headblade causeing MASSIVE irritation

[Gary1236]

no other razor other then headblade causes this ammount of irritation am i doing something wrong

[warhawk]

Kindly share your head shave routine so we can help you better?

WARHAWK

[SlyMike]

When you say massive what do you mean?  I use a headblade and used to get these red marks as can be seen in this post http://www.slybaldguys.com/smf/index.php?topic=26790.msg359715#msg359715 - I was also not getting that great a shave either.

On talking to a friend, he suggested holding the headblade down slightly more on my head and I have also been using more shaving gel too, these two things together seem to stop me getting red marks on my head.

[TheSlyBear]

The headblade isn't for everybody. If it's not working for you, stop using it.

[Gary1236]

Kindly share your head shave routine so we can help you better?

WARHAWK

i wake up put shaving cream on my head then shave? am i doing it wrong? should i take a hot shower first

[Gary1236]

after im done shaving my skin is all red tender and sore and i can still feel the damn stubble i dont know what im doing wrong i just want a smooth shave

[SlyMike]

I found that it wasn't shaving close but found that holding the blade down sorted that.

My head has never been sore from it, can you share a bit more detail about how you are shaving?  Ie how many times do you go over the same part of the head for example?

[Brade]

I shave my head in the shower with plenty of HOT water using a Head Blade 3 and Shave Secret shaving oil. Smooth with no irritation. 

[Gary1236]

i like to shave against the grain as it provides the smoothest shave i also shave with head slick

[SlyMike]

i like to shave against the grain as it provides the smoothest shave i also shave with head slick

Do you shave with the grain first though?

[beardbald]

I didn't like headblade

[Gary1236]

i shave with the grain when i have hair but when i dont i dont see a point shaving with the grain someone explain why shave with the grain first then against i always never liked with the grain as it never would give me a smooth shave

[mrzed]

I need to ask this. How old is your blade?  As a BBC guy, my HB3's last about 5 shaves. Beyond that and it gets irritating. 

Blade life would vary depending upon how much hair you are shaving. If you are just trimming the edges, it would last longer.

Do you have issues with a fresh blade? 

Of course, don't press too hard.

I usually do ATG if I am shaving regularly. If I skip a few days, I'll do WTG first, then ATG. 

[Tyler]

Going WITH the grain first helps remove much of the hair with less friction or pull. By going WITH the grain first and then against the grain, you're likely to reduce the irritation.

The thing with the HeadBlade is that there are a couple different models, each with the ability to use different blades.

Factors that usually cause irritation are:

Too much pressure on the blade
Old blades
Different blades work better for different people
Using the wrong shave cream
Going against the grain first

I should mention that those rules apply to all types of razor systems, not just the HeadBlade.

For my routine I shave in the shower.  I lather up the shave cream, shave WITH the grain.  Once I'm done with that, I lather up again and shave AGAINST the grain.  I let the blade do the work for me and usually I'm good after those two passes.  Sometimes I need to clean up a bit more around the ears.

[tomgallagher]

I found that too much pressure was the culprit.