(1)Strop your straight razor before each shave. The stroke runs toward the back of the blade. (2) Lathering up. Especially at first—when you're going to be shaving very, very slowly—it's probably best to lather and shave only a small section of your face at a time. (3) Start on the neck and shave upward first, then (4) downward to catch all the whiskers. Keep skin stretched tight and note position of razor's handle in each illustration. It's not necessary to relather when going over an area the second time, if the skin is still wet. (5) Rotate razor's handle to keep it out of the way and balance blade and shave other side of neck. Handle positions shown are not absolute, whatever feels best to you will work best, so long as the thing is out of the way.