Can anyone tell me what helps prevent razor skipping? Sometimes when I shave, the razor will feel as though the head is sticking to my skin and not gliding smoothly. 
Razor skipping
- Thread starter Jimmy Gee
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I've experienced that before. It usually happens when my water is hard because the softener hasn't been run. When I know I've got hard water I use my creams that have more of a moisturizing property to them.
This happens to me when I use glycerine soap (like Pears) on my face before shaving. Now I never wash before shaving. My razor never skips.
Jimmy
Is your razor tightened up all the way? other than that it sounds like poor lather!
Are you still using that homemade soap? if so Try one of the Sues soaps. What you are cooking up is missing some ingredients for shaving.
Is your razor tightened up all the way? other than that it sounds like poor lather!
Are you still using that homemade soap? if so Try one of the Sues soaps. What you are cooking up is missing some ingredients for shaving.
Agree with Jim, in that it could well be the lather that isn't providing enough lubrication for the blade. I use a pre-shave face wash before lathering, and naturally that's going to strip away some of the face's natural oils, but I find that so long as my lather is decent enough the razor won't skip. I had problems myself with the razor skipping before I realised that I wasn't adding quite enough water to the lather. The lather should have a thick, wet & shiny look when you apply it to your face (but obviously not too wet). I found Mantic's 'Art of lathering' video helped me quite a bit in that regard.
Jim,
I had the same problem, and it turns out I was drying out my skin before I shaved. I would shower, washing my face with a washcloth and regular body soap. Then I would also lather my beard with a 2-in-1 shampoo that is supposed to have conditioner in it.
Everyone talks about how important it is to get your beard wet that I went overboard. Leaving some skin oil on helps the razor glide.
My blade was jumping around and cutting me badly.
Now I wash my face gently with my hands and a facial soap and rub conditioner on my beard while I shower. No more skipping.
Try shaving before you shower and just wetting your beard--no soap. Use steam towels for several minutes.
Good luck,
Josh
I had the same problem, and it turns out I was drying out my skin before I shaved. I would shower, washing my face with a washcloth and regular body soap. Then I would also lather my beard with a 2-in-1 shampoo that is supposed to have conditioner in it.
Everyone talks about how important it is to get your beard wet that I went overboard. Leaving some skin oil on helps the razor glide.
My blade was jumping around and cutting me badly.
Now I wash my face gently with my hands and a facial soap and rub conditioner on my beard while I shower. No more skipping.
Try shaving before you shower and just wetting your beard--no soap. Use steam towels for several minutes.
Good luck,
Josh
You can try 100% glycerine as an every-pass pre-shave, and that should help.
OTOH, a high-quality shaving cream or soap should mean no skipping. If you have hard water, try using bottled water for your shave. (The Sunbeam Hot Shot can readily heat it up.) Taylor's Avocado shaving cream has gotten a lot of praise---try that with bottled (even distilled) water and see how it goes.
What shaving soap or cream are you using? What is your normal prep routine?
OTOH, a high-quality shaving cream or soap should mean no skipping. If you have hard water, try using bottled water for your shave. (The Sunbeam Hot Shot can readily heat it up.) Taylor's Avocado shaving cream has gotten a lot of praise---try that with bottled (even distilled) water and see how it goes.
What shaving soap or cream are you using? What is your normal prep routine?
Jimmy Gee said:Can anyone tell me what helps prevent razor skipping? Sometimes when I shave, the razor will feel as though the head is sticking to my skin and not gliding smoothly.
I had this happen a lot in my early wetshaving days. I like you couldn't figure it out at first and figured maybe it was certain creams not lubricating properly, since I was switching creams a lot (trying different samples) and sometimes it happened, sometimes it didn't. What I later discovered with experience was that it was a result of getting too much water in my lather. Switching creams every day didn't help either since I couldn't "learn" the proper water/cream ration since they all vary.
My advice is to go make 5 or 6 practice bowls of lather. Start by shaking your brush out pretty good and then just keep adding water 1/2 teaspoon at a time. Each time you add a little water and whip it in, take a little of the lather between your fingers and feel it. When it's too dry you'll feel that it's not very lubricating, almost sticky to a point, plus it will look kinda chalky. When you hit the "sweet spot" you'll feel it become pretty slick. You'll also notice that the cream looks pretty glossy, especially right after and during whipping. Keep going adding water and you'll notice it get's more and more glossy, but you'll also notice that the cream becomes kinda "sticky" again and stops being lubricating.
After a few bowls of the same cream, you should have a pretty good idea of how much water it takes, plus you'll know by look and feel how it should be. Once you have a proper lather, you shouldn't have any problems with the razor sticking anymore.
- Thread starter
- #10
Great info from everyone. When I think it through, I too think it could be a lather problem. I probably am not learning one creams water ratio well enough. Once I have the kids set for today, maybe I'll whip a few bowls up tonight. Hopefully my Saville Row brush will arrive in the mail today.
The idea of gycerine is interesting. I currently follow up my routine by using a diluted glycerine solution for my face (no science here, simply water in hand and a few drops of 100% glycerine). This really seems to help my face feel smooth.
The idea of gycerine is interesting. I currently follow up my routine by using a diluted glycerine solution for my face (no science here, simply water in hand and a few drops of 100% glycerine). This really seems to help my face feel smooth.
Jim,
What cream are you using? Definitely though, I think it is a lather problem. Unless you are using something unusual, I doubt it is the fault of the product itself. I had this happen to me a few times early on, and I was using T&H Ultimate Comfort, which really is pretty darn good stuff. I was just a matter of getting the lather making process right. The glycerin idea might help, and might have other useful benefits as well, although you really should not need it just to prevent skipping, I think. Keep practicing, and things should work out for you. Good luck.
-Mo
What cream are you using? Definitely though, I think it is a lather problem. Unless you are using something unusual, I doubt it is the fault of the product itself. I had this happen to me a few times early on, and I was using T&H Ultimate Comfort, which really is pretty darn good stuff. I was just a matter of getting the lather making process right. The glycerin idea might help, and might have other useful benefits as well, although you really should not need it just to prevent skipping, I think. Keep practicing, and things should work out for you. Good luck.
-Mo
I have this problem too, on one particular spot of my face where the hair is tougher than the rest. I have stopped using the facial cleanser soap that I used to use to keep my face a little oily and just use hot water and sometimes a washcloth. Even when I get a very good lather I get that 'sticking' and 'dragging' sensation on one part of my beart - it just can't be cut. which is interesting because on my sideburns it seems like I could cut against the grain there with a good lather immediately after 2 days of beard growth, but on this chin area, if I ever attempt to shave directly against the grain even after other passes, it feels like its ripping my hair out and not cutting it.
I thought it might be my angle or pressure. I thought it might be my lather. I am just going to try to do extra passes to see if that helps. I will also try using glycerin as Michael suggested.
I thought it might be my angle or pressure. I thought it might be my lather. I am just going to try to do extra passes to see if that helps. I will also try using glycerin as Michael suggested.
Wonder if it might be the blade, Kyle. What blade do you use?
Kyle,
I think we might be talking about two different things. I have experience both. What I thought we were talking about, that is related to lather, is when the razor head itself sort of sticks and doesn't glide. When I had this problem, it happened pretty much everywhere, and was actually worse where the beard was thinner (because there was more contact with the skin to stick). Anyway, it is a lack of lubrication between the metal and skin.
What I think you are talking about is something different, which also happend to me on one part of my face, just along the jawline on the right side, near the chin. This is mostly independent of lube. A really slick lather helps a little, but it will happen even with Honeybee over PSO. With the grain is fine. But against, the razor just does not cut smoothly. It catches and skips. Always. I have done everything I can with angle, pressure, and stretching. It helps, but never solves the problem. A thicker blade also helps some (Injector, Gem, or Artist Club). Annoying as all heck, because it means I basically cannot get a truly close shave there without some irritation. Oh, and Michael, good suggestion. Sharper does help some, although it can make the irritation worse. Even the Feathers will not cut through smoothly. Oh, yes, and if you are reading this, Joe, I do reduce carefully and extensively to try to deal with this, and it only helps some. I can reduce as much as the beard can be reduced without going against, and I still have this issue.
Hopefully, Jim, your issue is the former, because, while more of an obstacle to a good shave than the latter, it is an awful lot easier to solve.
-Mo
I think we might be talking about two different things. I have experience both. What I thought we were talking about, that is related to lather, is when the razor head itself sort of sticks and doesn't glide. When I had this problem, it happened pretty much everywhere, and was actually worse where the beard was thinner (because there was more contact with the skin to stick). Anyway, it is a lack of lubrication between the metal and skin.
What I think you are talking about is something different, which also happend to me on one part of my face, just along the jawline on the right side, near the chin. This is mostly independent of lube. A really slick lather helps a little, but it will happen even with Honeybee over PSO. With the grain is fine. But against, the razor just does not cut smoothly. It catches and skips. Always. I have done everything I can with angle, pressure, and stretching. It helps, but never solves the problem. A thicker blade also helps some (Injector, Gem, or Artist Club). Annoying as all heck, because it means I basically cannot get a truly close shave there without some irritation. Oh, and Michael, good suggestion. Sharper does help some, although it can make the irritation worse. Even the Feathers will not cut through smoothly. Oh, yes, and if you are reading this, Joe, I do reduce carefully and extensively to try to deal with this, and it only helps some. I can reduce as much as the beard can be reduced without going against, and I still have this issue.
Hopefully, Jim, your issue is the former, because, while more of an obstacle to a good shave than the latter, it is an awful lot easier to solve.
-Mo
- Thread starter
- #15
Yes the issue is that at times the razor doesn't glide. I'm going to work more on the lather and stick to commercially available creams and soaps. Thanks again everybody.
hello jim,
you don't say what soap or cream you are using or if you have hard water or not.
for me, with the hard water i have here, my razor skips and stutters when i use glycerin-based soaps. the only glycerin soap that works well for me is qed. the fresh lime and sandalwood are my favorite scents.
i wish charles would reintroduce the original rose soap. i would then melt equal parts sandalwood-lime-rose together as i think they would compliment each other well and make a wonderful scent. are you reading this charles...
anyways, i am off on a tangent yet again. hope this helps.
thanks,
mike
you don't say what soap or cream you are using or if you have hard water or not.
for me, with the hard water i have here, my razor skips and stutters when i use glycerin-based soaps. the only glycerin soap that works well for me is qed. the fresh lime and sandalwood are my favorite scents.
i wish charles would reintroduce the original rose soap. i would then melt equal parts sandalwood-lime-rose together as i think they would compliment each other well and make a wonderful scent. are you reading this charles...
anyways, i am off on a tangent yet again. hope this helps.
thanks,
mike
Mike, you mention that glycerine soaps generally don't work with your hard water. What about soaps with a lot of shea butter? Any better? Just curious.
Oh Moses, I didn't realize. Your issue sounds like too muc oil stripped from your skin - try using a non-soapy cream to shave with, Ill bet that will solve the problem, or shea butter like Michael says. As for the other things you say, it sounds exactly like my issue.
Michael, this happens seemingly without fail with any blade I use, although it does seem to be better with sharper blades. It is best with Feather, Merkur, and Derby blades for me. I notice that pulling skin seems to make it worse. I pull the skin in the opposite direction that the hair grows, i.e. I pull the skin up from above the hair that grows downward.
Michael, this happens seemingly without fail with any blade I use, although it does seem to be better with sharper blades. It is best with Feather, Merkur, and Derby blades for me. I notice that pulling skin seems to make it worse. I pull the skin in the opposite direction that the hair grows, i.e. I pull the skin up from above the hair that grows downward.
Kyle Stoner said:
Yep. Those things will do it. Actually, just getting the lather mixed right will do it. But it took me a few weeks to get past that. No problems in a long time though.
I am basically just glad to hear that I'm not the only one with this problem. I kept thinking I was doing something wrong for a long time. But no, I just have an achilles right jawline.
-Mo
