Thread: How long does a razor stay sharp?

With proper stropping, a very long time, I would say 90-100 shaves. I use six razors in rotation, and have not had to rehone any of them for the past 8 months.

In my short experience so far, 20 - 50 shaves is what I have found depending on the razor

I've found after about 15 shaves the comfort level starts to deteriorate though the razor will still give a bbs shave for quite a while after that. Some razors though will go much longer. My TI damascus hasn't been honed in probably 100 shaves.

your responses have been very informative.

I notice if the blade is anything less than VERY keen so I typically get about a dozen shaves out of a razor before I want to touch it up again. I could get a dozen or more, but why when I've got the tools to bring it back quickly.

X

Isn't using a fine paste on a strop touching it up? If you are talking about not having to do any sharpening at all then after about 2 weeks the performance of the blade starts to drops,for me. This is a razor with very good steel and is honed up to 16K with hones, then pasted. I use to sharpen a razor with a 4 sided strop and then I could only get about 7 days out of a razor before touching it up. Since going to mostly hones to sharpen, then I get about 2 weeks and even then it is just a slight performance drop. I would suspect that using some of the more exotic hones would lead to even a longer time between touch ups.


Take care,
Richard

A razors sharp edge lasts as long as it meets YOUR expectations for a good shave. My expectations are very high for the sharpness of my razor, no amount of stropping on leather will make it last any more than maybe 15 shaves (frequently less depending on the razor) for me, but that does not mean I couldn't continue shaving well beyond that without honing... after all it's still bl*ddy sharp, it's just not as sharp as *I* like it.

Everyone has to find their own comfort level and there's no shame in preferring to hone more often than what some others do.

Regards

Christian