Thread: Poor results of straight shaving - very disappointed

Im absolutely disappointed with the results of straight razor shaving. I have 2 straight razors honed by a hone meister and they pass the HHT and arm hair test. All steps as prescribed have been undertaken, hot water towel, shaving soap, brush, shaving angles, and have spent upwards of 1 hour each on shaving but the results remain extremely poor and unacceptable
I know im going to get a lot of flak on this but Im getting much better results from my gillete. It is giving me much more close shave and my face feels smooth, whereas with my straight razor there are lot of stubbles and it feels rough like a 5'o clock.

I have invested considerable time, money and resources on this and would very much like to see atleast some results and ready to do whatever it takes. I feel like almost giving up and packing up my rig for good and stick to my gilletes.

My question is can a straight razor offer a close shave as a gillete? Is there something that Iam missing or am I expecting too much?

You are missing practice and patience.

+1 to Utopians post.

It could take many shaves to start seeing the results you're looking for, and you say you've followed all the neccessaries such as preshave and lather and angle, angle I find, is for the most part dependent on the razor and the face, the angles on here are a guide, but nothing about this is an xact science. That's half the fun.

Geek

With straight razor it is not only that you have professionally honed razor and you prepare well before shaving. Most important thing is your shaving technique. It will take some time, patience and learning before things start to go well. At least for me it took few months if not more until one day i got into good results. You can't except everything to be perfect right from the start. If it was too easy, it wouldn't be worth of it.
Might be good idea to make your first pass with straight and then finish with whatever you have. Little by little things start to go well. Patience is the word.

Once there was i time when i thought that i could ever get so close shave as with my DE. Nowadays i know much better.

It takes time. I'm still new also with only 5 months under my belt but it gets better. I remember my first shave and thought what are these guys talking about this doesn't work at all. I kept at it and now I'm pretty good. Don't get me wrong I haven't mastered anything yet and still miss spots and cut myself, hell sometimes it takes three passes to get nice and smooth. Don't give up I'm extremely happy I didn't. On the down side I now have a bad case of RAD now, buying two vintage razors in one week doesn't make the wife happy. But straight shaving is great and I hope you stick with it.

I think we can discount shave prep as a factor in your problems if you are getting good results with a different razor. To be honest, most of the posts like yours, where everything is right except the end result, usually end up as a discussion of proper technique with a straight razor.

With a safety razor the safety bar stretches the skin just before the blade cuts the whisker. There is no safety bar with a straight so you have to be extra diligent to be sure that you are stretching the skin adequately. Likewise, with a safety razor if your blade angle is too steep the blade actually lifts off the skin unless there is excessive pressure involved. Again, not so with a straight. My opinion is that most of the problems with the initial shaves (assuming a shave ready blade) can be attributed to too much pressure and/or incorrect blade angle. Pressure is easy...don't use any. The blade angle is a little more difficult, but not much. Start out with about 2-3 spine widths between the razor's spine and your face. You can and should adjust the angle as you shave. If it feels like you are scraping the whiskers instead of cutting lower your blade angle (spine closer to the face).

I think that most of us here believe that you will get a superior, more enjoyable shave with a straight than with a safety razor, but it does take some skill. That skill will come with some patience and practice. You might consider limiting your straight razor to shaving the sides of your face until you are really comfortable using the razor.

Hang in there.....you'll be getting the results you want sooner than you think.

Very well put Bill

In answer to your questions:

Honestly, NO you are not expecting too much.

Yes I firmly believe you too (many, many have) can get results which will outshine your Gillette by far.

Are you missing something? See Utopian's response.

No flak, just encouragement. Keep at it and you'll get there.

Just out of curiousity, how long have you been using your straight razors?

Willie.

+1 on the above. It took me upwards of two months to become truly comfortable and be able to get consistent results. Boy were they good results though! Patience is key with this endeavor; they don't call it an art for no reason.

Good luck!

Thank you everyone for your replies. I have been practicing since one week. I do this at night with lots of time and cover small areas. I havent been applying much pressure either and the blades are indeed sharp. The blade doesnt glide smoothly and feels kinda rough, I have tried doing with grain and against the grain and it still feels when I touch with my hand.

I guess its all about practice and patience as suggested - glad to know that Im not the first one who felt and been thru this same way.