I Forgot... What Does Technique Mean With Shaving?

Discussion in 'Safety Razors' started by theguitarshaver559, Mar 20, 2017.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. wchnu

    wchnu Duck Season!

    Thanks for the offer. I am just here off and on. I read through now and then.
     
    mrchick likes this.
  2. RetLEO-07

    RetLEO-07 likes his penguin deep fried, with pink sparkles

    "Nooooo, that's impossible!"
     
    mrchick likes this.
  3. hairball

    hairball New Member

    technique is actually, simply how you conduct your shave. How you make a lather that works for you, how you choose a blade that works for you, and how you hold the razor.

    But in most general terms, technique is a derogatory phrase used by many people on shaving forums and even in "independent" review blogs to infer in a polite way that a person isn't smart enough to shave with something due to bad technique. Its also used in other forums like pipe forums.

    Examples for shaving would be, telling someone that he or she cant get a shave without major irritation when using an Old Type is due to bad technique, even though that particular razor is well written down in history as being very aggressive and unfriendly to the face.

    For pipe smoking forums, telling a man who has smoked all brands of tobacco for 30 years that the reason he cant get a good biteless smoke with a particular brand of tobacco is due to having bad technique,,
     
  4. wchnu

    wchnu Duck Season!

    Aggressive does in no way imply the razor is not face friendly. With good technique the shave with an old is no harder then with a tech. Some say the aggressive razor properly used is better for them because they use fewer passes for the same result. I would venture to say that bad technique accounts for a very very large amount of the
    "whatever does not work for me"
     
  5. Norcalnewb

    Norcalnewb Magnanimous Moos

    I agree. I would acknowledge that different razors may work better for different people, which is why we all have preferences on razors, but it is possible to get a good shave from just about any razor. Some people may find a particular razor easier to learn than others, but if a person spends enough time with a razor, it is possible to get the hang of it. Having said that, I definitely understand why not everyone has the desire to do that with every razor.
     
    RetLEO-07 and wchnu like this.
  6. subvet

    subvet Well-Known Member

    When you stumble into the bathroom at 0430 and manage at least a DFS in 5 minutes without a nick.
     
  7. RetLEO-07

    RetLEO-07 likes his penguin deep fried, with pink sparkles

    You are the Man! If I tried that, my face would look like hamburger.
     
  8. mrchick

    mrchick Odd, Terrible Avatar

    With a straight razor
     
  9. Bama Samurai

    Bama Samurai with Laser-like Focus

    All razors are just different handle options to hold the bevel.

    Correct, and I agree completely. Poor technique is almost universally the cause of any shaving issue. I fell like telling newbies that technique is a foil to criticize others might be a really misguided viewpoint.

    Thus ends the argument, technique is the most important factor in any shave. Otherwise, straight razors would be an impossible situation.
     
    wchnu, RetLEO-07 and Norcalnewb like this.
  10. hairball

    hairball New Member

    on technique, purely on technique. Several good examples I have learned from.

    if a man has shaved with a Gillette fat boy for 20 years, and never sets the dial lower then 9, and feels it is nice and mild and pleasant. Why would he say that a merkur futur or even a progress at the equivalent gap distance,,,, be horrid to use?
    its the razor in that situation, completely different angles of attack there.
     
  11. Bama Samurai

    Bama Samurai with Laser-like Focus

    Angle of attack is constant on any razor, and is measured at the skin, not the grip angle. Again, you're describing a technique adjustment, not a hardware deficiency.
     
  12. wchnu

    wchnu Duck Season!

    He might not like the feel of the razor....but with good technique he could get just as good a shave. Do not blame the tool is my common statement. Well unless it is damaged in some way.

    The angle does not matter. Good technique will sort that out. I use DE new and vintage, SE, and straights or shavettes. All have different needs in use. Because I have strong technique I get great shaves from them.

    Never have seen a shaver with 20 years in that can not switch razors by the way.
     
  13. hairball

    hairball New Member

    So if I gave you a rolls razor with a blade that needed sharpening and stropping, or a valet razor with a 80 year old corroded valet blade,,,, and you were unable to get a good comfy, bloodless shave with either choice,

    reading the general trend of intent behind "technique", I could point my finger and laugh at all of you while screaming "bad technique" and none of you would even dare try to explain the bad shave as a result of using bad blades in said razors.

    how many of you would yell "bad technique" at a person who complained about how their first shave with a 1912 ever ready SE razor was a horrid painful blood bath, even though they had used FLOOR SCRAPER BLADES instead of a real SE razor blade?
     
  14. wchnu

    wchnu Duck Season!

    That is a damaged tool. Dull blades wrong blades have Nothing to do what so ever with technique. I mentioned damaged tools I think.


    Oh and I have used blades like that in a 1912 the SE simply does not cut the whiskers..it will not slice your face up. I can get a decent shave from a scraper blade by the way.
     
  15. hairball

    hairball New Member

    but in reading through the thread, to say that a bad shave was caused by the razor, or a defect in a razor or blade setup,,,, is to be blaming the razor and blade setup, instead of manning up and saying that your bad shave was caused by bad technique.

    Its been said and hinted at, that anyone, at any time, with any razor or blade or soap, can get a good to fine shave IF they have the "technique" down.
    And that if the shave is bad, regardless of trying to use a 80 year old rusted razor blade that came in a used razor they got on ebay, that the resulting bad shave is from the person having bad "technique" and not from bad equipment.
     
  16. wchnu

    wchnu Duck Season!

    That has not been said at all. I even addressed damaged equipent. What has been said is that solid technique is the base to build on. Most people with crap technique blame it on the equipment. A majority of the time the equipment is not the issue at all. The issue is their failure to build proper technique.

    Proper technique is the single most important aspect here. Once to have that you can shave with whatever soap razor blade and such.

    If you take that to mean that I am saying you can shave with a dull blade then I can not help you.

    Most people here are smart enough to understand we are talking to a newer shaver asking about the importance of proper technique.
     
    brit likes this.
  17. wchnu

    wchnu Duck Season!

    And Williams..
     
    mrchick likes this.
  18. brit

    brit in a box

    i like many ings .....
     
  19. wchnu

    wchnu Duck Season!

    I got a kick reading your signature.
     
    brit likes this.
  20. brit

    brit in a box

    ;)technique is a type of soap....;)
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page