Thread: Regular maintenance procedure

I've been reading through some older threads trying to determine an answer to this.

I'm wondering about regular maintenance. I'm not doing restoration work here. Just have one razor I use daily.

I have a pasted paddle (3, 1, .5 micron). I've read where some people like to touch up the blade on a pasted paddle every 5 shaves or so. Is this enough or do I need to also add a barber's hone or Norton stone to my regular routine and if so, how often (in general)?

If it's only touch ups, the the pasted paddle should work well for quite some time. The 5 shaves thing is really only a guideline though. Depending on your level of growth, you may be fine going 10, 15 or possibly 20 shaves before going to the pasted paddle.

I use a pasted paddle for touch ups, but I usually don't use the 3µ paste unless the edge really needs it. I'll usually just start on the 1µ or 0.5µ paste for a touch up.

The only reason I touch up so frequently is I like the way a freshly chrome oxide-paddled blade feels; the razor stays sharp much much longer than that.

For regular maintenance, I just use a hanging strop daily with some paste on the linen side. I have a couple of barber's hones ($10 on e-bay) but I rarely use them.

You should be able to continue indefinitely with just your pasted paddle and nothing else. Your face will tell you when you shave.

Some of us get facinated and carried away with the sharpening, and forget how simple life can be if we allow it.

Yup, I've never *had* to take my razors back to a hone, they keep going and going and going with just the paddles. I suspect that at some point they'll need another proper honing, but I don't know it for sure.

Once I get a razor keen enough with a hone, I find that I can maintain the edge with just a 1.0/.5 paddle and the Miller #3 hanging strop.



Wayne, neglecting his Norton

Thanks guys. I kind of figured the pasted paddle would be enough for most touchups. Still trying to get that benchmark of what a keen edge feels like. I got a good indication of a keen edge off my pasted paddle but after I strop, I'm still not sure. I've been trying different stropping experiments with some decent success but was reading about how barber's used the strop and a barber's hone with maybe an annual honing by a professional to keep their razors sharp so I thought I'd get some opinions.