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Easier to shave long stubble than short?

I generally shave once or twice a week, but last night I wanted to test a new blade so I shaved with about 2 days worth of stubble. I experienced a lot of tugging and pulling and I don't think it was the blade as I've experienced this before with shorter stubble and other blades. I find that it's actually easier to shave off longer stubble (e.g. 4+ days worth) than shorter 2 day stubble. There seems to be less tugging and pulling. Is their a reason for this? And some tips for dealing with the shorter stubble, other than waiting and letting it grow out. Thx!
 
Sounds like you might need a sharper brand of blade.

What blades have you been using?

Also, check your pre shave prep.... that may factor into it.

Just my $.02. Thanks!
 
Sounds like you might need a sharper brand of blade.

What blades have you been using?

Also, check your pre shave prep.... that may factor into it.

Just my $.02. Thanks!

My pre-shave can use some more attention. Sharper blades will probably help as well. Some of the ones I've used are SuperMax Super Platinum and Gillette Wilkinson Sword (India) and generally they work fine on longer stubble on the 1st pass. I might be imagining it, but the 2 day stubble seems to be tougher / more difficult to cut, even with the same blades. Fortunately my job doesn't require being clean shaved every day, although shaving every day might be easier than cutting the 2 day stubble.
 
I sometimes leave it a day or two or even three - the longer the stubble the more lather I use. I also find that for a few days' growth I'm better off shaving after a shower.

Hope this helps.
 
I have always found it much easier with shorter stubble than long. When I was in the military I would shave twice a day unless I went across the grain which gave me a closer shave through out the day than multiple shaves with the grain. In fact, back in those days, if it was still really short, I would do a quick shave with just cold water if I was in a hurry mid day. With a cartridge, I would cringe on having to shave more than a day or twos worth of hair growth. Always pulled, but with a sharp DE razor, it isn't so bad.
 
I generally shave once or twice a week, but last night I wanted to test a new blade so I shaved with about 2 days worth of stubble. I experienced a lot of tugging and pulling and I don't think it was the blade as I've experienced this before with shorter stubble and other blades. I find that it's actually easier to shave off longer stubble (e.g. 4+ days worth) than shorter 2 day stubble. There seems to be less tugging and pulling. Is their a reason for this? And some tips for dealing with the shorter stubble, other than waiting and letting it grow out. Thx!

My suggestion is to not listen to people responding with "it's your prep". Any time someone with problem skin complains about an issue, those without problem skin tend to chime in with "it's your prep" or "try another razor". It is biologically known that there are several layers on a hair follicle and the top of the hair follicle tends to be the strongest, while the lower levels tend to be the softest. In addition, think about a shaving brush with a short loft. Short loft brushes are known to have more backbone and tend to be pricklier. Same concept goes for hair follicles on the face. The shorter the hair, the shorter the loft, and in addition the stronger layer of hair as mentioned before, and hence the more difficult it is to cut. It's just the way it is. Focusing more on prep and a sharper blade MAY help the situation, but there is no guarantee of that.
 
Boy, I'm not sure myself.

I've had the same sort of experience where I waited a day or two and the shave seemed to end up with an exceptionally smooth ending. But, was that the prep time or the fact I might have gone slower during the shave that seemed to bring the good result? Was it because it was a weekend shave verses an early morning shave before work?

On other occasions having waited a day or two the result wasn't quite the same. When that happens I tend to think it's more me than anything. Didn't work the lather enough? Went too fast? None of any of this???

I do tend to like to shave daily though. It does go "quicker" and perhaps doesn't take as much "work." I'm no expert and there are more seasoned shave folk here than I.

But, either way the time spent shaving is always rewarding.
 
My suggestion is to not listen to people responding with "it's your prep". Any time someone with problem skin complains about an issue, those without problem skin tend to chime in with "it's your prep" or "try another razor". It is biologically known that there are several layers on a hair follicle and the top of the hair follicle tends to be the strongest, while the lower levels tend to be the softest. In addition, think about a shaving brush with a short loft. Short loft brushes are known to have more backbone and tend to be pricklier. Same concept goes for hair follicles on the face. The shorter the hair, the shorter the loft, and in addition the stronger layer of hair as mentioned before, and hence the more difficult it is to cut. It's just the way it is. Focusing more on prep and a sharper blade MAY help the situation, but there is no guarantee of that.

The loft example does make sense. After a day or so my beard feels really prickly like sandpaper, but after a few days it feels softer. There is something about the loft example which I'm unsure of: I'm cutting off the hair at the skin level, which would be like like trying to cut it off at the the knot and not the ends. But it is longer and feels more flexible at this point.

I was also thinking that after some days the exposed stubble has become softer due to several face washes, in which case the guys saying it's prep might have some merit to their argument. A friend told me longer stubble is easier to hydrate and that properly hydrated stubble cuts easier, in which case prep would play a role and I would need to let the shorter stubble soak longer to soften it.

I think both arguments have merit. Thanks for your reply and everyone else's as well, it definitely got me thinking :thumbup1:
 
I find that longer stubble is easier to shave than short. I've been some what experimenting with shaving with 1 or 2 day stubble and I get much more irritation, tug and pull, and nicks than I do if I wait 4-5 days to shave. It has nothing to do with the blades I'm using or prep or angle...just something I noticed too since switching over to wet shaving. Using carts...I don't think I noticed a difference.
 
One thing I forgot to say is that my stubble is much easier

to shave after at least one and a half to two days growth.

I am in the same league as the others in this thread.
 
I have always found it much easier with shorter stubble than long. When I was in the military I would shave twice a day unless I went across the grain which gave me a closer shave through out the day than multiple shaves with the grain. In fact, back in those days, if it was still really short, I would do a quick shave with just cold water if I was in a hurry mid day. With a cartridge, I would cringe on having to shave more than a day or twos worth of hair growth. Always pulled, but with a sharp DE razor, it isn't so bad.
+1
 
I'm most adept at shaving every other day. With this amount of growth, I easily get a good, clean two-pass shave with minimal irritation.

I'm also getting better at daily shaving, but on a day's growth one pass (and maybe the odd touch up) is all I can do. As long as I'm careful about "no pressure" and use a sharp blade, this works well for me.

I have trouble shaving 3+ days growth without added passes and problems - but at that length, my hairs tend to curl back around and give me bumps, so I never let it go that long.
 
When I skip a day between shaves, I get a better shave. I can't say if it is the hair getting longer, or the fact that my skin is less sensitive with a day to heal so I don't have to adjust for sensitivity.
 
I also used to have an issue shaving shorter stubble. I seemed to not get as close and usually got some irritation if I shaved two days in a row. When I switched to face lathering this problem disappeared. I think the extra time prepping my fave helped soften the hairs more. Improved prep/razor/blade could be a solution to what you're experiencing, or your face may just need a few days to recover between shaves for best results. As they say, YMMV
 
I experienced the same thing until I started experimenting with blade angles. If I try attacking short stubble with a steep angle (handle more parallel to my face), I always get tugging no matter which blade I'm using. If I swing the handle away from my face, it gets much easier to cut through. Try experimenting with that and see if you can find the "sweet spot" where it cuts without pulling
 
I generally shave once or twice a week, but last night I wanted to test a new blade so I shaved with about 2 days worth of stubble. I experienced a lot of tugging and pulling and I don't think it was the blade as I've experienced this before with shorter stubble and other blades. I find that it's actually easier to shave off longer stubble (e.g. 4+ days worth) than shorter 2 day stubble. There seems to be less tugging and pulling. Is their a reason for this? And some tips for dealing with the shorter stubble, other than waiting and letting it grow out. Thx!
I have the same issue. In my case, I think it's because my coarse hair grows very close to my skin, instead of straight out. I'm thinking an adjustable razor would help with my issue. I use a Merkur 34c and I find that it's too mild. It wants to just pass right over stubble. I plan on getting a Merkur Progress or Rex Ambassador in the near future, so I can adjust the aggressiveness.
 
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