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Two Pass v Three Pass Shaves

I have been experimenting with 2 pass shaves for a couple of weeks now in order to reduce irritation and have come up with a method that works very well for me.

I go north south from the top of my ear (no sideburns) to the bottom of the ear and then ear to middle right down to my lower neck paying particular attention to the neckline.

My second and final pass is south to north, all the way, but addressing the moustache area at 45 degree angle to prevent weepers.

The result is BBS everywhere with the exception of the moustache area which is DFS, but weeper free. Saves a few minutes in the bathroom too, but it's the reduced irritation that's the real benefit.

Does anyone else have a two pass method that works for them just well as a three pass one?

I would love to hear about it.
 
I use a different sequence, but it's WTG on first pass, then ATG on my face and jawline and XTG on my neck. Touch-ups as needed and done. Gives me a BBS where it counts and DFS on some of my neck.
 
I'm still fairly new but have been using a two pass sequence for about the last month that works great for me. I do the first pass WTG, re-lather and do the second pass XTG on my neck and sideburn areas and ATG on my chin and cheeks. I get a great shave every time now. Another change I made was to use a LESS aggressive razor (ball end tech) every day and only use a moderately aggressive razor on Monday (after a usual two day weekend growth). The difference is incredible. NO irritation at all anymore. I think my lack of experience for the first few months caused me to always go for a MORE aggressive razor but once I took the time to learn how to use the tech properly it's my favorite daily shaver and I get a great shave every day...
 
I do two passes, too. The first is WTG. The second is ATG. I then follow up with buffing my trouble spots. I'm lucky enough to get a BBS this way. There's no need for me to add in an extra pass.
 

EclipseRedRing

I smell like a Christmas pudding
On the rare occasion that I am in a hurry I do two passes WTG and ATG. Almost every day however I add in a third XTG pass. The result is no different at all, I add the third pass simply to spend more time shaving because it is comforting and gives me time to think. In truth for me that is the real purpose of shaving; I don't really care about the closeness of the finished shave. If I got irritation from the third pass then I could well remove the blade and do the third pass anyway 👍
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
I use to aways get irritation, even with a single WTG pass. Switching to SR shaving solved the problem. A three-pass WTG, XTG & ATG will now give me a BBS finish that last from the morning to well into the evening, all without irritation.
 

ajkel64

Check Out Chick
Staff member
I do two passes when using a cartridge razor. WTG and then ATG. When using a DE I need three passes to get a decent shave. Sounds like you found the right way that works for you. Congratulations.
 
I have been experimenting with 2 pass shaves for a couple of weeks now in order to reduce irritation and have come up with a method that works very well for me.

I go north south from the top of my ear (no sideburns) to the bottom of the ear and then ear to middle right down to my lower neck paying particular attention to the neckline.

My second and final pass is south to north, all the way, but addressing the moustache area at 45 degree angle to prevent weepers.

The result is BBS everywhere with the exception of the moustache area which is DFS, but weeper free. Saves a few minutes in the bathroom too, but it's the reduced irritation that's the real benefit.

Does anyone else have a two pass method that works for them just well as a three pass one?

I would love to hear about it.

North-South, South-North or WTG, XTG and ATG (with the grain, across the grain, against the grain) are just theoretical concepts to me, as - for me - the shape of my face and the direction of my beard growth dictate the way I guide the straight or safety razor.

After years of daily shaving with safety and straight razors, I now get consistently what some would call BBS* (better than any barber shop I ever went to) shaves with two passes, plus one additional touch-up along the jaw line.


The closest thing to describing it with one of the theoretical concepts from above would be a WTG (North-South) pass, the a ATG (South-North) pass, plus the above mentioned touch-up, but since the direction of my beard growth varies between zone of my face all passes have an element of XTG.

Full three passes don’t make my shave any better, two passes do not achieve the BBS objective in all areas of beard growth.



B.

* My definition of a BBS shave is a shave where - once the skin has dried - I cannot feel any beard growth with my fingertips and will not get any audible feed-back when going across the direction of growth with my fingernails.
 
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I never do 3 passes if my beard is less than 48 hours' growth. I prefer to shave every other day, but if I have to plane myself off after 24 or 36 hours, then pass 1 is WTG, pass 2 is ATG. If the beard is a 36 I may do some cleanup work XTG.

With 60 hours, which I tried the other day, a 3rd pass is worth the effort and does not seem to increase my risk of nicks or irritation.
 
I'm still fairly new but have been using a two pass sequence for about the last month that works great for me. I do the first pass WTG, re-lather and do the second pass XTG on my neck and sideburn areas and ATG on my chin and cheeks. I get a great shave every time now. Another change I made was to use a LESS aggressive razor (ball end tech) every day and only use a moderately aggressive razor on Monday (after a usual two day weekend growth). The difference is incredible. NO irritation at all anymore. I think my lack of experience for the first few months caused me to always go for a MORE aggressive razor but once I took the time to learn how to use the tech properly it's my favorite daily shaver and I get a great shave every day...
This is my process too, but just adjust aggressiveness on the Schick adjustable razor.
 
If I'm in a rush I'll do a two pass shave, not that it takes that much longer for three or more. But when I do its ears to nose on each side then north to south + touchup as necessary.
 
Hi,

I used to play with the two pass, then the three pass shave. Then I returned to the one pass with a 'but'. Some areas are WTG, some XTG, some ATG.

Stan
 

musicman1951

three-tu-tu, three-tu-tu
I've been doing 2 pass shaves for months now. Never a BBS, and I've tried every variation I can think of. It's a DFS, but if I were doing any work on your house you'd call a result like this half-donkeyed, or maybe pretty not too bad.

Unfortunately, my reality seems to be that I do extra strokes with the 2 pass shave, trying to get BBS, and end up with as much or more irritation that the typical 3 pass shave (where I only do each stroke once each pass). So I'm back to my 3 pass shaves and easy BBS.
 
I was doing a 2 pass shave, ATG then XTG with touch ups on neck, moustache area and chin. Like musicman1951 above I spent too much time doing touch ups so for me it's just as easy to do a three pass shave, WTG, XTG and ATG. This works for me, maybe not for you.
 
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