Thread: against the grain tips?

I am getting alot better but am still not good at going upward or against the grain.It always seems to want to catch or feel like its going to dig in or hang up.What tricks or tips for going against thegrain does anyone have?

try stretching the skin while shaving. you may also want to try pre shaving oil or an exfoliant. also try raising the razor a little so its not flat on the skin that sometimes works for me.

I don't shave directly against the grain. I use an angle and shave towards my ear. All depends on the direction your whiskers grow.

+1 on stretching the skin

Also I found this Jockeys video very useful for the neck espescially the opening the razor scales flat for the "diagonal" pass. (Jockeys video part 2)
Shaving Tutorial V3.0 now with closeups - Straight Razor Place Forums

I have had the same problem, here are three things to consider that help me. one- be sure the razor is not "dragging" because it is in need of honing/stropping. if the razor is starting to dull you will feel more resistance than necessary.
two- I found that even when the razor is very sharp I do notice a small amount or resistance and because I am new to the art I feel unconfident. what I did was just assure myself that I am using the right skill and do it anyway. it seemed to work out for me but keep in mind that I am VERY new at this.
Three- I found that my skin not being used to straight shaving tends to create little flakes of skin that catch the razor. basically dry skin that is trying to flake off. if this is the case I would think that proper preperation before shaving might do the trick because fully moistened skin should have less of these problems

last I have found that stretching the skin does help also. good luck and don't give up.

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.

Stretching so that you're shaving a series of the flattest plains as possible is important. In general, the spine should be closer to your face than when you go WTG. The lightest of touches is the way forward. Good luck.

This is what works for me, of course, I've only been straight shaving for about 5 months.
I lay the spine of the razor all the way down. The blade is flat on the skin. Then I think about trying to cut the hair as close to the skin as possible with out touching the skin. Almost like the spine is touching and the edge is floating along the skin. My theory is that when I concentrate on this I am using very light pressure. This is when I get the best ATG shaves. I think the key to ATG is even lighter pressure than what I thought light pressure meant. "Light pressure" keeps getting lighter and lighter. Even with this you do still have to gain the confidence to push through the hairs. It does take a little more push. Hairs seem to have more resistance ATG. And even with the light pressure I still have to lay the razor flat.
So #1 lay razor flat and #2 light pressure.
Just what works for me. Hope this helps.

I've started approaching the mustache area ATG but doing so very lightly. I've experienced the same issue with whiskers pulling the blade, usually pulling it downward into the skin. What I've tried is not letting the blade get down on the skin, but, as sgtuskey says, cutting with the blade hovering over the skin and gradually cutting down closer to it. I sometimes have gotten very close without getting to the skin level. It's hard to shed blood if blade never touches skin.

I've found Chimensch's video to be very helpful with ATG technique. you can see it here: http://straightrazorpalace.com/shavi...ing-video.html