It’s a blessing to have the kind of friends who would do anything you ask. When you need someone to defend you in a sticky situation, your best friends will always have your back. Normally, that’s a good thing. However, you probably shouldn’t ask your friends to shave your back. Not because they wouldn’t do it, but because, well, that’s just weird.

If you’ve got a jungle on your back and want smooth skin instead, you only have a few options. You can wax your hairy back and deal with the pain of feeling every hair being ripped out your follicles (and repeat the process every few weeks), or you can shave it off and painlessly manage the stubble as it grows back.

Shaving your back hair is the less painful choice, but you’ll never get the job done with the razor you use to shave your face. You may have the world’s best safety razor with the sharpest blade, but unless you also have extremely flexible arms like Gumby, you won’t get anywhere.

Shaving your own back is a challenge

You know you can’t shave your own back easily. Your first instinct might be to call up your best friend and say, “hey, man, I know this is weird, but can you shave my back?” You and your best friend have been through everything together, so asking them to shave your back shouldn’t be that weird.

While you might be lucky enough to have a best friend who wouldn’t bat an eye at this kind of request, it’s not going to be sustainable. Your best friend might shave your back once or twice, but if you’re calling them three times a week to keep your back stubble at bay, it’s going to make your friendship a little awkward.

Don’t try to shave your back with some weird contraption

It should go without saying that it’s a bad idea to try to make your own back-shaving contraption. Yes, the Wright brothers reportedly strapped wings to their bodies and jumped off a cliff, which eventually brought us to the airplane, but that’s not the same thing.

Okay, trying to shave your back with a homemade contraption might be as dangerous as jumping off a cliff, but that’s the point. Don’t try it – you’ll probably hurt yourself.

Try a back razor

You’ve probably seen the ads on social media for back razors and wondered if they were any good. Back razors can be a great tool for dealing with stubborn back hair as long as you’ve got a tool to lather up your back in the shower and a long mirror to make sure you don’t end up with random patches of hair.

Don’t waste your good shaving soap on shaving your back hair. Realistically, it’s easier to use shaving cream on your back. You need thick lather that won’t go flat before you’re done applying it. That’s what shaving cream does best – it’s easy to make it thick and creamy and won’t go flat for a long while.

Word of warning: you can’t trim your back hair with a back razor. It’s an all-or-nothing solution. Although, if you’ve got enough back hair to trim rather than simply shave off, you probably should be shaving it all off to start with.

Don’t want to deal with stubble? Use hair removal cream

It’s understandable if you don’t want to deal with stubble after shaving your back. Stubble can make your skin extremely itchy and that uncomfortable feeling is worsened when your shirt rubs against your skin.

If you’re determined to eliminate your back fuzz without making yourself itchy, try some hair removal cream. If you’ve never used hair removal cream before, it’s pretty simple to use. All you do is apply a layer to the target area, wait a few minutes, and then rinse it off. If there is any hair left, you repeat the process until it’s all gone.

Hair removal creams are called depilatories and you can actually get other forms of these products like gels, lotions, roll-ons, and aerosols. Which method works best for you will depend on how easy it is for you to apply it to your back. You might have an easier time spreading a gel or lotion as opposed to trying to spray something against your back.

Depilatories work by breaking down the chemical bonds of the protein called keratin. Once keratin is dissolved, the hair falls out of the follicle.

Aside from the potential for irritation or an allergic reaction, the biggest downside to using hair removal cream is that it smells a bit like rotten eggs. However, you can get scented hair removal cream that still smells a bit weird, but not quite as weird. Whatever you get, plug your nose while you use it because it’s a small price to pay for having a smooth back.

Still want your best friend to shave your back?

If you’re determined to get the chance to say, “I’ll shave your back if you’ll shave mine,” go ahead and call your best friend. Ask them to shave your back and see what they say. The worst thing that can happen is they’ll say no. Or, they might post about it on social media. Or, they may make you shave their back, too, so be prepared to return the favor.

If you’re determined to have your best friend shave your back, go for it. You’ll probably get at least one good shave out of them. Just don’t expect them to keep up the task. Be responsible for your own back hair; it’s the adult thing to do.