How To Shave Your Head With A Safety Razor

Safety razors give you a cleaner shave with an inexpensive blade, and you’re less likely to nic yourself while you’re shaving. It’s really a win-win-win shaving experience. So if you’re going bald, it’s really a no-brainer – you’ve got to learn how to shave your head with a safety razor.

How To Shave Your Head With A Safety Razor

Steps 1-4 here are your pre-shave setup. If you have your own personal shaving ritual that you follow, go ahead and skip down to steps 5-6 for the safety razor tutorial.

1. Wash Your Hair

Use shampoo and conditioner on your hair or stubble to get your head nice and soft. This preps your hair, and it removes the dead skin and oil that have built up on your scalp.

Even if you feel stupid washing a bald head with shampoo, remember, the cleaner your head, the smoother your safety razor will glide. You’ll get fewer nics, cuts, and irritation after your shave if you use shampoo before you shave.

2. Start With A Buzzed Head

No, I don’t mean you should down a pint before you break out your safety razor. By “buzzed head,” I mean a buzz cut.

The shorter your hair is, the easier it will be to shave. So if your hair isn’t already less than ¼ inch tall from your last shave, then go over your head with clippers or trimmers before you get down to work with the safety razor.

(PRO TIP: if you’re not a whiz with hair clippers, here’s our guide on how to fix hair clippers that won’t cut.)

3. Open Up A Fresh Safety Blade

You should swap out your old blade for a new one whenever you shave your head, no matter what kind of razor you’re using.

You probably know from shaving your face – not only will a dull blade leave behind razor burn, but it also doesn’t cut as effectively. When you shave your head, you have a ton of blind spots that you’re trying to reach. You need a fresh blade that will give you a perfect shave on the first pass.

And the good news is that blades for safety razors are super cheap. You shouldn’t spend more than 50 cents on a single blade – most come in bigger packs that will save you even more money.

4. Work A Double-Mirror Setup

I know, you’re probably thinking, when are we going to get to the actual shaving?? Just two more setup steps, I promise.

You can skip this step and go in blind, but I highly recommend a second mirror. Hold it behind your head toward your bathroom mirror so that you can see the back and sides of your head. You’ll have an easier time applying the shaving cream, and you’ll get a cleaner shave when you can see your whole head.

5. Lather Up With Shaving Cream

You can use the same shaving cream on your head that you use on your face. Or, if you’re feeling fancier than that, get a shaving cream that will moisturize your head. Look for coconut, jojoba oil, aloe vera, or other hydrating ingredients.

If you’re using “regular” shaving cream and getting rashy on your head, you might need to upgrade.

6. Go With The Grain

You probably use a three-pass system when you shave your beard – with the grain, along the grain, against the grain. Don’t follow those rules when you’re shaving your head with a safety razor. Your scalp is easily irritated, so multiple passes will start to hurt. Instead, just take one pass with the grain, in the same direction that your hair grows.

For most guys, that means starting at the crown of your head and shaving forward, then to the sides, and then downward in the back.

Your scalp might move while you shave. Use your fingers to hold it taut, or angle your head to put tension on the skin where you’re shaving.

Take it one pass at a time. Hold the blade at a 45 degree angle to your skin, start at the crown, shave to your hairline, then rinse your blade. Repeat. Use the shaving cream to keep track of where you have and haven’t shaved.

7. Touch-up, Don’t Re-Shave

When you take that initial pass over your head, you should get a pretty clean shave with your safety razor. So when you go in to shave any streaks of stubborn hair, don’t re-shave your head entirely, just touch up those spots.

Using a razor blade on skin that’s already properly shaved can give you razor burn. Plus, it’s an unnecessary waste of time.

8. Moisturize Your Head

Congrats on your fresh, clean head! Before you rush off to your next commitment, don’t forget to use a moisturizer on your scalp. Bald heads get dry (it actually takes a lot to take care of a bald head), so show your egg some love.