Thread: no so close

ok so, after about my 3rd shave with my straight I have noticed that it is not yeilding the BBS result I am seeking, I understand that it takes time to get an awesome shave in and the razor is infact cutting hair, but its not as close as I would like, any tips or sugestions? (and I have a honed razor from whipped dog so I doubt hoaning is the problem)

I would not expect to get consistently good close shaves for about 6 months but that is just my experience. You did not say whether you were stropping before every shave. Again from personal experience, it does not take much with poor stropping to dull a razor quickly. Other than that I would say pay close attention to your blade angle, about a spine width from the face. Make sure your lather is thick and slick. I am sure others will have more and better suggestions.

Bob

Bob, pretty much covered it.

Keep practicing & I would not totally rule out the honing.

There’s a few things that yield a really close shave. Yes, practice is definitely one of those things but the question will be, practice what? Right? My first suggestion is to take note of every different direction your beard grows in on every part of your face. The closeness of your shave will depend on it. Also, make note of HOW the hair on your face grows. In my case, the hair on my neck grows hard to the right and hugs the skin closely on that angle. In order to get a close shave anywhere, you’ll want to first eliminate as much stubble as possible on your first pass, then get closer with an across the grain pass, and fine tune it with an against the grain pass. You probably already know that much. But paying extra close attention to how your facial hair is growing will help you attack it better. Because I have issues with the hard angle my beard grows at under my jaw line, I already know that a pass with the grain (or even across it) is all but useless. I know this from experience. So my first pass is across it on an angle that leans toward an ATG pass. I also know that the area just under my ear at the jaw line seems to grow in whorls, making it impossible to attack from a single direction. Knowing these problem areas and getting good ATG passes helps deliver a close shave.

One other thing to make note of is stretching your skin. It makes the ATG passes possible without filleting your face. In addition, you will find that in certain problem areas, pulling the skin the opposite direction that the hair grows makes it stand up a little more and makes it easier to cut.

I was lucky to have had this figured out during the time I was learning DE shaving. When I switched to using a straight, I already was very aware of the directions of how my beard was growing. Stretch the skin, lather REALLY well, and know the direction your beard is growing. Good luck.

Thank you for all the advise. I am Scandanavian by blood and as any of our members form norway can tell you is a "viking beard" like mine grow in every direction possible and is hard as steel. but I will continue to abserve how my hair grows and keep trying different angles and such. I have full faith that in time I will be shaving well with my straight and not have to saigh and pull out the 5 blade horror to finish up where I just couldnt get