The Straight Dope post on shaving was interesting and helpful. I got into shaving with a double-edged blade and safety razor last year. The thing I discovered was that it transformed shaving from a chore to a pleasure—and produced better shaves, as a by-product. I collected everything I’ve learned into one long post. Take a look and see whether you might find this a good idea to make the morning more pleasant.
Generally speaking, the use of a safety razor involves stubble reduction: you make multiple—typically three—passes, rinsing your beard and relathering before each pass. The passes for an experienced shaver are with, then across, and finally against the grain: the against the grain pass occurs after the stubble has been greatly reduced. A beginner with the safety razor might make three passes: with, across, and across the other way, skipping the against the grain pass.
Read at the link for more info.