rbscebu
Girls call me Makaluod
To me, it means that when you SR shave, all you aim to do is remove the lather. If you blade's edge is right, the whiskers will just come with it.
What Does "No Pressure/Light Touch" Mean?
- Thread starter rbscebu
- Start date
Exactly!
I always compare shaving with a straight razor, with buttering a slice of toast.
How much effort or force you want to use in shaving is how much effort or force you use in buttering toast - hardly any. If you press your butterknife too hard, the toast is going to tear. If you press your razor too hard, you're going to cut yourself.
And the sound should be the same, too. A gentle rasping sound. And you can only mimic that sound if your razor is barely rubbing your skin.
How much effort or force you want to use in shaving is how much effort or force you use in buttering toast - hardly any. If you press your butterknife too hard, the toast is going to tear. If you press your razor too hard, you're going to cut yourself.
And the sound should be the same, too. A gentle rasping sound. And you can only mimic that sound if your razor is barely rubbing your skin.
I have to chime in on this once more. It means your razor is sharp.
For me "No Pressure/Light Touch" means let the straight do it's job, just using the weight of the blade!
I use small razors and light blades. Don’t believe that would work for me.
It means your razor should be applied in such a manner that the razor is touching your face but not being pushed against your face. Pretty self explanatory I always thought. The lightest amount of contact possible. A good way to feel for the correct pressure would be to take a pencil or something similar and apply the side of that to your face. As soon as you can feel it, that's the amount of pressure you want. Feather touch.
If the razor doesn't cut with that pressure, try bringing the spine to a slightly higher angle but don't increase the pressure. If you are more experienced, add a little scything motion. If those don't work, it's time to sharpen the razor.
If the razor doesn't cut with that pressure, try bringing the spine to a slightly higher angle but don't increase the pressure. If you are more experienced, add a little scything motion. If those don't work, it's time to sharpen the razor.
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When I started shaving with a straight, I was fortunate to find someone who lived nearby to mentor me in honing. He placed the hone on a digital kitchen scale used to measure the weight of flour and other ingredients for baking. He then asked me to practice using "no pressure" while stroking my razor on the hone, the scale measuring how much pressure I was applying. It opened my eyes as to what the term "no pressure" really meant. Now each time I'm honing, I have that picture and feeling in my head. Whether the blade is sitting on the hone and scale, or ready to make a stroke shaving, I try to use no pressure. It's easiest to carry out this principal with a very sharp blade and a very slick lather, which has much to do with the lather being adequately hydrated.
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