First few shaves have not been great.

[Besbro]

Hello,

I converted from cartridge to DE shaves approx 4 months ago. It was a great experience! The best shaves of my life, no skin irritation, love all the soap options. It’s been great.
Then I decided to get a straight and give it a go. Picked one up and proceeded to attempt to get it shave ready using lapping paper based on lots of help from you forum members. I attempted my first shave, cheeks only. The razor did shave but it felt rough and really tugged. Once so hit the coarser hair around my mouth/chin area the razor would just “catch” and stop. It would not shave.
I decided to send it away for a proper honing to get it shave ready so I sent it off to Kent of Inglewood (I am in Canada). I figured I should see what a nice edge actually was before I worked on my honing further.
I received the razor back earlier this week and have attempted 3 shaves. It feels the same, and still will not shave anywhere except the flat part of my cheeks.
Being brand new I know this may be technique but I am unsure. I know that I am to use little to no pressure, just try to push the soap off my skin but it I don’t use pressure it does not shave.
Also my skin is getting sore. Normally my Alum bloc is a pleasurable, smooth experience but after these straight shaves it burns.
I did do the arm hair test and after doing a couple swipes about a 1/4 inch off my arm there are a few hairs on the counter.
When I watch videos of people shaving with a straight it appears that the blade glides across the skin so smoothly. I am not experiencing this.
Any ideas what I could be doing wrong if this is a technique issue or maybe my straight is still not shave ready?
FYI,
Pre shave is a hot shower and Proraso green pre shave cream.
razor is a Boker.
Soap is either Proraso green or Stirling Electric Sheep.
Follow up with Alum bloc and Proraso balm.

Thanks fellow shavers!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Frank Shaves]

First, welcome to the world of the traditional straight!

It's hard to know what your issue is. The reason I say this is when I started four months ago I purchased a new shave-ready razor and also struggled with the chin/mouth area, and I recently purchased a new shave-ready razor from Kent of Inglewood that arrived with a great, sharp, smooth edge.

That said, technique is very important and your technique will improve over time.

Will your razor tree top the hair on your forearm? Are you using a light touch, just trying to remove the soap from your skin. Just like using a DE, the goal is hair reduction using multiple passes. A good counterintuitive exercise is to first do one pass with your DE and then do a second pass using your straight.

If you conclude that you need a sharper razor, you should look at stropping your razor on diamond paste on balsa wood. This method can be used to make your razor crazy sharp without requiring the same level of skill as honing on a stone. A great method to use while you are developing your honing skills.

Another thing to think about is buying an old beater on eBay or an inexpensive Gold Dollar to learn to hone on. I have two of these which I am really happy with - paid less than $20 for each:

Amazon.com: GOLD DOLLAR straight razor wooden scale vintage razor for men & barber shaving ready without stabilizer: Beauty

Amazon.com: GOLD DOLLAR straight razor wooden scale vintage razor for men & barber shaving ready without stabilizer: Beauty

www.amazon.com

Looks like they are currently out of stock for this model.

 

[Old Hippie]

Pre shave is a hot shower and Proraso green pre shave cream.
razor is a Boker. Soap is either Proraso green or Stirling Electric Sheep.

Some of the things we learn when first we make shift to use straights or shavettes! I'm on that learning curve, too. What you're going to get here is my perspective and of course YMMV as always.

If you had the blade honed professionally, it's probably not the blade. Can't say, of course, but I'd bet that way. One thing I've learned from shavettes (no straight...yet...in my future) is that prep for a nice DE shave may or may not be good prep for a nice naked-blade shave. We hear about making the lather wetter so that it has maximum lubrication and also is a thinner layer on the skin.

My first observation is that if you've used Proraso Green as I am at the moment, there seems to be a fine line between "almost wet enough" and "too wet, now sticky." Other soaps with different ingredients may have more slickness. Part of the problem might be that your lather is a bit thin. To be honest, however, if you're getting good shaves with a firmer lather that ain't the problem. It's just in general that advice seems to go around.

Try a few soaps, maybe. One way to get a feel for what may work for you is to spend a bit of time reading people's SR and shavette SOTDs. (OK, Mr. Grammar Cop says that should be "SsOTD.") Take note of what soaps folks are using with these razors.

My second observation is that naked-blade shaving turns a lot of my older assumptions on their heads. I need minimal prep as opposed to going the whole route with warm towels, hot lather, preshave, oil, and having Mrs. Hippie apply the lather with her hands because nurses always have warm hands. So you may be "over-prepping." In particular I'm looking at that hot shower before. My skin is not terribly prone to irritation, but stripping too many oils out of it with hot water and hot soap will definitely light things up if I'm using an edge that is at all aggressive. Even a mild shavette like the Focus Slim is still an aggressive naked blade.

Finally, if you're having irritation problems then also use a good post balm like Nivea Men Sensitive Skin. A dab of that'll go a long way toward keeping the irritation and exfoliation from itching me for the rest of the day.

O.H.

 

[Straight up]

Besbro, your equipment sounds spot on. I use Proraso green at least twice a week (Proraso red another 2) and it's a great cream for me. My son (started SR shaving in March 2020) finds a softer soap easier to get a good lather with and prefers it. A cheap easy option is to try a croap or cream, but I suspect the problem isn't the soap.

Do you leather strop your razor before using it? It is crucial to prepare the blade before the shave. If I grab a razor and do a HHT before a strop it usually fails, but strop and it works.

The other potential issue is skin stretching and razor angle. From what you are describing I'd say your razor angle is too steep so that you are scraping rather than shaving. Make sure your spine is barely off your face (roughly 1 spine width) and you stretch the skin as you shave. Stretching get the hair to stand up and gives a clean cut, this means fewer passes needed.

You might want to master DE shaving first then move onto straights as I believe the fundamentals of DE transfer to straights (says the guy who went from Carts to straights). Remember it's a journey and the start is a road littered with so-so shaves, nicks, and weepers. With time you'll master it and wonder why you didn't start sooner.

 

[Tomo]

It sounds like a lower shaving angle may be required. Forget about 30 degrees. You want the razor much flatter. One spines width off the skin at the back, maybe less. With a low shave angle you should not get any irritation.

Also remember to follow the contours of your face and ‘scoop’ out any hollows.

Good luck. You will get there.

 

[LJS]

It doesn’t sound sharp. I see you sent it to someone so I am not trying to disparage this person I don’t know anything about. But it sounds like your razor is not sharp. Even with poor angle and technique a sharp razor shouldn’t perform as you describe. Sorry for your poor experience.

 

[rbscebu]

I'm with @Tomo on this. Forget that 30° angle stuff you saw/heard on YouTube. Flatten the blade down to a spine thickness or less. Basically, the sharper the edge, the flatter the angle.

SR shaving is the opposite to DE shaving when it comes to catching/tugging. With DE shaving many will increase the blade angle in tough areas. With an SR you need to decrease the blade angle in those areas.

As you are a n00bie to SR shaving, I highly recommend that you maintain your blade using diamond pasted balsa strops. A summary can be found here but best to read the whole thread to gain proper knowledge.

How To Use a Pasted Balsa Strop

lol camo

www.badgerandblade.com

Keep at it. After about 30 SR shaves you will probably w8onder what all the fuss was about.

Edit: Also try cold-water shaving. Many find it more beneficial.

 

[Tomo]

Good advise from @rbscebu. With a Method Edge setup you will soon have a better than professionally honed edge at home.

Some will advise not to hone your own razors at first but more often than not, in my view, it’s a necessity. As long as you can read and follow instructions you will get a great edge by following The Method.

My first five shaves were like you. Then I got the razor sharp and it was a whole new world. The razor should glide easily across your skin with very little resistance. You’ll know when you’ve got it right.

 

[jj_sharp]

I sympathize. It took me a while to learn. Sending razors out for sharpening did not help my situation.

I do think my stropping improved over time. If you do not give up, I suspect that you will succeed.

 

[PintoPlain]

It sounds like a combination of a dull(ish) blade and inexperience.

I assume you strop the razor before use. You may have dulled the edge with a less than stellar stropping technique. I am also assuming the blade was properly shave ready to start with.

I agree with the posters above with regard to shave angle. A spine width or there abouts from the face works well for me and many other people based on comments from various threads.

The only way to figure out what works for you is practice. My first few shaves were somewhere between awful and bad, then something clicked then they got better.

Sometimes the improvement will be like flicking a switch, mostly it will be unnoticeable, gradual improvement noticable only over a few weeks or months.

Keep at it, one day you'll look back and wonder what the fuss was about.

 

[narrowman]

I started my SR journey (after much research!) only in December.

I refused to pay somebody to hone for me when I believed that it could be learnt by myself (cos I'm a stubborn old sod}. This led me to the realm of films and diamond pasted balsa - AKA 'The Method'. I found that I got a nice edge on my first attempt with the blade easily passing the HHT and tree topping effortlessly. This was with a new ebay Gold Dollar 208 I snagged for a tenner.

However, my first shaves were as per your description but I stuck with it and looked to my technique and...believed in my edge!!

Things RAPIDLY improved and I am now shaving with confidence and getting smooth, comfy and fuss free shaves with great results. Haven't touched my DE's since I started and now really enjoy the SR experience.

This leads me to think your edge will probably be OK, particularly if you sent it out to a pro.

Stick with it and it will come together.

As above try a shallower blade angle, this helped me enormously. Also, strop with care and don't try to rush it. Initially I used about 40 laps on the leather but found better results with about 60 laps.

 

[Frank Shaves]

To add on to what other have said:

1. Honing, stropping and shaving all require a certain amount of technique and finesse. This is not rocket science. You are just rubbing steel on stone, leather and skin. But it does take time and practice.
2. As @Straight up said, stropping your razor on leather between shaves is a must. Get a good but inexpensive strop because you will cut up your first strop - it's part of the initiation ritual. Get one of @Tony Miller's high-quality beginner strops at Heirloom Razor Strop Co. - Shaving, Straight Razor. If you have any questions, contact Tony via a private message on Badger & Blade or via his website. He is normally very responsive - great strops!
3. @rbscebu's PDF summarization (link above) of The Method is the way to go. The Method recommends 12" balsa strops. If you are challenged at making your own strops, Strops (chefknivestogo.com) sells both 8 and 11 inch balsa strops. I ended up buying the 8 inch strops and they work very well for me. I bought my diamond paste from Diamond Polishing Pastes – Tech Diamond Tools in the 5 gm / 25% solution - works really well.

 

[Besbro]

So I made my 4th attempt today and after adjusting my blade angle there was a definite improvement. I did both cheeks (switching arms) and they were quite smooth.
Finished the shave with my DE.
I do have some irritation on my lower cheek/chin area so I am going to use my DE razor only for the next shave or 2 till it clears up. Then I’ll give it another go.
Thanks for all the advice!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Gamma]

It's not uncommon for new users to have such issues.
I'd almost guarantee that your 1st honing effort was a mile short of what it should have been.
Not being familiar with the service you used for the follow up honing, the jury is out there.
Honing is a craft that requires much skill and, usually, much practice -so 1st edges are rarely as good as one think or wants it to be.
Next typical culprit is lather issues - too thin or too thick will ruin the day. It needs to be 'on the money'. People coming over from DE shaving often find that their lather is not what they thought.. So there's that.
Stropping - I don't see anything about stropping above - the blade needs to be stropped, well, correctly, every time. If you don't strop you are looking for a less than good shaving experience. Experienced users can cheat a bit here but stropping is a must IMO and this too requires skill and practice.
30 deg angles usually cut fine, maybe not the best but they'll cut ok. Your description of the 1st 2 experiences sounds like bad or no stropping, poor lather and bad technique.
Going too slow on the stroke can give a false sense of 'tugging' - Do not rush but there must be authority and conviction behind the stroke.
Prep - wash face, hydrate skin and whiskers, make good lather, let it sit but don't let the lather turn into cement. Don't take all day to shave - don't rush but don't let the lather dry out.
Lastly, practice makes better and if you are not bleeding a lot you are ahead of the game.

 

[stringer bean]

It's not uncommon for new users to have such issues.
I'd almost guarantee that your 1st honing effort was a mile short of what it should have been.
Not being familiar with the service you used for the follow up honing, the jury is out there.
Honing is a craft that requires much skill and, usually, much practice -so 1st edges are rarely as good as one think or wants it to be.
Next typical culprit is lather issues - too thin or too thick will ruin the day. It needs to be 'on the money'. People coming over from DE shaving often find that their lather is not what they thought.. So there's that.
Stropping - I don't see anything about stropping above - the blade needs to be stropped, well, correctly, every time. If you don't strop you are looking for a less than good shaving experience. Experienced users can cheat a bit here but stropping is a must IMO and this too requires skill and practice.
30 deg angles usually cut fine, maybe not the best but they'll cut ok. Your description of the 1st 2 experiences sounds like bad or no stropping, poor lather and bad technique.
Going too slow on the stroke can give a false sense of 'tugging' - Do not rush but there must be authority and conviction behind the stroke.
Prep - wash face, hydrate skin and whiskers, make good lather, let it sit but don't let the lather turn into cement. Don't take all day to shave - don't rush but don't let the lather dry out.
Lastly, practice makes better and if you are not bleeding a lot you are ahead of the game.

My high school baseball coach always used to say something that seems applicable here, "Be quick, but never hurry."

 

[Gord A]

If you suspect that the edge was not honed perfectly, give Phil at The Classic Edge a call. His honing is world class, always willing to offer advise and is located in Ontario.

 

[Zig the Pirate]

I'll second what the others have said.
Take that edge angle down. 30 degrees is way too much for a straight razor.
Strop on canvas or leather. Strop using a light touch. I'd say 25-40 passes on each side, alternating sides.
Only do a with the grain pass the first few times. You can start with your sideburn area. Don't be afraid to switch to a DE around your chin, neck, or moustache area if you're nervous. You'll get it.

The shave WILL get easier for you. Nobody gets a perfect BBS shave the first few times.

 

[R7photo]

I purchased a razor from this vendor for Christmas, razor was not shave ready as specified , as I am new to SR since Christmas but with help and advise from this forum, I purchased 12k stone and after several laps (12), razor was sharp smooth, nite and day,, I also purchased a 8k Snow White stone and laps on 8 k then 12 k amazing edge results
Not wanting to bash vendor but shave ready may mean several things to vendors

 

[Straight up]

R7photo,
This is a common occourance on this site. The members are generally experienced and know what good is, while the vendors usually don't straight shave and if it cuts paper it must be sharp. This causes problems for noobs who think they are doing something wrong or have to get it professionally honed. Either way it's a buzz kill.

When I get a new razor I strop it then use it, expecting, and often getting, the worse. By using it I know some of it's faults and can go to work on it. I have recently acquired a razor that was actually shave ready out of the box! OMG it can happen. Of course the artisan uses, restores and makes them so knows a thing or two

 

[sexy beast]

When I started using a straight razor over 35+ years ago. They were things that I did that improve my success in getting a smooth non-irritating shave with a straight razor. The first thing I did when I started and was in my late teens. I shaved at night where I could take my time and it wasn’t rushed I having to go to work in the morning or at school. When You can take your time and learn how your face hairs are growing and angle suites you,because everyone is not the same. My hair growth is Think and course. I had to make sure my razor was prepped sharp and the edge is stropped smooth. I also had to make sure my beard was prepped and softened. With a good brush and shave soap. When I younger I was a sports athlete. And I never shaved after a workout because normally my arms and legs would be a little shaky. If this doesn’t apply to you I would “still recommend shaving at night.”A good straight razor shave is like getting two days off from shaving because of shave is close. That’s just my experience. Some people may have faster hair growth. But the key is “practice and consistency.”.And don’t get frustrated take your time. It becomes second nature at a certain point.I highly recommend shaving at night when you have time to do it and not be rushed and thinking about other things. Sorry to be redundant about that, but it’s what help me more than anything else. The other suggestions about Making sure your razor is sharp and beard prep are paramount. Just as important is developing your technique for your face, and having the time to do it in a way you can learn. I’m glad you have a Boker. The majority of my straight razors are Bokers for a reason. I hope my two cents is some help and best to you, J