Technique question- shaving neck

[RiverMan]

After 10 years of DE shaving, I need to admit it. I have a technique problem regarding shaving my neck.

My face is fine. I can get completely smooth with no irritation. But the neck always seems like a trade off, either (fairly) comfortable but with lots of visible stubble left behind or ‘close’ (but still not perfect) but with razor burn and reddish patches. The problem isn’t really the Adam’s apple. It’s worse to one side.

I always need to do at least two passes, one wtg and one across the grain. More than that and it is guaranteed pain. But even that is often too much.

I’m quite happy that I’m mapping direction of growth fairly well and using a very light touch. I also tend to favour milder razors, previously a 40s superspeed and now a razorock mamba.

Anyone else struggle with the neck?

 

[R181]

I think if people are going to have a problem area it will be somewhere on the neck. Been shaving for a lot of years and there is still one spot that gives me a bit of trouble on the neck. For me, I think it may be a problem with maintaining the right angle on the razor during the ATG pass.

Bob

 

[slapo]

Does the hair on your neck curl or does it seem to mostly lay atop the skin, being difficult to get it off, by any chance?
The latter is my case and what I found to work most of the time is doing a WTG pass, then a pass that's kind of between XTG and ATG, and then, for the actual ATG pass, I use the Gillette tilt (not the slide), resulting in more of a slicing action, rather than a chopping action. If I miss any hair during the first two passes, they tend to 'snag', and I get either some irritation, or the razor skips a bit and I get a weeper.
It also helps if I use something that clamps the blade well near the blade edge, like a Mamba. The best prep proved to be a 30 minute run (preceded by a warm-up and stretching, followed by stretching, sometimes also a short workout).

 

[slapo]

I think if people are going to have a problem area it will be somewhere on the neck. Been shaving for a lot of years and there is still one spot that gives me a bit of trouble on the neck. For me, I think it may be a problem with maintaining the right angle on the razor during the ATG pass.

Bob

I get that on my chin. Sometimes, I miss small patches of hair there somehow, which is rather embarrassing.

 

[Wayne]

You say you do two passes and that you use a mild razor. It could be that the Superspeed and Mamba are too mild for your stubble and that is why you are either left sore or unsatisfied with the shave.
Sometimes if you have course stubble Two passes isn't enough with a milder razor. A more aggressive razor/ blade combo should cut better in less passes. Less time on the neck and a better cut equals less irritation.
I think you need something a little more capable.

 

[Optometrist]

You say you do two passes and that you use a mild razor. It could be that the Superspeed and Mamba are too mild for your stubble and that is why you are either left sore or unsatisfied with the shave.
Sometimes if you have course stubble Two passes isn't enough with a milder razor. A more aggressive razor/ blade combo should cut better in less passes. Less time on the neck and a better cut equals less irritation.
I think you need something a little more capable.

Agreed.

 

[RiverMan]

You say you do two passes and that you use a mild razor. It could be that the Superspeed and Mamba are too mild for your stubble and that is why you are either left sore or unsatisfied with the shave.
Sometimes if you have course stubble Two passes isn't enough with a milder razor. A more aggressive razor/ blade combo should cut better in less passes. Less time on the neck and a better cut equals less irritation.
I think you need something a little more capable.

thank you

I had thought that this might be the case but I didn’t want to jump to that conclusion too soon as, for me, buying new equipment is usually the last resort. Perhaps the .68 game changer or a Karve with a B or C plate might go back onto my wish list.

 

[RiverMan]

Does the hair on your neck curl or does it seem to mostly lay atop the skin, being difficult to get it off, by any chance?

it does lie quite flat, whereas the hair on my face stands up much more. So it is quite tricky to get underneath the hair. I will try out you tip, thank you

 

[Ventastic]

it does lie quite flat, whereas the hair on my face stands up much more. So it is quite tricky to get underneath the hair. I will try out you tip, thank you

I have this same „problem“. For me, in terms of DE razors, the best on the neck is a xtg pass with a blade forward razor, i.e. Karve E. Generally the best so far was an SE razor in the Blackland Vector, just that the rest of my face didn‘t like it.

You could try a cheap artist club shavette clone for the neck and finish up the rest of your shave with a DE.

 

[carbold]

Yeah as they're saying, try a more blade forward razor and drop the WTG pass. The less passes the better

 

[R181]

Even though I think trying a more aggressive razor has a lot of merit, I'd say you would then really have to watch the weight on the blade and angle even more. Personally, I like and use aggressive DEs and one of the reasons is that they do a better job of removing those flat lying whiskers. Using one is a different ball game and may take some getting used to.

Bob

 

[slapo]

thank you

I had thought that this might be the case but I didn’t want to jump to that conclusion too soon as, for me, buying new equipment is usually the last resort. Perhaps the .68 game changer or a Karve with a B or C plate might go back onto my wish list.

That's pretty much a variation on what you already have. If you want to try it out for cheap, grab an R41 head clone from AliExpress ( https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000498306170.html ) - I bought it twice and a slightly different version came the second time, but it was because the base plate was wider. They both covered the tabs and eliminated blade chatter I get with the original R41 head.
For what's it worth, though, more aggressive razors cut the same as the mild ones if you use the same blade and it's clamped well. It's the blade that does the cutting, not the blade holder. They just help compensate for not keeping the angle well enough compared to neutral exposure head designs, and that helps with some tricky spots, too. They also help with longer growth that lies flat. Others might disagree, but I've actually had times when I'd thought I needed a more aggressive razor to get a closer shave, especially on my trouble areas, but then when I made sure the lather suited the head design and kept a close eye on the angle, I got pretty much the same shave as from an aggressive razor in as many passes, unless I had long growth in areas of my face where the hair lay flat.
A neutral (or slightly positive) exposure razor with a large gap (think Fine Marvel, Start 1.18, Colibri 1.50...) is kind of an in-between for me - the larger gap helps dial the angle in even when I'm shaving on autopilot.

 

[RiverMan]

Thanks a lot for the advice everyone

 

[Optometrist]

Good luck, Mark.

 

[HereticHermit]

If you have hair that lay flat next to skin, a mild razor just cannot efficiently give your expected results. Naturally you tend to over shave that area and get razor burns. I have similar situation and I use D plate on Karve for WTG, XTG for overall shave but for final pass on my neck I keep feathers in adjustable Parker Variant that I use only for single ATG pass on neck area. A very light touch with keenest blade is my solution for this problem.