Newb's 1st straight shave need help!

[gartlr]

Well tonight was my first straight shave. I only did the sides of my face, without any nicks. It was'nt very close at all though, tried diffferent angles.Mabey I need more pressure, I used c.o. bigalo soap with a cheap badger brush, good lather. I finished with a fat boy. The razor is a SAA from Sweden, it came shave ready from one of the b&b members. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Hughies_online]

Just be patient with everything. The closer shaves will come with practice and once you learn the angles that work for you, which areas need extra passes, etc.

 

[mdunn]

practice, practice, practice.

make sure youre not using any pressure and your angles are right.

 

[Luc]

+1 on patience + pratice

A good close shave isn't easy to get. Like a DE, it takes time and you will need to develop your technique.

Try a 30 degree or lower angle (almost flat on your face) and go slow.

Finally, don't be shy to strop that razor a lot. Take your time while doing it, it's easy to nick a strop...

 

[gartlr]

do you suggest 30 or 45 degree angles on flat sides of face?

 

[NoFair]

do you suggest 30 or 45 degree angles on flat sides of face?

30 or less. I started out having the razor almost flat against my skin and then raising the spine until I heard hairs popping. Didn't know about this forum when I started out.

Had quite a few bad shaves until I started getting the hang of it (restored the razor myself and it probably should have been sharper as well)

 

[Bertilak]

Mabey I need more pressure...

Never.

 

[jadam318]

Straight shaving takes more time to master than DE. Just be patient with it and keep trying. Keep playing with blade angles and maybe throw a ATG pass in there.

 

[leighton]

do you suggest 30 or 45 degree angles on flat sides of face?

Start with the spine against your skin, raise the blade slightly, try to cut. Continue increasing the angle until you've found the correct angle. Use short strokes.

 

[keenedge]

Make sure you stretch the skin. Pull up above your sideburn area with the hand that doesn't have the razor in it. Play with the angles and use short strokes as you work your way down. If your razor is sharp, then there is no need for pressure, use a light hand. Remember, it usually takes two to three passes from different directions to get a BBS.

 

[CraigJ]

Lots of folks say a shallow angle is best. Well not on my face. I find that my blades perform better with a steep angle up to 60 degrees. Unfortunately, I tend to get razor burn with a steeper angle. Like most of life's endeavors there is a balncing act that must occur; BBS with razor burn or regular with no burn.

That being said I feel that my shaving style is definitely in the minority. Play with the angle, the pressure, your grip, your stroke, which hand. There are many variables that you control. This is the beauty of a straight vs. a DE.