My Shaves are degrading.

I am about 25 shaves in (I have actually lost count....but I think that's it.) and I think my shave quality peaked somewhere around 18. I was getting progressively smoother, cleaner and more comfortable shaves up to that point. Since then, however, the cleanness has dropped off considerably--I still get fairly comfortable shaves, no burn or excessive nicking, but I would not call them clean....not even close to acceptable, really. I still have tons of stubble after three passes, whereas I was getting to near BBS on all spots except my neck before.

I have been using my wapi for the majority of my shaves (one or two tries with my Tosuke and a copuple on my Kropp excepted). So, let's say that I have 20 shaves on my wapi. Is it time to touch up the blade? I have a coticule, a John Primble Barber hone, and a Shapton pro 12k--would one of those help?

Or, should I be looking at some other option? I thought that my technique was improving, due to the dropping frequency of nicks and the loss of razor burn; I haven't changed anything about my routine, so I can't figure out the reason for this.

It's a bit more difficult to feel the wapi start to pull compared to a hollow ground, just because of the thicker grind and lack comparative lack of feedback to begin with. If nothing else has changed, then yes, maybe it is time to retouch your wapi. That's plenty of shaves on the wapi without stropping on paste or touching a hone.

The general advise is to use your finest grit hone, in this case your shapton or coticule (not familiar with the barber hone) and see if there is any improvement.

I personally don't go that many shaves before touch-ups since it is easier to keep an edge sharp than it is to sharpen.

Id give it a few round trips on the Primble barbers hone and see what happens.

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Originally Posted by nun2sharp

Id give it a few round trips on the Primble barbers hone and see what happens.

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I'll do that. A few rounds, is that usually greater than or less than ten?

Id give it 5 round trips and strop/shave and if it needs a few more so be it, lets see what this stone can do.

This sounds like it may be time for a touch up. I have had great success with diamond spray 0.5um coated on the canvas side of a hanging strop. With only a few laps, the razors feel like "new" ;-). I have also used my Norton 4K/8K lightly with success. Before I had either of these 2 sets of tools, I had a Chinese 12k but I was not successful at rescuing the sharpness of my razors with it.

Al raz.

I do 3 laps on my barber hone at a time. Check and see how it shaves. That usually does it too. You don't want to over hone it.

X

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Originally Posted by RayG

I personally don't go that many shaves before touch-ups since it is easier to keep an edge sharp than it is to sharpen.

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I agree :tu. The best way to keep an edge sharp , is not to let it get dull in the first place . When one of my razors feels like it's not quite as sharp as it should be , I give the whole rotation a touch up .

Had the same problem last month...Strop it till you can't strop no more? I am now getting better shaves and less stubble in the neck area from doing it. Good Luck

With 25+ shaves under your belt technique is most likely not an issue. After three passes there should be no stubble at all. Touch it up on a hone or try a few passes of the paste of your choosing.

Success! 6 passes on my Primble and I got my best straight shave yet! Thanks guys!

I know how it feels to have a degrading shave. Earlier today I had my first shave where the razor needed to be honed, man it was brutal, I should have stopped.