Hi all.

I've been straight razor shaving for almost three years now. I still consider myself a beginner because it seems that almost every day some new information comes along that changes the entire process for me. In the past three years I've paid close attention to the preshave, stropping, and (eventually) honing of my razors and after all of this I still encounter the same problem : the razor dulls too quickly.

I bought my first razor from a member selling on this forum almost 4 years ago for a humble $40 and shaved as soon as I got it.Worst shave of my life. I was told it was shave ready, it may have been and it's very likely that I was just that bad, and after the first shave I developed the feeling that it was not. I sent it to be honed by a local guy. It came back so sharp that my second shave actually took the top layer of skin right off my face. Learned a lot about angle of the blade that way. But then I noticed that after 4-5 shaves, no matter how thorough my stropping was, I went from a semi-decent shave to something that resembled the use of a dull Bowie knife.

I contacted the guy who honed my razor and got it honed again. He gave me a used but nice strop and some chromium oxide paste. Told me to touch up the blade every 5th or 6th shave. And I did. I noticed it was slightly better but by the 6th shave it generated more of the feeling of tearing hair out with a spoon. I thought maybe it was a bad razor. I bought a very nice Dovo to remedy that.

The dovo is a very nice razor. A great deal heavier and more substantial than my "Real Red Point" (which I don't know much about) with cheap scales is. But then I encountered the same thing again: had it honed, 5th shave...nightmare. I thought maybe it was my pre-shave process and so I decided to experiment. A very hot shower with water directly to the face followed by 3 wet/hot towels applied to the face and neck, Musglo Lime Soap applied to the face and left to sit for 5 minutes to soften the beard/stubble in between towels and then a great lather of Prorasso allowed to sit before a second coat is applied and the shave begins. I got a freshly honed Dovo back the other week and 5 days in....same problem. I hope that rules out the preshave

I should clarify: I'm not shaving hard enough to draw blood. I don't think pressure is an issue, thankfully I haven't knicked myself or drew blood spots in a good while now. I pay careful attention to the angle of the blade trying to keep very close to 30 degrees. I do not shave my full face. I have a thick beardy sort of jaw/chin strap. The only necessary shaving part is my cheeks/outlines and neck. The problem persists with the Dovo and Red Point so quality of razor (I don't think) isn't the issue. I've sent both razors to multiple members of Straight Razor Place for honing and got great quality work back from all of them

tldr; What am I doing wrong and could it be my stropping?

Please help. I'm tired of paying to have a razor honed every three weeks now.