Going to long between shaves.

[Pilky]

What do folks who arent on top of your beard every day, do when you go a few days without a shave?

Currently when i go about 3 days without shaving i pull out the electric clippers to get it more manageable. Just wondering if there are any techniques for shaving when the hair gets a little longer to avoid "pulling".

 

[md86]

Same thing you do, get the trimmers out and trim it down to stubble length and shave as usual

 

[RayH]

I don't bother with trimmers. I just do an extra pass. Remember it's beard reduction that is one of the keys to good shave.

 

[Sullybob]

Straight razor. You can shave off a full beard with almost no problems.

 

[Ru4scuba?]

Good prep on the first day back. I make sure the beard is WELL saturated with a layer of tallowy lather. Went 5 or 6 days last time w/no problem!

 

[Dubbya]

Straight razor. You can shave off a full beard with almost no problems.

That is the key to whacking back the overgrowth.

 

[arghblech]

I don't do anything differently at all. Frankly, those shaves where I skip a day or two tend to be my most comfortable and close shaves.

 

[Fairchild86]

i don't do anything differently at all. Frankly, those shaves where i skip a day or two tend to be my most comfortable and close shaves.

+1

 

[Pilky]

That is odd...

My problem is the very first pass, the blade will kind of pull and skip. After the first pass its like butter. Any suggestions?

 

[senorsignor]

I don't do anything differently at all. Frankly, those shaves where I skip a day or two tend to be my most comfortable and close shaves.

+1
if my beard is several days long, the shave is almost guaranteed to be bbs, no irritation. it is when I shave more frequently that I have more problems.

 

[SiBurning]

with a de: start where there's no hair, and only try to cut off the edge, moving along slowly. be prepared to use more than one blade. Prep is extra important. A hot towel probably won't get all the hair wet, so spend more time soaking with hot water--a hot shower is a good start. Also, spend time working the lather in. Then make sure it isn't drying out, rubbing it in some as you go along.

pulling or dragging uually means too much water, so make sure you have a really good lather worked in there. And don't bother moving the blade over the hair--take off just the edge, putting the blade down where there's no hair and moving in to where the is hair so you can keep the blade under the hair. You might not get more than 1/4" at a time. just keep going over it again. more like a bunch of short little passes, as opposed to the longer lather everywhere/shave everywhere passes. more like buffing, if that makes more sense.

 

[Maduro]

I use my Merkur open comb razor, the longer hairs slip through the teeth and the more exposed blade mows them down.

 

[richmondesi]

Even with a DE, I can get a great shave with many days growth. The key is plenty of saturation (water and lather). I've only once felt the need to change blades, and it was an old blade.

 

[Squid]

I do a long beard prep. When I shave, I make sure to rinse my blade frequently to reduce the build up of hair. I also don't try to take it all off on the first pass.

Good luck.

 

[arghblech]

I use my Merkur open comb razor, the longer hairs slip through the teeth and the more exposed blade mows them down.

I've found open combs to be more effective in this situation as well. I don't normally need that extra efficacy but at least it's there.

 

[reub2000]

That is odd...

My problem is the very first pass, the blade will kind of pull and skip. After the first pass its like butter. Any suggestions?

Feather blades. Seriously, I've gone 4 days in the past and simply just shave it off with a 34C. Just make sure to rinse off the blade after a stroke. (Well every other stroke with a DE.)

 

[toucanlamp]

Yeah, watch that video someone posted on here of that Swiss guy who had probably about a month long beard and went straight to work with the straight razor taking off pretty much everything in a single pass. But from the sound effects his skin is apparantly made of the toughest leather out there and you'd need an angle grinder to draw any more blood than the little nick on his chin he gets.

But for me, I'm lazy and I'm doing blue collar work this summer so I have no need to be clean shaven or especially presentable each day, so I usually go 3 or 4 days between shaves. I don't find catching to be a major problem. I really like the Merkur open comb razor, and it is supposed to be good for coarser beards or longer ones. Just be real gentle and go with the grain everywhere on the first pass and you'll take off enough to make things easy on subsequent passes.

 

[Pilky]

with a de: start where there's no hair, and only try to cut off the edge, moving along slowly. be prepared to use more than one blade. Prep is extra important. A hot towel probably won't get all the hair wet, so spend more time soaking with hot water--a hot shower is a good start. Also, spend time working the lather in. Then make sure it isn't drying out, rubbing it in some as you go along.

pulling or dragging uually means too much water, so make sure you have a really good lather worked in there. And don't bother moving the blade over the hair--take off just the edge, putting the blade down where there's no hair and moving in to where the is hair so you can keep the blade under the hair. You might not get more than 1/4" at a time. just keep going over it again. more like a bunch of short little passes, as opposed to the longer lather everywhere/shave everywhere passes. more like buffing, if that makes more sense.

Very informative, thanks. I'm gonna try this in a little bit. Should i keep the same blade angle as i normally would?

I use my Merkur open comb razor, the longer hairs slip through the teeth and the more exposed blade mows them down.

You know, I'v been thinking about trying another razor for quite some time, maybe this would be a good second razor.

I do a long beard prep. When I shave, I make sure to rinse my blade frequently to reduce the build up of hair. I also don't try to take it all off on the first pass.

Good luck.

Thanks, rinsing alot now already, gonna keep an eye out for how much im taking off.

I've found open combs to be more effective in this situation as well. I don't normally need that extra efficacy but at least it's there.

Again, sounds like an open comb razor might be what i need.

Feather blades. Seriously, I've gone 4 days in the past and simply just shave it off with a 34C. Just make sure to rinse off the blade after a stroke. (Well every other stroke with a DE.)

This is actually my original thought. I'm still using the Merkur Platinums that i got when i didn't know a whole lot about shaving. And after reading these boards they're definitely not the most like blade on here, i got about 3 left then im switching to my sampler pack i got from WCS.

Thanks for all the info guys i'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[Gringo]

+1
if my beard is several days long, the shave is almost guaranteed to be bbs, no irritation. it is when I shave more frequently that I have more problems.

+1 . I try to shave every other day. If I skip 2 or 3 days I usually get an irritation free BBS.

 

[arghblech]

I'm still using the Merkur Platinums that i got when i didn't know a whole lot about shaving. And after reading these boards they're definitely not the most like blade on here, i got about 3 left then im switching to my sampler pack i got from WCS.

I think you should ditch those merkur blades first. Don't buy any new hardware yet! If I'd known you were still using those I'd have suggested changing blades first thing.