I've been trying to learn straight razor shaving off and on for several months now, and the main problem is my chin.

My razor basically sticks in my chin hair; it won't glide. I have to push it through, which of course creates a lot of irritation.

I also have this problem with my safety razor. Right now with the safety razor I'm dealing with my chin by "blade buffing," taking a ton of really, really short strokes. Otherwise the safety razor blade just sort of sticks in my chin stubble. I'm only able to do one pass, with the grain.

I don't think my prep is the problem. I use hot water, hot towels, and hair conditioner to get my beard feeling somewhat soft instead of prickly. I tried showering before shaving, but that actually made the problem worse. I also have some glycerine that I use as a prepass lube.

Right now I'm using Proraso green tube cream and a pure badger brush. I have some glycerine soap that I'm thinking of trying tomorrow.

One of my straights was honed by a member, and I've gotten another to HHT-sharp on my own.

Does anyone have any suggestions for coping with a difficult chin?

I feel like if I could just get through a with-the-grain pass without irritating the heck out of my chin I could start using the straight for my daily shave.

Thanks for any tips you can offer,
Josh