Hardly hair removal below jawline and other problems

Hi,

I bought a custom straight razor from a razor maker one week ago. He sharpened it for me. It is a non-folding razor. Before I was using a Merkur safety razor with Merkur Super blades for a couple years. Nowadays I actually really like the results I get from the Merkur and usually only do a single pass (except for those two nasty, tiny areas that I can't get rid of right away).

Four shaves in with the straight razor, I still have no clue what I am doing ;)
With each shave, the number of cuts gets lower and lower (I am now in my single digit range....yippie) but the problem is everything below my jawline. I also get quite some razor burns. something that never ever happens with the merkur.

Upper lip + cheeks are superb, i don't feel the razor and it removes everything with a single pass.

Below the jawline a lot of the hair remains. ATG and WTG, doesn't seem to matter. First pass I do WTG and I try to do a 40 degree angle (not sure if it really is though), ATG I put the razor almost flat on my face. All the cuts occur on the second/third/fourth pass under the jawline.

The funny thing is that both sides are equally crap, although the direction of the grain is different on the two sides. Figured that should make for (slightly) different results but it doesn't.

My routine:
I wash my face with hot water and semi-dry it.
I whoop up foam from my "The art of shaving unscented cream" and apply it evenly with a silver badger. Let it rest for a minute or two.
1st pass: WTG and 40 degrees on my left side (top down). WTG and 40 degrees on my right side (down up). Very short strokes, same I did with my Merkur.
2st pass: ATG and 15 degrees on both sides. stretching the skin about 1 to 2 cm from the blade.
3rd pass: same as the 1st. except now I really have razor burns.
(at this point, it looks like i didn't shave at all below the jawline.)
i now apply a lot of cold water to my face ;)

Over those four shaves I experimented with the angle a bit. going from 20 to (supposedly) 40 degrees. But it doesn't seem to help much below my jawline.

Any help is highly appreciated. I hope I have the lingo right, being my first post and all.

Best,
Bosie

Hi, and welcome to SRP.

From what you're saying there's a couple things that may cause your trouble.
First of all, think reduction, not removal. The only thing you will get out of trying to remove all in one pass is burn, instead you should try to reduce a little for each pass.
Second is your angle, the angle of the blade should be aprox 30 degrees for WTG passes, and lower for XTG and ATG.
Third, you will probably be better of only doing WTG passes in the beginning until you feel more comfortable
using a straight, do a couple WTG passes and settle for a not so close shave the first weeks.

Take a look at this article from the wiki for more tips: First straight razor shave - Straight Razor Place Wiki

If I understood your post correct you have a Kamisori type of razor, that is possibly nog the best razor to learn straight razor shaving, if I were you I would get a 5/8 or 6/8 conventional straight to learn with, and rather go back to the one you got when you start to get the hang of it. You can get a good, shave ready inexpensive straight from the classifieds section.

Hope that can help you some.

Good luck with your shaves.

First lets see that shiny custom razor. LOL

Everything looks fine. Its purely your technique. I'm no expert. Infact I'm a huge big fat newb, but in the last 3 months every shave I get a little bit better, and you will too. Now... splash some burning aftershave on that and think of England.

Oh and welcome to SRP. HEHE I'm sure you'll receive tons of tips in no time :)

You've got the lingo fine. The lingo comes easily and quickly, but straight shaving takes some time, some experience, and more than four shaves before you start to get some competence with it. They speak of a learning curve here. It is steep at first, not so steep after a while, but is long. Your first shaves are no worse than mine were. You'll see improvement as you approach 10 shaves and start to get the hang of it. I've ridden the learning curve out to 180 shaves now. I felt like I was getting really competent at 100 shaves, and at 150 I finally felt like I was getting good at it. I can tell you that as long as the process seems to take, and that it does seem laborious at times, the shaves and the results do get better. It's a journey and a very enjoyable one.

I'd recommend less pressure. If you are getting razor burn, you are either using too much pressure or too many passes or both. If you really do bring the angle up to 40 degrees, that must be done with NO pressure at all.

Keep at it, and keep asking questions. You'll get it. The only way to fail is to give up.

Yes, it does take time to learn the best approaches and angles to shave the jawline and below. Try not to put too much pressure on yourself and many of us that started out did supplement the straight shave with the razor we had been using. Each session, it got a little better to the point, no razor supplement was necessary and the straight razor was king. For me, I was aggressive starting out and learned quickly from errors, but about the 50th shave mark, I had 95% of the know how sorted out. Overall, my standard of a good shave rose so much that going back was not an option. I tried my Mach 3 for kicks one day and booooo.......what an inferior shave!

Everyone has chipped in good advice and you will get there just like we all did.


Pabster

+1 On using less pressure. You will develop a feel over time that will ensure the effective removal of hair in one pass. I don't bother with multiple passes anymore with the exception of special occasions. I do this by using follow-up swipes XTG in tough areas such as under the jawline. It cannot be stressed enough- light pressure!

thanks guys for the quick and plenty responses, appreciated.

@Zephyr, I read the Wiki prior to my first shave and changed the angle to 40 degrees because 30 didn't cut it (sorry the pun). While I am not after a removal with the first pass, there seems to be not even a reduction after three passes. That's why I increased the angle, I thought it would give me a bigger reduction.

I am not sure if it is really a Kamisori type of razor, it is a 6/8 straight with a slight belly and round corners. Thick spine as well. Here are two pictures the maker put up (hope I can post a link as a newbie):
http://www.koraat-knives.at/twg181/i...twg_show=1.jpg
http://www.koraat-knives.at/twg181/i...twg_show=4.jpg

@HigherFasterNow:
" think of England." ... huh, what you mean? joke went right over my head ;)

@ace, @pabster:
Next time I am trying to reduce the pressure even more, I might unconsciously add a bit more pressure now because of all the remaining hair.

@flyman:
I stopped doing XTG under my jawline with the Merkur because I would end up really bloody. ATG/WTG are no problem but XTG seems to 'pull' the hair+skin rather than cut, even with no pressure. Hence I don't dare trying that with the straight razor any time soon...

Thanks again.

Under the jaw line appears to be a difficulty for many people. IMO this is because for a lot of people the grain of the hair (the direction it grows) changes.

For me the beard above the jaw line mostly grows in a vertical direction, which makes it easy to shave. Under my jaw line the beard grows west-east rather than north-south, which completely changes the angles needed to get the optimum pass. My solution has been to do two passes above the jawline and three passes below.

Bosie, how much total time do you spend softening the hairs with water before you shave?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AxelH

Bosie, how much total time do you spend softening the hairs with water before you shave?

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Not much. 30 seconds probably.i only wash it off with hot water

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pauly

For me the beard above the jaw line mostly grows in a vertical direction, which makes it easy to shave. Under my jaw line the beard grows west-east rather than north-south, which completely changes the angles needed to get the optimum pass. My solution has been to do two passes above the jawline and three passes below.

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Same here, i have two growth directions under my jawline. but i think i don't get the angle right because unlike my cheeks, my below-the-jawline isn't one straight surface.