Dominant hand only when shaving?

[VaHomebrewer]

I've read several threads around here with people talking about not being able to shave one side of their face as well as the other because they only use their dominant hand to shave. In Mantic's videos, he also only uses his right hand to shave. This is a totally new concept to me, as I hold the razor in my right hand to shave the right side of my face, and switch to my left hand to shave that side of my face.

So, my question is this: Do you shave solely with your dominant hand, or are you a "switchshaver"?

 

[tater_salad]

Dominant hand.. If I did it with my weak hand my left side of my face would be quite red, and I may be on the floor due to blood loss..

I am a noob and my shave isnt' as nice on my left, but I assume it'll be better..

BTW.. I've got a stout in the Fermenter right now

 

[kingfisher]

Dominant hand only.

And by the way, my shave is always smoother and less irritated on the left side of my face (shaving with my RIGHT hand).

If I COULD shave with both hands, I'd use my right hand to shave the left side of my face and my left hand to shave the right!

 

[kingfisher]

.. as I hold the razor in my right hand to shave the right side of my face, and switch to my left hand to shave that side of my face.

I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous.








OK, it's old but it still makes me

 

[VaHomebrewer]

And by the way, my shave is always smoother and less irritated on the left side of my face (shaving with my RIGHT hand).

Interestingly enough, I'm right handed, but get a better shave on the left side of my face with fewer nicks even though I use my left hand to shave that side. Go figure.

 

[dpmtherrien]

Dominate hand, my right, only. I've always shaved that way, and its never been a problem. I've always started my shaves on the left side anyway. I've never heard of switching hands when shaving. I thought everyone just used their dominate hand.

 

[Niles]

I only use my dominant (right) hand. I'd like to be able to use both comfortably, but I'd be afraid of the results otherwise.

 

[Swampfox]

Dominate hand, my right, only. I've always shaved that way, and its never been a problem. I've always started my shaves on the left side anyway. I've never heard of switching hands when shaving. I thought everyone just used their dominate hand.

Same here. I really have no idea why I start on my left though.......

 

[chris456]

Dominant hand only.

And by the way, my shave is always smoother and less irritated on the left side of my face (shaving with my RIGHT hand).

If I COULD shave with both hands, I'd use my right hand to shave the left side of my face and my left hand to shave the right!

This, especially when it comes to my neck.

 

[theinternot]

Dominant hand here, too.

 

[Tzar]

Dominant hand here also (right hand).

However, I am seriously thinking about starting to use my left hand for my left side. Now that I'm starting to go against the grain, I find it quite awkward to shave my left side with my right hand while going ATG on my face. My arm blocks my view when going upwards. I don't like that and as a result, I have more irritation on my left side.

People fear they will cut themselves if they use their other hand, but the truth is that most of us can easily use our other hand for most tasks. I realized that when last Spring I had to switch to my left hand to control my mouse due to pain in my right shoulder at that time. I thought this would be miserable to manipulate a mouse with my left hand...well, in just about a week, I became as proficient and skilled with my left hand than my right hand on the mouse. Now, I have 2 mouses on my PC, one left-handed and one right-handed on each side of my keyboard and use anyone of the two without even noticing it

So I certainly think that after a couple of shaves using my left hand on my left side I should get into it quite rapidly.

Besides, I am going to try straight razor shaving at some point and apparently straight razor shaving is much easier when you use both hands to shave.

 

[Ru4scuba?]

Dominant hand only, with similar results as posted above.

 

[dpm802]

I shave with my right hand, and keep the left one filled with lather for the next pass.

I have tried shaving the left side of my face with the razor in my left hand, but it always felt awkward and clumsy, and I would switch the razor back to my dominant (right) hand after 2 or 3 strokes.

I'll try the cross-handed technique (right hand to shave left side of face, left hand to shave right side) and see if that makes any difference.

 

[jpkunst]

Dominant (right) hand only. I used to get lesser results on the right side of my face, and I tried to switch hand to shave the right side of my face with my left hand, but it always felt very awkward. So I went back to right hand only.

Now there is no difference anymore between shave quality of the left side and right side of my face. Apparently my technique has improved, and I don't see the need anymore to switch hands.

 

[bob.e]

I shave with my left hand predominantly but like most lefty's I'm somewhat ambidextrous so I occasionally will use my right hand.

 

[texbilly]

I shave with my left hand predominantly but like most lefty's I'm somewhat ambidextrous so I occasionally will use my right hand.

Same here. But for face lathering, I switch since I don't seem to build lather as efficiently going lefty on my RH side.

 

[redrako]

As a righty, I have tried using my left hand a few times to shave the right side of my face with good results. I have always noticed that when using my dominant right hand that I got a great shave on the left side of my face and seemingly much less on the right side.

I was ambidextrous before those darn early penmanship lessons emphasized one hand over the other. In short, using your left hand feels a bit funny, but forces you to go slow and use good technique - not a bad thing!

 

[rm71]

Right hand only here

 

[Lo'Tek]

I was ambidextrous untill I was about four yrs. old, then somehow I came to favor the right; now I wish I had kept the original versitility.

I started out shaving with both hands equally and now favor the right; but I was just thinking about it the other day and I don't see why it would be too late to recapture command with my left when shaving.

Come to think of it, I do excecute some strokes with the left, mainly lower sideburns, right chinline, and right upper lip, so hope is not lost, but it could go predominantly to the right if I don't make any effort to retain it.

 

[VaHomebrewer]

Interesting. Sounds like I am a bit unique in using both handes to shave.

In short, using your left hand feels a bit funny, but forces you to go slow and use good technique - not a bad thing!

I do think this is why i usually end up with better results on the left vs. right.