What does it mean when the razor skips?

[dctravis]

I did my second shave yesterday and ended up trying to see if I could do a with the grain and go straight to against the grain without any issues. The end result had no cuts and little irritation, but on the left side the razor was bouncing/skipping as I tried to do against the grain... It wasn't excessive to the point where I was getting cut, but it was definitely noticeable.

Any ideas as to what I might have been doing wrong?

 

[KingJamesTheIV]

Could the left side of your face have possibly not been cut as short as the right and the leftover stubble was causing it to skip and pull a bit more? Was the left side portion of your face the last to be shaved? How does your lather look? It’s possible your lather dried out on your face to the point where it caused your blade to skip a bit more than if it was more hydrated. Could also be an angle technique issue if you haven’t used a DE long.

 

[dctravis]

Could the left side of your face have possibly not been cut as short as the right and the leftover stubble was causing it to skip and pull a bit more? Was the left side portion of your face the last to be shaved? How does your lather look? It’s possible your lather dried out on your face to the point where it caused your blade to skip a bit more than if it was more hydrated. Could also be an angle technique issue if you haven’t used a DE long.

Hmm. I don't think it was a length issue as both sides felt about the same before I started the ATG pass.

I did go from right to left. I had some lather still there but yeah maybe it had dried too much. Also could have been angle as it was only my second shave

 

[Invicta]

Also could have been angle as it was only my second shave

I very much suggests blade angle; either too steep or too shallow. This may help; Blade Angle | Badger & Blade

 

[Clay S]

Lather drying - easy to check,
Angle off - pay more attention to check,
not as natural of a movement as on the other side - practice and muscle memory will correct with time.

Just expanding on first two suggestions.

 

[naughtilus]

The concept behind doing multiple passes is to gradually reduce stubble so no pulling and tugging occurs. If the whisker is long, the blade dull and your angle mild for cutting, it's normal to have tugging ATG. Multiblade cartridges try to reduce stubble all at once, ending up clogged with long whiskers, and tugging if not sharp enough.

Try doing XTG twice in opposite directions instead of 3 different passes. It gets many shavers who can't do ATG close to BBS with zero irrigation. So basically WTG > XTG L > XTG R.

Don't worry about weepers, those will naturally stop happening as your skin toughens up and you've exfoliated it from bumps, blemishes and imperfections.

 

[BigJ]

Lather drying - easy to check,
Angle off - pay more attention to check,
not as natural of a movement as on the other side - practice and muscle memory will correct with time.

Just expanding on first two suggestions.

+1! Good suggestions!!

Traditional wet shaving is a skill that takes awhile to develop. WELL WORTH THE EFFORT!!

 

[musicman1951]

Bad blade angle.

 

[xxvaleria]

Most likely the lather has lost it's slickness. Add more water to the lather.

 

[dctravis]

Thank you for all the feedback! I'll try to incorporate it as best I can and hopefully the next shave goes smooth

 

[Captain Whiskers]

I had the same problem a few weeks ago and had some pretty rough shaves. My water is hard so I started lathering with soft bottled water which helped a lot! I've also started adding a few drops of glycerin to my lather to increase slickness.

 

[Luecke2326]

Most definitely blade angle. What hardware and software are you using?

 

[johnwick]

As others have said could be angle and dry lather. A more advanced theory but a very applicable one is the type of razor you’re using. It may not have a rigid design. Razors that don’t clamp the blade close to the edge can “chatter” and skip. Turn it to look at it from the side. Look for the clamp point and how close it is to the outside edge of the blade. I’ll illustrate a very rigid design in a photo that’s included. @Esox can go further into detail too, he’s excellent at describing it.

 

[Esox]

@Esox can go further into detail too, he’s excellent at describing it.

You seem to be doing a good job of it.

 

[ajkel64]

You’ve been given some great advice by other members already. I won’t add anything other than keep us posted. When it all comes together and it will, it is a wonderful feeling.