Hello everyone! I am having issues shaving with a safety razor

Hello, I have been shaving with a safety razor for a few weeks now, and I am still having problems. I switched to a safety razor from a gillette multi blade razor and electric razor. Im not sure what I am doing wrong, I have noticed with each shave I have less and less stubble left, but I am still getting razor burn. I will post what I am using and the process I use. Please reccomend products, videos, threads, and techniques that would help me out. I have watched a bunch of videos on youtube and have been lurking here, but I can't seem to get this right.

Products:
Edwin Jagger DB89
Derby, Personna, and Shark Blades
Colonel Conk Shave Soap
Thayer Unscented Witchhazel
Omega Pro 48 Shave Brush
Proraso Shaving Cream Green Tube
Proraso After Shave Balm
Procedure:
Get a coffee mug of hot water to start soaking brush
Shower and wash face with face wash
Empty mug water and shake excess off of brush
Create lather on soap puck for 20-30 sec
Create lather in mug for 45-60 sec
Wet Face with Warm Water
Lather Face for 20-30sec
Shave in 2 inch strokes straight down switching blades and rinsing often
Re lather and repeat
Re lather and repeat with side to side strokes
Rinse face with warm water
Rinse Race with ice cold water
Apply Witch Hazel
Apply Balm
Done

What am I doing wrong? Thanks for the help everyone!

Here are pictures of my neck from the past 2 shaves. I shave every other day, and I don't have much hair growth on my face.

Load more product, work your lather a bit longer, add more water too if necessary. Make sure the lather is slick, slickness is what protects your skin from the edge of the blade.

Map your beard growth and avoid ATG passes for now. WTG and XTG (possibly two XTG passes in opposite directions) will provide a very close shave, without going ATG. It's easier on the skin too.

Pay attention to pressure and angle, this is very important! Here's a great link:

http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Getting_started_wetshaving

Keep practicing, better results will come with time and practice.

Definitely just keep practicing. When I started, I made sure not to go ATG until I really had my technique down. I would go XTG, as stated above, in each direction and would get a wonderful shave. After about 6 months of practice, I can get BBS shaves and go against the grain without any irritation. Keep working on it!

Hello and welcome. B&B is a great forum full of friendly, helpful shavers. You will learn a lot here!

Good advice in two posts above. Don't go ATG and practice makes perfect.

GOM, Nuclear hit the main point don't go against the grain at the moment. I can wager much of that burn is blade angle against the grain. And it's entirely because this trick is new and your hands aren't unconsciously competent. The hardest thing I've been learning is ATG will always feel like there's more to get - even when you're already past close comfortable / damn fine or even baby butt smooth... just because you can not shave the follicles out... so...
... we go at it another way, prep very well, re-wet and re-lather between passes, and practice across the grain at different angles of attack. You'll learn what works for you to get way down the hair and smooth... and then, getting the last of it with wet buffing will be cake and not burnt eggs

Most people get the prep right so then it's all about the angle and pressure. You neck is a little more sensitive and it's easier to get the angle wrong there.

Do read up on technique as that's likely the issue here. Here's my post that contains some useful information and likely everything you need to solve your problem....

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/417244-Dfoulk-s-Causes-of-Razorburn-and-how-to-shave

I wrote this because I got tired of typing the same thing over and over, others have added to it and at this point it's not a bad resource at all.

Know that it takes quite a few bad shaves before you get this down. Once you do it's definitely worth the effort though.

Good luck,

Welcome to the forum! Can't stress beard prep enough. Sorry, but I don't think 20-30 seconds of applying lather to your face is enough to really soften your whiskers. I spend a minimum of 2 minutes face lathering as it makes my beard defense-less against the cutting process. +1 stay away from ATG; it will feel like you missed a lot...but you didn't. A good post shave routine will smooth out rough patches. It took me weeks (and substantial blood loss) to figure out the key to wet shaving is zero pressure. Good luck.

What they said about zero pressure. Might try to avoid the Derby blades too. I had all sorts of issues with the Derbys personally.

Welcome to B&B. Good advice above, mainly map your beard and stay away from ATG for a while.

Its all been said really but prep is the most important I think. Have a shower and wash your face at the beginning of the shower to get the beard soft. Then its all about angle and pressure which is no pressure. Also you may be used to doing long strokes with the razor. If you are try doing short strokes and rinsing the blade more. Having only one blade to 18 blades on a cart, the hair clogs easier.

Welcome to B&B. Try backing off on the pressure, go very lightly WTG and XTG. Wait until you get good results shaving that way and then try adding the ATG.

I'd look at getting a better soap thank conk. I never had much luck with it. Focus on blade angle and pressure (both difficult when working under the chin).

Hello, welcome to B&B.

Wow, you guys are incredible. I wasn't expecting this many responses. You surely helped me regain some confidence. I haven't been shaving ATG, just 2 passes of WTG and one XTG. I will spend more time getting lathered up and spend more time lathering my face. I appreciate the feedback and I will look into the articles shortly. I heard one response against the col conk, is there any other recommendations to change the products?

Some good advice above. Angle and pressure are the issues you need to work on. dfoulk in the post he cited has a good site to blade angle.

The irritation you experienced usually is caused by poor blade angle and too much pressure on the razor. The neck is a tricky area to shave because keeping the right blade angle and little pressure is a challenge. The usual advice is to let the weight of the razor do the job - not put pressure on the blade. To put that in action I have found that using the two fingers and my thumb to hold the razor with another finger resting on the tip of the handle. This results in holding the razor very lightly with no pressure on the razor. You want to hold the razor as lightly as you can without it falling from your hand. I have found that using the right grip on your razor goes a long way in keeping pressure off of the blade. This post may help you. Also, take a look at this wiki

Your only major flaw is impatience.... Accept that the learning curve is months long and work on improving a little bit each day.

I agree that slickness and minimal pressure are crucial. Uberlather (see the wiki) is the best way to get slickness from lather. It also sounds as if you may not be working up your lather long enough. Since you're not face lathering, the amount of time you spend lathering your face probably isn't the problem.

What also would help is a pre-shave application such as John Allan's Slick Water or TOBS pre-shave gel.

Give your face a little time to heal/recover by going WTG only (you can do more than one WTG pass) for the next several shaves. Also try another blade - perhaps an Astra SP? And of course no pressure.

Everyone else's suggestion to avoid AGT for now sounds good for this case. In your strokes, let the weight of the razor do the work, or at least most of the work. Also, pre-shave oil may help. Slop on about 2 or 3 drops and work it into your skin in down-to-up strokes against gravity, then apply lather. AoS' pre shave oil is around $25 and therefore pricey. I've gotten similar results from Shave Secret, about $4.00 from Walmart. American Crew sells for around $8.00 on eBay and various outlets. As your neck heals and you gain proficiency, perhaps you can slowly introduce AGT and relegate the pre-shave preparation as optional.