Going against the grain

Mike Smart

Mike Smart

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now guys do you or don't you shave against the grain. iv watched a good few vids on youtube recently and some say on the third pass they go against the grain but others say you should never go against.
What's your thoughts ?
what do you all do ?
i'm a newbie in terms of DE but i seem to be having a torrid time only when i go against,
iv tried taking my time, iv tried 3-4-5 passes but still seem to cut myself to bits.
I say against the grain my my whiskers just about grow in every direction lol
 
Try beard mapping to see exactly in which direction your hair grows, you can do this with a ball of cotton wall and rub over your face noting where the cotton wool snags against your beard and build up a full map of the direction of growth.
I can shave ATG without problems but we are not all the same and you may not be able to because of your skin sensitivity or it may just be down to technique. P.
 
I have to go against the grain otherwise I may as well not shave, the 'with the grain' pass is totally ineffective on my neck so I don't bother. It's just 1 extra pass to add the chance of irritation.

Against the grain always caused redness on my neck. I personally solved it by buying an adjustable razor and setting to the mildest possible setting for the ATG. Also zero, absolutely no pressure on the razor at all, just glide it across the skin.
 
Mike Smart said:
don't get me wrong i don't do 5 passes but i have on the very odd occasion just to check if i'm doing things properly
Click to expand...

If you're doing 5 passes then most likely you are not doing things properly!

Mike Smart said:
now guys do you or don't you shave against the grain. iv watched a good few vids on youtube recently and some say on the third pass they go against the grain but others say you should never go against.
What's your thoughts ?
what do you all do ?
i'm a newbie in terms of DE but i seem to be having a torrid time only when i go against,
iv tried taking my time, iv tried 3-4-5 passes but still seem to cut myself to bits.
I say against the grain my my whiskers just about grow in every direction lol
Click to expand...

I never do an ATG pass, my face/skin can't handle.

The grain mapping issue is a very important. I'd recommend NOT doing a ATG pass to begin with and if you stubble grows in all whiskers I'd recommend avoid shaving WTG (1st pass) and an additional Across the Grain pass for the second pass, and if you have areas of denser growth then maybe a little clean up (again WTG). However this is what works for me but it'd be about finding what works for you.

Avoid trying to get a shave as close as possible but one that is as comfortable as possible to begin with.

There are other things that matter, eg having a nice good slick lather; this took me a long time to get right. Also, having using the right angle for your razor and not using any pressure; again these are things which took me a while to get right.
 
It's one of these things that, I suspect, many of us have attempted when getting back or into ‘proper' shaving. We've read about the excellent experiences of ultra-smooth results, BBS, etc. and assume that it'll all fall into place at the start. When it doesn't we (and I include myself) chase that initially elusive BBS by increasing the number of passes; and, as we all know, that can lead to, at best, razor burn, or blood-letting. Remember, shaving is about bristle reduction; anything else is a bonus, imho.

As others have said, concentrate on your technique and before you know it you'll be absolutely fine.
 
I do WTG, ATG and clean up pass. I tried a Feather blade for the first time yesterday (lovely!) and it's the only blade I've tried that sounds like it's cutting on the initial WTG pass, I definitely need the ATG to get a BBS shave.
 
1st pass WTG, 2nd ATG then a bit of getting any missed bits. My dad always told me when I asked as a kid, 1 with and 1 against. Then I started reading advice about never going ATG so I tried it but never get a satisfactory shave that way.
 
More than happy enough to shave against but it does depend on how my skin feels and how I feel. Be guided as much by yourself than necessity.

For me though and as @Blademonkey makes mention, get to know your face. Find out your growth direction first. Make sure WTG ATG etc actually are what you think they are.

There aren't any rules in this shaving game. It is about being comfortable and happy with what you can achieve.
 
I think there's more factors to this than just preference. For example, how good is your technique? how many blades have you experimented with? how premium are your lathers? Most importantly, how sensitive is your skin?

If you have sensitive skin, it may take you trying 10 blades to find that right one for you, require excellent technique and premium lather.

If you're struggling with ATG now, my advice would be don't do it. Chasing babies always ends up badly. Get your technique solid, find your perfect smooth blade and then have another go.

For me, any blade that wasn't irritation free ATG went in the bin but I don't have sensitive skin so I've haven't had any problems finding them.
 
I always go ATG as to me not doing it leaves my face as sand paper and it bothers me, particularly with the shirt's collar. At first my skin could not tolerate it. I forced my skin to adapt to it. I switched to mildest razor (Tech, Feather Popular etc) and slowly progressed to more aggressive (now I mainly use a Fatip piccolo OC which I find super smooth and I can shave every other day with it with whatever blade in it). Also, after many years of following my grain and performing the canonical 3 passes, I ditched this method. Now I am doing a North to South first pass and then ATG pass according to the direction of the growth + touch ups. If I let my beard grow for more than 2 days and I'm using a mild razor I might add a XTG pass in between the two passes. Mind you, this is MY method which works for ME. Not suggesting you to follow it but I just gave you my experience so that, hopefully, it might help you to build your method should you wish to reach a BBS at every shave.
 
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