Thread: Do you ever feel like you're getting worse at shaving?

I'm about 6 months in, probably averaging 3-4 shaves/week with a SR, the rest with DE (easier to travel with or go quickly).

I feel like I've been making progress getting at least DFS on 2/3 or 3/4 of my face, and then cleaning up the rest that I can't manage yet with a DE. (I get a little more territory each week). Good news is that I almost never get a nick or any discomfort. The bad news is this week it seems my shaves are getting worse. All 3 of my SRs in rotation were from SRD, thus I am sure nothing was originally wrong with them...a R. Aust 5/8, a R. Aust 6/8 Stainless and a Dovo Prima Klang 5/8.

My favorite has been my R. Aust 5/8, but I always was less happy with the other 2. Sooo, based on a thread on SRP somewhere recently, last week I decided I'd use only my favorite, and vary soaps and/or cream to see what my favorite was. I kept everything else equal, stropping before shave 7-10 on linen, and then 50-60 on the smooth leather side of a SRD paddle strop (my go-to strop) and face prep (hot towels from Lynn's video). I also strop 7-10 on canvas and 30 - 40 on the smooth side of the paddle strop after my shave, after rinsing and drying the razor with hot water and tissues. I'm pretty OCD about the drying process, and let the razor rest on my BR cable box (which is always warm) for 12 hours before fully closing it and putting it away in the drawer of my jewelry box, which has desiccant in it. I feel I have good stropping technique, and decent shaving technique, except for my chin, mustache area and a few corner of my goose fleshy, 65 year old neck. Last week went fine and out of my 4 shaves I got almost perfect DFS for the areas except those I mentioned above. I settled on my favorite soaps being Pre-de-Provence, and my favorite cream being DR Harris Arlington.

Now this week, I decided to keep one of those two soaps/creams and use my 3 razors in a rotation. The Dovo was OK...decent shave , but not DFS. The 6/8 R. Aust was not good at all, I'm just not confident with it for some reason...then today I went back to the R.Aust 5/8, and it felt terrible, but I got a decent 1/2 DFS shave.

Maybe after 30 shaves the 5/8 needs either more stropping or a refresh, but the other 2 only have 10-15 shaves each. I may start keep a log, but I'm not generally that anal about things.

Anyway, I'm just curious if others have up and downs like this and if anyone has suggestions on possible solutions (which I know is a dumb question on this forum site)

Barring another solution, I'm going to use my SRD certificates to send my rotation back to get them back to Shave ready.

Some days are diamonds,some days are dust.Some people put way to much thinking into shaving,prep, soaps etc.
The entire process is really very simple with shave ready blades,is nothing more than shaving,enjoy

Unfortunately, about 90% of the problems guys have are related to the sharpness or smoothness of the razor. The best solution is a touch-up honing on stone. You might try doing several laps on leather with the spine raised a 1/8 of an inch and see if that helps a little.

Also be careful with the resultant skin damage if you keep using a dulling blade. Once there is skin damage even a perfect edge can exasperate the problem. You might be forced to take a break.

I've been shaving with a SR and a DE for about the same time as you, and with about the same frequency. I'm finding that I need to touch up my SR with chromium oxide after 2 1/2 to 3 weeks. I just did it for the second time this morning, and again I was amazed at how easy and pleasant the shave was. I know that seems like a short period to refresh for many, and I'm hoping that it gets longer as my technique improves, but for now it really makes a difference. You might want to give it a try. There is a great video by Lynn Abrams on YouTube on how to do it, and SRD carries the chromium oxide crayons. Good luck!

Getting your razors touched up at SRD is definitely a good idea, try that first!

Lately, I thought my shaves were getting worse. Turns out my new brush soaks up too much lather, due to which I don't get the right lather consistency on my face. Also, I have become more and more critical over the last year. Where I started out with cuts, nicks and irritation, I now have none of those and started paying more attention to the quality of the edge, lather and shaving technique.

Is part of the problem overconfidence? Like me you have been doing this long enough to know what to do so complacency kicks in, I have spates of irritation and nicks.
I also have a razor that I neither like or use so I will sell it. Once yours have been honed why not give them a shave or two and if you still don't get on with some of them then get rid of it/ them.
Maybe send your 2 least favourites away first then once they are back send off your favourite and rotate them until your favourite returns.

Originally Posted by edhewitt

Is part of the problem overconfidence? Like me you have been doing this long enough to know what to do so complacency kicks in, I have spates of irritation and nicks.
I also have a razor that I neither like or use so I will sell it. Once yours have been honed why not give them a shave or two and if you still don't get on with some of them then get rid of it/ them.
Maybe send your 2 least favourites away first then once they are back send off your favourite and rotate them until your favourite returns.

Know what you mean...some day's are great, some day's meh...

Was going to have a shave today, got out a nice TI 6/8th, but just have one of those feelings that I'm simply not in the mood, one of those day's type of thing. So being I don't really have to shave today, I will wait until tomorrow.

And yes, I have one blade I'm sure hates me. Spent a lot of time tracking down a nice DD Goldedge, it's in awesome shape, honed by a professional, used it three times, and every time I've used it, it's bitten me. I think maybe I'll give it one or two more tries, and either decide just to hold onto the darn thing, or sell it, with a warning that it's cursed!!

Originally Posted by Phrank

And yes, I have one blade I'm sure hates me. Spent a lot of time tracking down a nice DD Goldedge, it's in awesome shape, honed by a professional, used it three times, and every time I've used it, it's bitten me. I think maybe I'll give it one or two more tries, and either decide just to hold onto the darn thing, or sell it, with a warning that it's cursed!!

Can it be that it's simply too sharp for your liking? I found today that I can get a really great shave with a razor that is not quite as sharp as I normally would like, just because it's nearly impossible for me to get cuts or irritation with it.

Originally Posted by Phrank

Know what you mean...some day's are great, some day's meh...

Was going to have a shave today, got out a nice TI 6/8th, but just have one of those feelings that I'm simply not in the mood, one of those day's type of thing. So being I don't really have to shave today, I will wait until tomorrow.

And yes, I have one blade I'm sure hates me. Spent a lot of time tracking down a nice DD Goldedge, it's in awesome shape, honed by a professional, used it three times, and every time I've used it, it's bitten me. I think maybe I'll give it one or two more tries, and either decide just to hold onto the darn thing, or sell it, with a warning that it's cursed!!

See if pups will trade it for a different one, he probably has a shed full of them

Originally Posted by Laurens

Can it be that it's simply too sharp for your liking? I found today that I can get a really great shave with a razor that is not quite as sharp as I normally would like, just because it's nearly impossible for me to get cuts or irritation with it.

I prefer a razor that is 4-5 shaves post honing, I find freshly honed blades can be a bit too keen.