I've been wet-shaving about two years now, enjoying a different setup every shave: a different razor, different soap, blade, brush. But it's time to get down to business and find out which blades pair best with each of my many razors I've accumulated. I'm experimenting with one razor at a time. I use each one with five different blades, two uses each, and write my results in a notebook. Of course my main concerns are closeness and degree of irritation. On my irritation scale ranging from 1 to 10, a one is a very slight, unnoticeable degree of redness with no tenderness to the touch (faceterbation). A 2 is a very slight amount of tenderness and a 3 just a bit more. At five or six, my skin burns without touching it. A Feather blade will do that to me. And if I get cocky and shave my tender chin against the grain, I suffer a 7, with takes about 48 hours to completely recover from. This experiment has another benefit; I become very familiar with each razor I use and I get more proficient with it. This will take months, but I'm having fun. And no I won't bore you with the results here because your experience would be completely different.
To lessen the irritation, use less pressure, try not to go ATG, when the skin is irritated, and use a good aftershave, with Glycerin in it. If it doesnt, ad a few drops to the bottle. This will lessen the irritation, and help heal the skin fast.
Yes!! Don't forget to ride the cap! If a blade seems rough, adjust the angle before making any "rash" decisions. tp