Thread: Getting more shaves between sharpenings

I just posted this in response to someone's question about what types of steel or hardness levels would give more shaves bewteen sharpenings. The person noted that other people were getting 2-4x more shaves between sharpenings than he was.
I thought the beginners forum may also be able to benefit from the answer I posted (below).

Your trouble is likely just that you are a beginner, and not the steel or heat treat of your razor. I'm getting 2-3x more shaves between touch-ups now that I have 2 years of experience than I did when I had 3-6 months of experience. I also tried harder razors (including the TI 135 steel). It gave me about a 20-25% more shaves between touch-ups. Not 200-300% more...

Here's some things to try:
Make better lather. Double the amount of soap you are using, and use 1.5 times more water. You should end up with very wet, but thick lather.
Do better prep. Let the lather sit on your face for about 2-3 minutes before shaving. For me, this is the amount of time it takes to strop.
Strop better. Use just enough pressure you can feel the leather's texture. Do 30-40 round-trip laps on the nylon webbing, and 50-60 on latigo leather. Then do 10-15 more very lightly on the leather.
Shave better. Keep the spine 2 spine widths away from your face on WTG, and 1.5 widths away on XTG. Hold the heel 1/2-3/4" lower than the toe, but shave straight up and down (this puts the blade at a slight angle to the path of the shave). Concentrate on using no pressure.
Touch up the razor with 20 laps on a paddle strop with a light dusting of .5 micron paste when you start to get a little irritation (skin feels sensitive after shaving). If you wait longer, you'll start to feel pulling when you shave. If you wait even longer, you'll eventually get a rash-like razor burn.

Good Luck.