In what order do you do your passes?

[SimpleClean]

Edit: Oh no! I accidentally fat fingered this post and submitted too early. I also found out there's a limit to the number of poll answers, so sorry people who do a different combos of passes, such as WXW something. Please post and share!

In what order do you do your passes?

W=With the grain
X=Across the grain
A=Against the grain.

You can vote multiple times for instances you do 2 or 3 passes. If one of the combos aren't listed as an option, please share with a post!

 

[rbscebu]

Basically W X+CdM X opposite direction.

I say "basically" as my whisker grain changes direction very often on different small parts of my face. My stated directions are an average for the larger area I am shaving. CdM is ATG on the upper lip, a.k.a. the fool's pass.

Being a SR shaver, I find that if I shave ATG I get a BBS result and nothing to shave 24 hours later .

 

[silverlifter]

None of the above

Two and a half passes - WX - X the other way for part of my face, jawline and throat.

 

[purecro]

Generally speaking I go W, X, A, sometimes it will be W, W, then A or W, A then some touch ups and that is pretty much it if I just want DFS and am happy with it. Lately I have been going for the DFS+/BBS in order to see that I can and have been able to without any weepers, nicks, cuts and irritation.

I follow my hair growth so like with my area around my apple's apple and below across my neck the hairs grow up instead of down but I count that as W of course.

 

[Chef455]

None of the above

Two and a half passes - WX - X the other way for part of my face, jawline and throat.

Weirdo.

 

[Go West Young Man]

W, X, X the other way
(more or less)

 

[cryhavoc]

I'm a WXA kinda guy.

 

[gpjoe]

Generally the "standard" 3-pass WXA. If I wanted something faster, probably a 2-pass WX or XA (not listed in the poll).

Under no circumstance would I ever lead with ATG.

 

[garyg]

More like 4 & 1/2 - But my beard is somewhat swirled, so some of mine combine With and Across - that said, I do North to South (largely WTG), then centerline to ears (across & with), then ear to center (mostly across, some ATG on jawlines) then South to North (mostly ATG, especially sideburns & upper lip. Then the half pass is clean-ups ...

On a hurried day I do a North to South (gives just an ok shave on me)

 

[Mempho]

What about 4 passes?

 

[BanjoCowboyMartaTobes]

I tried the crazy top to bottom, bottom to top then ear to chin maneuver I saw on the tube. With the right gear, I found my happy place and I don’t need a surveyor to figure out my growth patterns .

 

[Tillerman]

Typical 3 pass with a 4th with thin lather and very light pressure across the grain. Bbs with no irritation.

 

[prabhav3069]

I always do 3 passes. So mine will be
W=With the grain
X=Across the grain
A=Against the grain.

 

[HoosierTrooper]

None of the above. One pass with the grain. Always.

 

[jason2]

Depends on what section I'm shaving....

I start with the sides of each face:
I usually start right side side burn area to jawline WTG and instantly ATG.
Then cheeks ATG

Repeat on left side.

Then I move to under jaw line and from there down I stand no chance of not going ATG. My hairs go every direction.

But right side I go back to front under the jaw line which ends up mostly being XTG. South to north neck up to jaw line and that is mostly WTG. Then I go North to south and that's mostly XTG/ATG.

Then on the left side I go back to front under the jaw line which is mostly WTG. Then I go North to South from Jawline down and that's mostly WTG. Then I go South to North and that's mostly XTG/ATG.

Then I have to go back to front and front to back on both sides of the neck touching up that's mostly ATG.

Then I go under the nose and chin. Under the nose it's WTG and instantly XTG. The chin it's WTG then instantly ATG.

Know your mappings.

 

[HoosierTrooper]

Depends on what section I'm shaving....

I start with the sides of each face:
I usually start right side side burn area to jawline WTG and instantly ATG.
Then cheeks ATG

Repeat on left side.

Then I move to under jaw line and from there down I stand no chance of not going ATG. My hairs go every direction.

But right side I go back to front under the jaw line which ends up mostly being XTG. South to north neck up to jaw line and that is mostly WTG. Then I go North to south and that's mostly XTG/ATG.

Then on the left side I go back to front under the jaw line which is mostly WTG. Then I go North to South from Jawline down and that's mostly WTG. Then I go South to North and that's mostly XTG/ATG.

Then I have to go back to front and front to back on both sides of the neck touching up that's mostly ATG.

Then I go under the nose and chin. Under the nose it's WTG and instantly XTG. The chin it's WTG then instantly ATG.

Know your mappings.

I got a little dizzy reading that!

 

[jason2]

I got a little dizzy reading that!

Trust me it's a sea of swirling vortexes under that jaw line.

 

[HoosierTrooper]

Trust me it's a sea of swirling vortexes under that jaw line.

I believe you!

 

[Phoenixkh]

My standard would be WXA three pass. But sometimes, I can skip the X/across the grain pass. It depends on how many days growth I have... and the razor/blade combination.

 

[mr_houston]

Generally it’s XA, so I voted that. However, on my neck it’s WAX. I consider this to be a 2-pass shave with touch up on the neck.

Of course, it’s actually a little more complicated than that.