Ok...

Im sorry to say that my learning curve with a DE was too steep. I spent maybe 3 weeks shaving with my merkur HD, a WTG pass, and XTG pass and finishing up with my fusion. It never got to the point where it felt anywhere near smooth with my HD and b/c of personal projects/time issues and discouragement that id be the type to need months before I got an acceptable shave I reverted back to the cartridge razor but keeping the brush and soap.

Well I was rewatching Mantic the other day and saw the video where he explains wet shaving with a cartridge razor. So when I got home I loaded up a Mach 3 with a brand new blade, face lathered HBS soap until I really worked up a shiny moist lather, and instead of pressing ATG, I used a light touch and went WTG like Mantic recommends. Instead of the smooth cutting/mowing I get from an ATG pass with pressure - I felt tugging, I could actually see my skin tugging on the razor head even though it did do some stubble reduction. When I commenced back to my usual ATG pass I applied some pressure and got my usual mowing through stubble - no improvement because I started with a WTG pass and in fact, a bit more iritation and razor burn. Ironically on my chin the hair is too thick to start with ATG, so I start there with an XTG, relather it, then go ATG. This works well on my chin, but everywhere else, multiple light passes result in higher irritation than a straight ATG pass with pressure.

What gives?