Blade getting stuck

[zamanakhan]

I just had my 3rd shave with the straight. First was crappy... and the blade felt almost dull, no nicks or cuts. 2nd and 3rd were similar, The brush finnaly broke in a bit and feels better against the face. On my most recent shave i decided to shave moustace against the grain however on the third pass (already done wtg xtg) when i tried to go against the blade would get stuck in the hairs and i didnt want to put too much pressure so i kinda just let it go.
So what would happen is, i would get a small motion going and it would cut for perhaps 4mm and the blade would get stuck, and i cant move it further unless i apply a dangerous amount of pressure.
I strop my razor on a dovo paddle strop atleast 40x before i use. The first time i used the leather side of strop exclusively, it wasnt a good shave. But my lathe on the first go wasnt very good either, i just used a brand new boar brush and first time using soap. Now my lather with soap is very comparable to cream and i would say its good (althought it dries out half way, i just rewash and relather.) the 2nd and 3rd time i have used the other side of the strop to strop it with red dovo paste maybe 5x on each side and then wipe off and restrop on leather side for another 20x on each side or so. Its been better but still not lazer smooth. What do i do to prevent the blade from sticking.

 

[Legion]

Shaving upwards under the nose is difficult and scary.

Two thing to try. 1st, switch hands. Use you right hand for the left side and left hand for the right side. You might find this helps the angle of attack. 2nd, I personally shave my mustache one pass down, one pass left to right, one pass right to left, and I dont try to shave upwards at all. This gives me a BBS there and I don't have to worry about slipping and cutting my nose off.

Minimal pressure, go slow.

 

[drjay9051]

I, too am new to straight shave and have similar problem. I thought it was the razor but it's not. Getting better shaves day to day but still issues with the upper lip. WTG and XTG no problem. ATG the blade will NOT move. Next shave I will try to tighten up my lip and exert a bit more pressure upward to get the blade started. I do not mean pressure against the skin but rather upward parallel to skin. I had a prolem with razor getting stuck on other areas and more pressure (momentum) seems to help.

Hopefully we will get it worked out in time. I do see a vast improvement day to day similar to when I started with DE shaves.

There is hope.

Hang in there.

 

[life2short1971]

I have coarse hairs and I will shave atg everywhere except my upper lip. Wtg and xtg are all. I know that razor will jump and bite me if I try it enough times so no sense asking for trouble.

 

[funkadelyk]

Here's my $.02 worth. When going ATG with a straight decrease the blade angle to around 5 degrees(with a full hollow blade if feels almost flat on my face just for reference). Also when going ATG on you mustache try using both hands to hold the blade and slowly inch the blade up this has worked really well for me with no nicks or irritation.
If your blade is sticking to hairs it probably means the razor has lost some keenness and needs either some laps on a pasted strop/barber hone/finishing stone. Take your pick at whichever you have or prefer.
Good luck and just remember it takes a while to learn so enjoy the ride and you'll get there.

EDIT: One last thing if your having a difficult time with lather try a shave stick it really simplifies things (wet face, rub shave stick on face, rub brush on face violla nice slick cushiony lather).

 

[zamanakhan]

hmm i read somewhere u are not to strop after or inbetween shaves, something having to do with the steel settling... and you should wait atleast 8-10 hrs before stropping again.For this reason i have not been stropping in between shaves just before a full shave. I think my lather is pretty good, i saw the pics on what a good lather should look like and that is how my lather looks and it feels fine, however it does seem to dry out very very quickly.

 

[Wid]

I strop before and after every shave. After a shave I strop 10 times on linen to make sure the very edge is dry and free of soap residue.