Most of us know [of] Goldilocks - too hot, too cold and just right. Pressure with a DE razor is similar too much - razor burn, nicks and weepers Just right, well that is just right. A great shave. Too little isn't addressed all that often and can be the cause of mystery nicks and blemishes especially in areas of thick beard. We are all told not too use much pressure but not enough can, and this depends on the razor, can allow the blade to minutely bounce or chatter. This I think can be a problem especially with very sharp feather blades. Too much, too little and just right any discussion?
I can honestly say I don't think I have ever had a case of too little pressure. I definitely catch myself pressing too hard every now and then.
I'm not sure you can have too little pressure. Are you sure that when you think you are doing too little pressure, what you are really doing is getting the angle incorrect?
I use Feather DE blades, and I toss a blade after two shaves. Blades are cheap, and I can concentrate on technique and not have to make accommodations for degrading blade performance. Everybody is different, but that's how I do it. I keep just enough pressure on the razor to hold it against my skin. I try to have a light touch and let the weight of the razor and the blade edge do the work. I combat blade skipping by having a slick lather and taking short, quick, and very light strokes with the razor. Some may call this poetry in motion. Others may refer to it as me being full of hot air. I'll leave it to my friends here to decide. My alum block tells me if I use too much pressure, and that happens when I hurry. I typically don't have a problem using too little pressure, as I'm addicted to close shaves.
And that is all I'm putting forward for discussion. Consider 2 very different razors. A Merkur progress - a solid razor. A Feather Popular quite a lightweight by comparison. Assuming you have correct blade angle because both razors are different correct pressure for one may be too light or too heavy for the other. Too little in the worse case can induce chaffing or too heavy can cause burning or nicks. Anyway just a thought.
We always tell the new guys to ease off the pressure because we guess they have been using carts and in their muscle memory without even knowing it they put pressure with the razor on the face. Some amount of pressure is necessary though, if not the blade would never contact your skin and not cut the hairs.
I see what your saying. When I first joined TSD and began researching through DEN articles, "too much"pressure was a much covered topic. Even then I preferred the term "correct" pressure over "gentle" pressure. There is in fact no single amount of pressure, but rather a constantly variable amount depending on many factors on any given day.
The more comfortable I got with the DE the harder I was pressing. I think I've found a happy balance now.
You are always using the same amount of pressure, regardless of the weight of the razor. A razor is just a blade holder. The razor doesn't cut anything. It's made out of various weight materials, various metals light and heavy, plastic, bakelite, etc. It doesn't matter what it's made out of because it's not cutting your face. Whichever blade you put into that razor is what cuts your face. So, if you put X brand blade in each of those razors, while the angle may change due to the head design, and the feel (weight) of each razor will change in your hand, the pressure used against your skin should always be the same as X brand blades will always require the same pressure to give the proper shave. If you mix in Y brand blades, then you may have to change pressure because they may require a different pressure.
Aggressive 3pc head geometry and techniques like riding the cap of a 3pc actually require a bit of pressure. And then buffing strokes? Lots of pressure used in those for me. This is a big ymmv topic. Less pressure is probably better for learning though....
