Thread: Razor burn

So i have been using my straight razor for a few months now, and i get some times minor and major cases of razor rash. Is there any pre and post shaving things that i could do to lessen the burn. I am not saying the razor burn is to painful for me to to handle, but i would like to lessen this i would like to avoid some of the irritation.

Good pre and post shave are very important. As is a shave ready razor. A how shower or hot towel can make a world of difference in softening those whiskers before a shave. I found that most of my razor burn came from a not quite sharp enough razor, followed by lazy prep.

There are so many factors that contribute to razor burn that it's difficult to know where to start.

First, I would start with some kind of preshave; I personally recommend Proraso pre/post, but YMMV. You can also try shave oil, some like it and some don't. I would also recommend shaving only after a hot shower to soften the skin and whiskers. If you really want to go for luxury do the hot towel routine. Lather is also very important; using a quality soap or cream, your lather should hit the sweet spot between too dry and too wet.

Second, a sharp razor and technique are the two most important factors in avoiding razor burn. Your razor should be optimally sharp and well stropped. Shaving technique can not be stressed enough: low pressure, low angle, passes and skin stretching.

Post shave treatments can include a cold water rinse, alum block, some form of astringent and/or moisturizer and a nivce aftershave that may or may not include alcohol.

It may take awhile to find the right combination for your face, but it is still wise to work on few variables at a time. Good luck.

i was getting burn the first few times i used a straight and this was doing all the above. If you're doing all that (and you really really should, apart from how much easier it makes your shave, it's pleasent), your razor is definitely shave ready and your still getting burn, may i suggest it's a combination of angle and pressure? if you're pressing too hard, your taking away more skin than you need too. light touch, as the guy i got my beginner set off says "let the tool do the work"

Edit: oh wait, Ryan already covered it, nevermind. What they said above

Good advice so far. Out of curiosity, which direction(s) do you go when you shave? If you're only going WTG then you've received a world of help already in this thread. If you also go XTG and/or ATG then I'd eliminate those for now until the irritation goes away. I think it was Glen who always says comfort first, then closeness.

I am prone to razor burn on the neck area, especially in the warmer months & what helps keep my burn down is an alum block. Keep in mind that all of the above stuff is good advice...especially the prep, angle, & pressure part. Another thing is that if you are making more than 3 passes (WTG, XTG, ATG), you will be literally scraping too much skin from the face. You may not always get a BBS shave...or at least I don't.

Keep it up!

Oh yeah, just remembered something not mentioned, uneven contact. I got burn on my neck when startig as i was trying tho use the whole blade on my neck. there a few more recesses on my neck than face so while the blade was shaving one part, it was raking another. Try using (with very light touch) the front half of the razor on smaller patches rather than trying to get everything in one go

The journey to BBS goes straight through razor burn country.

I am new at this. Started Straight razor shaving in 08. I will tell you this; Speed, skin stretching, angle, pressure, lather, pre shave prep, keeness of edge and attention to detail is what counts with straight razor shaving. Make sure you have a good lather worked up. Also stretch, it will may the hairs "pop" and also allow the razor to glide over the face easier IMO. Go slow for now. This is not a race. You will develop your techinique as you go. If you want fast go with a Mach 6 or whatever they are called now. Pressure and angle are key. You are not scraping paint off a barn here, you are shaving. Low angle and even, steady light pressure is what will get you a good irritation free shave. Keeness of edge....All other advice is mute without this. If your razor is dull than all the tips and hints you receive amount to nothing. Make sure it is "razor sharp". People here can help with that. My best shaves come after a nice hot shower in the morning. I have attempted to shave in the evenings after a face scrub with hot washcloth, but it is never like after a hot shower. The mornings are quiet, the kids are still in bed and the wiskers are soft. Stropped on pasted leather than a move over to regular strop and I get a good shave.

I suspect that most razor burn is from advancing away from WTG too rapidly. Shave WTG. If your face isn't BBS when you run your hand over your face in the WTG direction, shave WTG again. Do that until it is BBS.

After achieving WTG BBS skin, you are ready to advance toward XTG. At this point, if you shaved WTG again, your razor would simply slide over your skin as you have already shaved off whatever whiskers your razor could find. You might not want to go immediately to XTG at this point. 90 degrees advance might be too much. Advance toward XTG in your next pass just enough that the razor starts to catch on and shave off a little, little bit of whiskers again. I don't care if you only advanced 10 degrees, stick to that much advance.

The first few times, instead of the three WTG/XTG/ATG passes you might use 10 passes with much less advancement between passes. But, advance incrementally.

After you use the incrementally increased passes you will get a sense for how far to advance without getting razor burn.

Then, again, as noted by others, what I mention above might not even be why you experience razor burn. Good luck!