2-Month Check-In - Tugging

[Altonius]

Just over 2 months in and I’m starting to figure it out. Confident in my prep, tried different blades, remembering to avoid pressure, and improving lather from pasty whip cream to thick yogurt. The issue is my neck irritation.

PREP: Soak boar brush in hot tap water, splash to bloom soap. Hot shower with face wash, which I can feel the stubble soften. Sometimes a couple drops of shave oil on neck.

SHAVE:Fatboy ‘61 on setting 5 (usually). Sharp blade is a must! Any “smooth” blade tugs, irritates, and is generally inefficient. Astra SP hurts. So far the Gillette Platinum has been smoothest except attempting ATG 3rd pass. My face never irritates, but my neck can’t take it. Cold water doesn’t make a difference. About to break into a super sharp sampler tomorrow morning, maybe trying the Feather.

CLEAN: Warm rinse followed by triple cold splash. Started using alum block and rinse after a minute. Nivea sensitive balm is my fav AS.

I hear some simply cannot shave ATG on the neck. I get DFS with 2-pass WTG/XTG and maybe I’ll have to settle. Other tugging threads don’t seem to match my issue. Thoughts?


Here’s my setup:
Fatboy 1961
Prewar gold tech 1940ish
New Standard 1921 (yet to try)
Proraso green
Razorock Black Bay (Amazing!)
Williams
Semogue 1250
Omega 16001
Nivea sensitive

 

[ajkel64]

Thanks for checking in and you have a nice set up there. How many many shaves are you using your blades for? Mine normally start tugging when they are getting dull, but I can usually get 7 shaves per blade.

 

[brandaves]

I used to have the same issue and for me the only thing that cleared it up was learning to shave with a straight razor. I'm not suggesting you do that, but what it did for me was to perfect my technique. Blade angle, pressure, a slick lather and skin stretching are all really important and every razor demands its own unique approach. I think its because even though DE was "new" to me it still felt the same as cart shaving. I thought I knew how to build a protective lather, watch my blade angle, monitor my pressure and stretch skin while I shaved until I realized I didn't. So, at the expense of telling you something you probably already know. Go back to basics. Build a nice slick lather, put the cap on your face and slowly lower until you find your angle and maintain it, be consistent with the no pressure concept...and last but certainly not least, its okay not to get a BBS. Most of the bad shaves you'll have will come when in pursuit of a BBS shave. Sometimes being content with a DFS is the right move. I fall victim to this one all the time.

 

[Shave_Rat]

It usually will boil down to technique, and blade selection/freshness. My neck is super sensitive, and by the 3rd shave on a blade, it's no good for ATG on my neck. Similar to @brandaves, I have almost no issues like that with my straight razors. Luckily, DE blades are still pretty silly cheap, so I don't have issue tossing them after 3 or 4 shaves.

 

[Invicta]

I hear some simply cannot shave ATG on the neck. I get DFS with 2-pass WTG/XTG and maybe I’ll have to settle. Other tugging threads don’t seem to match my issue. Thoughts?

Have a try with the NSC, it may give you a better shave. You say you cannot tell any difference between steep or shallow blade angle but perhaps keep working on a neutral blade angle as it is probably the most effective angle. It takes a little time to get the technique perfected.

 

[BigJ]

Congratulations on your progress and a terrific set-up!!

I suggest you try two things:
#1. Map your beard, especially to understand what is happening in your problem areas.
#2. Try some ‘skin stretching’ to improve your razor angle and decrease your need for pressure.

 

[Altonius]

Thanks for the advice so far. It’s very difficult to not buy more razors constantly, but the online window shopping is nice.
Extra info:

I shave every other day, and every third if the irritation flares.

Blades are tossed after every 4th shave.

Almost no new irritation on neck with two W/X passes.

Neck grain is odd - straight up in center, and almost sideways going out each side. Due to this my WTG isn’t perfect and I have a steep XTG as I pass straight down.

I will need to try better skin stretching. I tilt my head to get the neck tight, but may help to use fingers.

I have my grandfather SE pipe blade from the 60’s. It’s in excellent condition. Been itching to give that a try

 

[Altonius]

Have a try with the NSC, it may give you a better shave. You say you cannot tell any difference between steep or shallow blade angle but perhaps keep working on a neutral blade angle as it is probably the most effective angle. It takes a little time to get the technique perfected.

What’s NSC?

 

[Invicta]

What’s NSC?

I was thinking of the New Short Comb as the 3rd razor in your collection you have not tried but looks like it may be a New Standard. Either way the open comb would be a different experience.

 

[Altonius]

Gonna test the New Standard this morning! Will follow up shortly

 

[Mogaert]

I have this problem, but for me it's a moisture issue. My whiskers seem to dry as soon as I step out of the shower and no amount of lather seems to hydrate them again. I started shower shaving and the problem cleared up.

 

[Esox]

Try a Feather blade. They are sharper than other blades and that can lessen tugging. I suspect that might solve some of the issues.

If you have the same problems with your pre war Tech, try adding a shim. If the shim helps you'll know you need a more rigid design. If thats the case, try a post war Tech.

 

[TFAshaver]

The previous thoughts are all great. I really like my Gillette New SC. It has been used the last three shaves this week just because I love the feel of how as an open comb it works and how I can maneuver it, but here are some other ideas:

You might look at a different brush. The boars are great for exfoliating, but if you are doing a face wash in the shower that does that, you might be scrubbing your neck area too much. I would get a good Synthetic like a DSCosmetic Tuxedo, I find they create great lather and are very soft to the touch when lathering.

Another thing might be to try a different cream instead of a soap. I find that I rarely get any irritation from Proraso Green Cream or even better Proraso Blue Cream. But as always YMMV with this topic.

Hope you find a way to get some great shaves without any irritation! Good Luck.

 

[hydro-magic]

Maybe something to try is a little more prep. If Astras tug, to me that could indicate your whiskers aren't as ready as they could be. You mentioned using water and maybe some pre-shave oil for prep so you might try adding one more thing and that is something to damage the whiskers. You can use any number of things but the easiest is just some lather. Some soaps/creams work better for me than others but for now, you can just try what you've got. Just put some lather on your face, scrub it in a little, let it sit for a couple minutes, then use wet hands to massage your face and make that layer of lather good and wet again. Some of it will get rinsed off and that's ok but feel your beard to see if the whiskers have softened up. They should feel softer. If they don't, give it another minute or two. When it's time, reapply some lather and shave like normal.

 

[Altonius]

Christened the New Standard and the different angle will be quick to adjust to. Second pass, XTG, resulted with mild irritation in the regular neck spots. Wasn’t so much the tugging, but the friction against my skin. Didn’t use shave oil to feel out the new razor. That oil sure makes a noticeable difference in performance.

Definitely an issue with my prep and lather. I’m not achieving the proper slickness. Likely still need more water added to my lather. I‘ll try a cream as suggested earlier in the thread. I’ll avoid the shave oil to better gauge lather slickness. I’ve heard great reviews with preshave products as well. The main goal is comfortable DFS with no irritation. As they say, do what works for you.

 

[Demaratus]

Congratulations on your progress and a terrific set-up!!

I suggest you try two things:
#1. Map your beard, especially to understand what is happening in your problem areas.
#2. Try some ‘skin stretching’ to improve your razor angle and decrease your need for pressure.

Beard mapping. I was having trouble with daily shaves until I figured out how my hair grows. Now, no problem.


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[Demaratus]

Thanks for the advice so far. It’s very difficult to not buy more razors constantly, but the online window shopping is nice.
Extra info:

I shave every other day, and every third if the irritation flares.

Blades are tossed after every 4th shave.

Almost no new irritation on neck with two W/X passes.

Neck grain is odd - straight up in center, and almost sideways going out each side. Due to this my WTG isn’t perfect and I have a steep XTG as I pass straight down.

I will need to try better skin stretching. I tilt my head to get the neck tight, but may help to use fingers.

I have my grandfather SE pipe blade from the 60’s. It’s in excellent condition. Been itching to give that a try

My neck hair grows like yours does. I find two across the grain passes only is enough, and avoid a third pass.


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[Demaratus]

Maybe something to try is a little more prep. If Astras tug, to me that could indicate your whiskers aren't as ready as they could be. You mentioned using water and maybe some pre-shave oil for prep so you might try adding one more thing and that is something to damage the whiskers. You can use any number of things but the easiest is just some lather. Some soaps/creams work better for me than others but for now, you can just try what you've got. Just put some lather on your face, scrub it in a little, let it sit for a couple minutes, then use wet hands to massage your face and make that layer of lather good and wet again. Some of it will get rinsed off and that's ok but feel your beard to see if the whiskers have softened up. They should feel softer. If they don't, give it another minute or two. When it's time, reapply some lather and shave like normal.

Great advice.


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[RayClem]

It sounds like you have a tough beard, even after showering. You may need a sharper blade. Although many folks like Astra SP blades, your experience with them is similar to mine, they just are not sharp enough.

I like very sharp blades like BIC Chrome Platinum, Gillette Nacets, 7 O'Clock Super Platinum Blacks, Gillette PermaSharp Super, Personna Israeli Reds, German Wilkinson Sword blades, and Astra Superior Stainless. A couple of lesser known blades I find to be sharp as well are: Shark Platinum, Dorco Prime Platinum and SuperMax Blue Diamond.

Although Feather blades are very sharp out of the package, I cannot even get three good shaves from them. With the other blades, I can get 3-4 shaves before they start to become either too dull or too rough.

Although some people can get lots of shaves from a single blade, if you have a coarse beard, the blades will wear out a lot faster. Change the blades as soon as the performance starts to deteriorate.

 

[Altonius]

I really like my New Improved 1921 open comb. The second shave with it was a huge improvement by using shallower blade angle, skin stretching, and wetted lather until creamy shine. Now that I feel more confident in technique, it’s time to give sharper blades a whirl!

FYI - I have to travel this week. Back to the cartridge for a day. They sound and feel like scraping hahaha.