Shaving chin & neck

I've been shaving with my straight razor for about a week now and am still struggling with my chin and a little bit with the neck under the jaw.

On the chin I have a real difficult time getting the razor to cut - it seems like it gets caught in the stubble. If I flatten it out it seems like it skims over them without cutting them. Haven had any better result trying to shave this area across or against the grain. I am using a 6/8 Dovo special full hollow and have a pretty coarse beard growth.

Under the jaw I haven't found a way to do a good across the grain pass. I can shave straight down and straight up without much issue, but my hair growth here is kind of sideways and I can still feel stubble when I run my hand against the growth after the shave.

Using 3 passes and cheeks and rest of face are very smooth.

Appreciate any tips and advice or pointing me to other discussions on this topic.

Thanks

On my chin I try to do short strokes XTG, seems to get the job done. As far as my neck goes it is usually fairly smooth after two passes.

Russell

I'm having the same issue with my chin. I can get a good ATG pass on my neck and get it pretty smooth but my chin is a whole different story. I got a close shave yesterday on my chin after several short strokes ATG but I paid for it with a few nicks and painful burning after I put on aftershave. I hope someone can shed some light on a better technique for this problem area.

I take the chin down and sideways. I do a little up in areas but Im lucky I can get bbs without an up stroke. After you shave try to feel around for any remaining stubble and practice the stroke with your finger. I used to do that with the neck til I finally got it. My neck grows flat sideways from left ear to right ear. I do the jawline up 3 passes, then use my dry upper face to stretch the neck up to raise the stubble for a atg. 2 passes. Dont get too frustrated, we all do til we get it. And you will get it if you keep at it. 100 years ago there was no other way!

Thank you Bill another method to try,

my chin I have got down,

around the Adams apple is another story.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bill3152

100 years ago there was no other way!

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Which explains why so many men had beards!

I have quite a defined jawline and neck, so I had some issues when I started.

I got around it by really pulling the skin up to get a fair bit of it shaved in the first cheek passes, then finished it off with upward passes on my neck.

On my neck and Adam's apple, my growth is almost horizontal from left to right. I found sliding the razor across whilst going up got me the best finishing pass on my neck, though it can get tricky around the Adam's apple and does take some practice.

Experimenting with your grip on the razor can sometimes help. I found that using the razor folded out straight like a Japanese razor to be the most comfortable for the left side of my neck, and a normal 90 degree grip on the right side.- I don't know why!

I shave my chin down to start with, then across. It's just a matter of maintaining the blade angle as you curve around it (which takes practice), you shouldn't need many different or repeated passes really.

Don't do too many passes on your neck when you're starting out though. It's tempting to keep going until you have a BBS neck, but a sure-fire way of getting razor burn. I tend to do do two then just touch it up.

You can approach the chin area with one or two passes WTG. I then stretch the skin sideways towards the ears and do short strokes XTG. Any residual stubbles can be attacked with one or two very careful and short passes ATG with the razor nearly flat against the skin. I've only achieved a smooth result doing this in the last couple of weeks. This area seems to be the last frontier for us newbies but be patient. Like everything else with SR shaving, it's all a matter of muscle memory and it comes with time and perseverance.

Having the same problems, but lots of good tips here to try, so thanks everyone.

One thing that helps me: For my ATG pass,
I only lather parts at a time. To make sure I can get the best skin stretch possible. For me after I do the south to north. I lather half of my neck or even less and make sure I stretch that skin as much as possible to get it to stand up. Doing this then learning a combination of ATG and XTG and lathering up areas as you shave them takes time but it works great for me.

Hope this helps!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by suits123

One thing that helps me: For my ATG pass,
I only lather parts at a time. To make sure I can get the best skin stretch possible. For me after I do the south to north. I lather half of my neck or even less and make sure I stretch that skin as much as possible to get it to stand up. Doing this then learning a combination of ATG and XTG and lathering up areas as you shave them takes time but it works great for me.

Hope this helps!

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I do the same thing! Jawline up first then dry the upper face to allow you to stretch the stubble up so you can get to it.

My guess is you are taking on too much too soon. You need more facility with the razor which you don't have and that is why you are struggling with these more advanced areas. it will all come with time.

I actually learnt to straight shave (properly? or better?) by watching "Jockeys version 3" on Youtube:
Straight Shaving Tutorial v3.0 Part 1 - YouTube

I wasn't at all sure how to do the point of my chin or the bit directly underneath without unleashing a stream of claret until I tried Jockeys technique.