor hold and angle. Practice the buffing motion and move to other areas once you are more confident. FYI the chin will always be most difficult because of all the angles. Have fun, hope this helps.
Mike

Just keep your razor light in your hand. Don't try to "push" it through. If you need pressure, you're probably about to get a nick. I have not had any problems since the time I started sharpening my razors. I find a really sharp blade is imperative for a close shavel

Hi! From my experience: stretch, oil, check blade. You can always try to moisture the skin/hairs with warm water for 5 minutes before shaving. The soap matters too. All skins are different and you must find your own way! May the force be with you! :-)

I shave ATG every day and am delighted with the results I get. Here's what helps me:

• ATG will fail big-time with a blade that is not well-honed. This needs sharp and smooth.
• Your stropping needs to be right. We underestimate the impact of even slightly improper stropping
• Angle: yep, a very shallow angle, the spine close to the skin
• Watch the grain itself: my whiskers grow at several different angles so "ATG" is not the same direction everywhere. You'll really learn your face doing this.
• Some of my razors need a little stropping between the WTG and ATG passes. Maybe just 15 light laps on the leather strop. If you feel any resistance, give the blade a few laps on leather.
• I lather again for the ATG pass. In fact, I never move my razor over dry skin.
• Don't force. A sharp blade, at the right angle, will cut without needing to be forced.

Have fun!

Its a bit of trial and error. SRP members give good advice and the SRP wiki gives solid advice. Short repeating strokes and never force the action.

You don't necessary need to go ATG, you can always do a near ATG stroke and get great results. Eventually, you will find out what your face will tolerate. Although I achieved BBS results early on as a newbie, my shaving techique still evolved as the time and the amount of strokes to get a BBS shave decreased until I became efficient.

Keep up the effort!

Pabster

I seem to have a different problem then most when it comes to ATG. on my neck I seem to have the grain going left and right not down for most of my neck. this makes shaving agains the grain very difficult due to the fact that I have yet to find a way to make passes ATG in this difficult area. if I were to attempt it I would most likley be placing the ends of the blade at a bad angle to the neck where it curves leaving me with a HUGE potental of cutting skin. any suggestions?

Originally Posted by commiecat

I say this with caution if you're still relatively new to straight shaving, but you might want to look in the wiki at some advanced shaving techniques. The section on buffing is quite handy when going against-the-grain.

+1- on buffing, but with CAUTION. The skin stretching bit in this tutorial is great, as well.

Stretching the skin out will help a lot also, you may want to try a second WTG pass (if your skin can handle the extra attention) and then go to a ATG pass.

I've got a section on the right side of my neck that is and will always be a problem no matter what I do. Sometimes I just hit that area with another WTG pass and then go with the ATG to finish everything up.

Anymore, as the years roll on by I find that I'm not really looking for the perfection of BBS all that often.

Originally Posted by Rusty Shackleford

Stretching the skin out will help a lot also, you may want to try a second WTG pass (if your skin can handle the extra attention) and then go to a ATG pass.

I've got a section on the right side of my neck that is and will always be a problem no matter what I do. Sometimes I just hit that area with another WTG pass and then go with the ATG to finish everything up.

Anymore, as the years roll on by I find that I'm not really looking for the perfection of BBS all that often.

Ah, the wisdom of experience