Thread: How do I get closer

Ok bear with me as I try to verbalize this question. Very new to SR shaving as this is my 4 attempt. I'm not having much issue (knock on wood) with nicks or burn but can't seem to get a close shave.

This morning did 2-WTG and 1 SOXG (sort of across the Grain) passes and had a tremendous amount of stubble left. I can't seem to go against the grain without the razor skipping and pulling.

So my question is 2 fold....to get any closer do I have to against the grain? And if so any good techniques to do this?

Also, just as a comment....because I work in an office I finished the shave with 2-ATG passes of a DE and results were fantastic. Even though irritation has not been much of aproblem it doesn't feel as "raw" or something (sorry hard to describe) as when I do a DE shave only. Does that make sense?

Stubble left, and skipping and pulling, are definitely not what you would be getting if your blade were sharp. Did you have it pro honed? If you did, is it possible that you stropped it incorrectly and dulled your edge? Also, angle is important with straights so be sure you are at around 30 deg. or so.

With only 4 attempts in, I would concentrate on not getting to crazy with the angle and using light pressure.

There are some more advanced techniques you can use WTG, but now is not the time to try them.

Also, Will you please provide some more information what razor your using and what type or prep you are doing?

Keep on Keep'n on.

You should get your blade Pro Honed even if you think it is sharp so you know what a real "shave ready" blade feels like. There are several here in the forum that do an amazing job for reasonable rates.

There is definitely a learning curve to straight shaving. With just 4 shaves under your belt it's safe to assume your technique isn't perfected yet. Watch a lot of youtube of guys shaving and more importantly stropping. Go through the forums and Wiki and read about technique. There's LOTS of info. Feel free to ask questions.

I get a very close shave with 2 passes. WTG and XTG. I do NOT go ATG at all. It's really bad for your skin and not necessary.

Yes I have 2--4/8 razors that was honed by a member on this forum. I am only using 1 as I want to keep the other for comparison as I have no doubt that my stropping technique is poor at best. My prep is the same as I have been using for DE:
Cold water brush soak and face clean (cold water shaving has consistently given me closer and nick free cuts)
Dermatologica preshave guard applied
Whipped up and applied some Queen Charlotte Key Lime SC
Left on while I poorly stropped the razor on a Filly Strop around 15 times
Started WTG on face neck and uuuugh chin.
Lathered did again
Lathered went XTG except on neck/chin did WTG
Finished with 2 ATG DE passes
Witch Hazel
Dr Harris AFtershave Sandalwood (don't walk but RUN to get this AS..scent is spectacular
Trumper Skin food Sandalwood
Again, no nicks and irritation free and BBS....only because I finished with the DE

This should probably be in a PM but just in case you're wondering, the razors were last honed by Undream. I used one of them once (since last honing) and it gave me a very close shave. The other has not been used since honing except to check sharpness before selling. They worked fine for me but if you feel they were not as sharp as they should have been please send to a honemeister of your choice and I'll pay at least half.

You've already been told to use light pressure.

Use even lighter pressure, or none at all.

One of the things that I STILL have to remind myself regularly is that the less pressure I use, the better shave I will get. You really need to be wondering if the blade is still touching your face. It should feel like a feather being lightly drawn across your skin, nothing more.

As most have already pointed out, you are still dealing with learning curve issues at the present and it's probably unrealistic to expect great results yet. Don't worry, you'll get those results soon enough if you don't give up. One observation based on your prep and shave process, you need about 3 times as many passes on your strop. That's assuming that you are counting 1 stroke towards you and 1 stroke away as a pass.

Bear in mind that you are now shaving with a single exposed blade without the benefit of any mechanical aids like safety bars etc. You're doing fine, just stick with it and keep asking questions.

Edit: Somehow I got that exclamation point icon in the header by mistake. Posting on an iPad using all 20 fingers, I guess. :-(

Originally Posted by Frankenstein

This should probably be in a PM but just in case you're wondering, the razors were last honed by Undream. I used one of them once (since last honing) and it gave me a very close shave. The other has not been used since honing except to check sharpness before selling. They worked fine for me but if you feel they were not as sharp as they should have been please send to a honemeister of your choice and I'll pay at least half.

Thank you my friend that is very generous offer. However, if you got a nice close shave with it then I would imagine it is my techinque as several others have noted.

I'll try stropping more times and see how that works. One quick question on the stropping....I put almost no pressure on it when going back and forth. Looking at the videos it seems like the strop deflects somewhat under the stroke...mine is so light that it doesn't visibly deflect the strop at all or maybe ever so tiny. Do I need to add more pressure? I'm scared to death of rolling the edge.

Originally Posted by volleykinginnc

I can't seem to go against the grain without the razor skipping and pulling.

+1 for a sharp razor, but it seems that that may not be the issue.

It seems like my razor stopped skipping when I started to get the hang of skin stretching. It's still a bit of a challenge, but keeping a good stretch close to the blade makes a big difference. "The finer points of skin stretching" towards the bottom of the shaving passes wiki explains why skin stretching may help you get a closer shave too.