I can't go Against the grain, only buff ATG, anyone else the same?

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Hi chaps

I always get BBS now, after trying many razors and many blades, a very good go to combo for me is a aluminium handle Tech with vintage UK Wilkies.

I've found through that I can never do those long smooth against the grain strokes that I see a lot of YouTube shavers do though. I find I do the WTG and XTG passes nice and smooth, then I do some nice smooth buffing against the grain to get the BBS result. I buff all over my face.

A lot of reading indicates people do WTG, XTG, ATG then buffing.

Am I the odd one out for skipping the third (ATG) step? :) I find the blade catches and drags, but buffing for me is perfect...
 
Even with a feather I have the same issue, but buffing with the feather is fine. I love BBS, don't feel like I have had a good shave if I don't get it. I don't shave every day though as I don't have enough stubble the next day to have a good shave!
 
Frankly, I don't see much difference between XTG and ATG. After a WTG pass, I just run my hand over the various parts of my face that are stubbly and try and shave against the grain there. But shaving isn't mathematics and my strokes could be ATG, XTG or anything in between. I think the distinction between XTG and ATG in actual practice has been greatly exaggerated.
 
Frankly, I don't see much difference between XTG and ATG. After a WTG pass, I just run my hand over the various parts of my face that are stubbly and try and shave against the grain there. But shaving isn't mathematics and my strokes could be ATG, XTG or anything in between. I think the distinction between XTG and ATG in actual practice has been greatly exaggerated.

I don't see a big difference between WTG and XTG, it's the final buffing ATG pass that I see/feel the big difference. Haha different strokes for different folks!! :D
 
Frankly, I don't see much difference between XTG and ATG. After a WTG pass, I just run my hand over the various parts of my face that are stubbly and try and shave against the grain there. But shaving isn't mathematics and my strokes could be ATG, XTG or anything in between. I think the distinction between XTG and ATG in actual practice has been greatly exaggerated.

Exactly what I do, and I agree, folks get really anal with the methodology that some shave guru promotes on youtube or somewhere. It's just shaving.
 
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I thought you did, that's what your thread is about?

I do with the grain then across the grain (which I don't find much difference between), then my final pass is buffing against the grain. The thread is about me not being able to do the long sweeps against the grain, I buff against the grain instead.
 
I do with the grain then across the grain (which I don't find much difference between), then my final pass is buffing against the grain. The thread is about me not being able to do the long sweeps against the grain, I buff against the grain instead.

I'm not getting the difference between a "sweep" and "buffing" ATG, except shorter strokes I imagine. If it's all ATG then you're still cutting ATG.
 
I don't want to change my technique, it works perfectly for me. I was just a discussion to see if anyone else was the same? I.e. can't do the long ATG sweeps that you see on youtube videos etc...
 
I always do two passes first WTG and second XTG with a few cleaning, my skin doesn't allow me to do ATG.
This is one of the reasons why I adopted very sharp blades as daily use such feather in order to compensate for the last pass not mentioning aggressive razors as well.
I know it's almost impossible to obtain BBS without ATG pass (in my case) but I can live with a DFS for the rest of my life I think.
Note: I also get to shave more often which I love


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Hi chaps

I always get BBS now, after trying many razors and many blades, a very good go to combo for me is a aluminium handle Tech with vintage UK Wilkies.

I've found through that I can never do those long smooth against the grain strokes that I see a lot of YouTube shavers do though. I find I do the WTG and XTG passes nice and smooth, then I do some nice smooth buffing against the grain to get the BBS result. I buff all over my face.

A lot of reading indicates people do WTG, XTG, ATG then buffing.

Am I the odd one out for skipping the third (ATG) step? :) I find the blade catches and drags, but buffing for me is perfect...
I can't go ATG at all tbh. Tried it twice, can do some parts of the face but chin and moustache area forget it. I have very coarse hair and the irritation simply isn't worth it. Only two passes for me from now on.
 
I can't go ATG at all tbh. Tried it twice, can do some parts of the face but chin and moustache area forget it. I have very coarse hair and the irritation simply isn't worth it. Only two passes for me from now on.

It amazes me that anyone would feel the need to go ATG between the nose & mouth. Presuming that ATG means going upwards, one little slip and you're gonna slice your nose. I tried it once out of curiosity, all that happened was I was bricking it as the blade got closer to my nose, and soon after that the area felt sore and I got 3 pimples there. Never had pimples there before or since, so (that's) enough for me to never go ATG there again. Far more important to be comfortable than close, in that area more than any to me
 
one little slip and you're gonna slice your nose.
Who's nose are you referring to @dave79

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