By Popular Demand-The Four Pass shave

[Lavaine]

I tried this technique yesterday for the first time. Stopped after the third pass, as I had some (mild) irritation and a few weepers in the neck area. The weepers were all near the centerline, and I think are only due to the new horizontal technique, and a blade on it's last shave.
It was one of my best shaves, and certainly the first time I'm gotten this good a shave without major irritation of the neck area. This morning my neck area feels almost as smooth as it does immediately after a 2 pass WTG shave. the difference is amazing. I'm a convert! I think I've found my go-to technique for shaving.

 

[40boy]

I've been using this technique lately as well, and it's very effective for Q1 & 2, but I have altered it a little in Q3 & 4 to meet my needs.

The grain on my neck goes almost exclusively L - R, except for a small patch right under my chin, so in the Q3 & 4 horizontal 2nd pass, I go all the way across left to right on BOTH sides of my neck(WTG).

Then for pass 3, instead of throat to ear horizontally on both sides of my neck, I do kind of a diagonal lower right to upper left type pass across my whole neck at about 45%, sort of incorporating the "V" type pass from pass 2 & 3 for Q1 &2.
All this to avoid the true against the grain pass, and the resultant irritation that inevitably follows. So far so good.

Maybe when my face adapts to DE shaving a little more, and my skill level improves, I can go for the true ATG, but for right now, this is working really well for very close, irritation-free shaves. Way better than I ever got with the Fusion.

 

[gotsoul82]

I've been wet shaving for a couple weeks now. I have been using this technique for my last 3 shaves. I still tend to have whiskers at the bottom of my neck after doing for passes. At this point I go over that area multiple times, then I get razor bumps. What is the deal?

1957 Gillette SS
blades- only ones found at CVS
soap and brush- cheap Van Hagen set from Walmart (for now)

 

[Bobtrumpet]

I've been wet shaving for a couple weeks now. I have been using this technique for my last 3 shaves. I still tend to have whiskers at the bottom of my neck after doing for passes. At this point I go over that area multiple times, then I get razor bumps. What is the deal?

You'll need to check the growth pattern of the area in question, and then modify the 4-pass approach to most effectively deal with these hairs w/o having to overwork the area (you might try light blade buffing - remember NO pressure).

Every face/beard is different, and any approach needs to be modified to work best for you.

 

[gotsoul82]

Gotta love some good old fashioned intuition! Reply much appreciated.

 

[beardman]

I will try your 4 pass shaving method. Do you think it will work efficiently for men with heavy beards?

 

[Tzar]

I just tried the four pass shave this morning out of desperation about the razor burn I get on my left cheek, the unremoveable stubble I always get on the right side of my chin, and the fact that I have now a bad habit of trying to get it all done in just 2 or 3 passes by going over and over again on areas I just shaved which have no lather on, resulting in undesired irritation.

I am pleased to report this 4-pass shave technique is working very well in reducing irritation. Since I knew I would be doing 4 passes instead of 2 or 3, I consciously made the effort of not overdoing it on one pass. I glided the razor just once and did not try to go over some areas again in the same pass with no lather remaining. Needless to say, this helped me reduce irritation to almost zero (and this in spite of doing one more pass on my face).

Although the 3rd pass at an angle on the face did not seem to remove much stubble (I was barely hearing any whiskers being cut), I realized how much a different cutting angle can help with persistent stubble: the right side of my chin has never been so BBS I was completely stunned since for a few weeks now I have been trying like a madman going ATG, blade buffing and what not in trying to get that stubble off my chin without much success. Now, just by having that 3rd pass at a new angle without any pressure, I got all the stubble off !

Regarding the neck though, I did not exactly followed the pattern prescribed by the 4-pass shave since the skin of my neck tend to be quite picky on how I attack it

I did a N-S (except in my lower neck where te grain changes direction and I need to go S-N), then a W-E, then a S-N everywhere and finally and semi E-W. It's a bit weird neck routine, but so far that's the only one that gets me a DFS without burn or irritation.

 

[ProphetNoir]

I have always loved this thread. Now nearly 4 years old, its frequent resurrection by new members makes it one of those "carved in stone" lessons in getting a perfect shave. It is something to aspire to, rather than something to start doing from the start. Four passes may not be for everyone every day, but there will come a time when your face lets you know that, "Yes. Today I can do this." you will get a BBS with no next day irritation on those days. Admittedly I usually do three passes for a DFS and sometimes only two passes for a comfortable shave. But I have, on occasion, gone for the full four-passes and it works as advertised provided I approach it with patience and careful attention to each of the passes that come before the final ATG.
If I were to add anything, it would be what I always say: Every step is important enough to merit your complete attention. Don't think about your lather while you are doing your prep. Don't think about your technique while you are building your lather. Don't worry about your second pass while you are on your first, or your third while you are on your second. Don't think about whether the alum block will sting while you are shaving your face for the fourth time. Do just what is in front of you, and do it the very best that you can, the next thing you do depends on what comes before it.

 

[guenron]

I just tried the four pass shave this morning out of desperation about the razor burn I get on my left cheek, the unremoveable stubble I always get on the right side of my chin, and the fact that I have now a bad habit of trying to get it all done in just 2 or 3 passes by going over and over again on areas I just shaved which have no lather on, resulting in undesired irritation.

I am pleased to report this 4-pass shave technique is working very well in reducing irritation. Since I knew I would be doing 4 passes instead of 2 or 3, I consciously made the effort of not overdoing it on one pass. I glided the razor just once and did not try to go over some areas again in the same pass with no lather remaining. Needless to say, this helped me reduce irritation to almost zero (and this in spite of doing one more pass on my face).

Although the 3rd pass at an angle on the face did not seem to remove much stubble (I was barely hearing any whiskers being cut), I realized how much a different cutting angle can help with persistent stubble: the right side of my chin has never been so BBS I was completely stunned since for a few weeks now I have been trying like a madman going ATG, blade buffing and what not in trying to get that stubble off my chin without much success. Now, just by having that 3rd pass at a new angle without any pressure, I got all the stubble off !

Regarding the neck though, I did not exactly followed the pattern prescribed by the 4-pass shave since the skin of my neck tend to be quite picky on how I attack it

I did a N-S (except in my lower neck where te grain changes direction and I need to go S-N), then a W-E, then a S-N everywhere and finally and semi E-W. It's a bit weird neck routine, but so far that's the only one that gets me a DFS without burn or irritation.

I have always loved this thread. Now nearly 4 years old, its frequent resurrection by new members makes it one of those "carved in stone" lessons in getting a perfect shave. It is something to aspire to, rather than something to start doing from the start. Four passes may not be for everyone every day, but there will come a time when your face lets you know that, "Yes. Today I can do this." you will get a BBS with no next day irritation on those days. Admittedly I usually do three passes for a DFS and sometimes only two passes for a comfortable shave. But I have, on occasion, gone for the full four-passes and it works as advertised provided I approach it with patience and careful attention to each of the passes that come before the final ATG.
If I were to add anything, it would be what I always say: Every step is important enough to merit your complete attention. Don't think about your lather while you are doing your prep. Don't think about your technique while you are building your lather. Don't worry about your second pass while you are on your first, or your third while you are on your second. Don't think about whether the alum block will sting while you are shaving your face for the fourth time. Do just what is in front of you, and do it the very best that you can, the next thing you do depends on what comes before it.

Great! My heart soars like an eagle!

 

[guenron]

I will try your 4 pass shaving method. Do you think it will work efficiently for men with heavy beards?

Yup.. I have a wirey coarse beard. In my home, no BBS, no smooch from mama!

 

[cfriend]

I did this for a long time, then finally settled on two passes and done. WTG, then a combo ETG "face" and XTG jawline/chine. Looks good, feels great, in and out in 15. I will admit though... it's not as close as the four pass shave

 

[Spivey]

Interesting. This is very similar to the three Method Shaving Forms. In Method Shaving, the third form (pass) completes the V in a upward stroke (bottom of ear to upper part of nose).

I've used these "Forms" for a while (along with the 4th touchup pass) for a most of the last year with great success.

 

[DJSneak]

Great post, I'm glad this was bumped up to the top agian.

 

[Strikur]

I never had a father figure around to teach me shaving, kind of learned it on the fly. I've been shaving my face north to south to just below my jawline, and my neck from south to north up to just below my jawline. I've been doing this for 20+ years and always hated the way the dividing line between the n-s passes and s-n passes felt. I'm going to try and retrain myself to make all the passes n-s and hope for an improvement. Thanks for this post!

 

[ppearce]

What a great post, esp. for me, a newbie.
One question: In the post, mention is made that after the first pass, rinse and re-lather, but that is the last time that is mentioned. I tried this method exactly as written, not rinsing or lathering after the second and third passes, and got severe razor burn. Am I doing something wrong?
Thanks.

 

[ProphetNoir]

What a great post, esp. for me, a newbie.
One question: In the post, mention is made that after the first pass, rinse and re-lather, but that is the last time that is mentioned. I tried this method exactly as written, not rinsing or lathering after the second and third passes, and got severe razor burn. Am I doing something wrong?
Thanks.

Rinse and relather for each and every pass. Never shave without lather on your face.
That's an oversight worth mentioning, sorry that you had to learn the hard way.

 

[itai]

guys. this might seem like a very dumb request. but I'm having trouble understanding how it all fits together.
Is it possible to see some pictures or videos?

appreciated

 

[roboboticus]

On my face, pass 2 (as written) is nearly ATG on the jaw and neck, and pass 3 is WTG most everywhere. I'm assuming I'd get better results by switching them. Just thought I'd ask in case pass 2 is supposed to be more ATG than pass 3.

Hmm... probably not
think I'll try switching them.

 

[Condorito]

Great info...will definitely work on this

 

[michiganlover]

I have never read through this thread before, but developed a similar technique on my own.

My 1st pass is N-S. The second pass NW-NE/ NE-SW, and the third pass E-W/W-E. It was simply what felt best to my face as I learned to DE shave.