What are your honing routines like?

I have been shaving with straights for couple of months now and I'm finally starting to learn something about shaving and razor maintenace.

I find it good to do a little touch up on a fine (12k) hone after about every 10 shaves. Each shave includes usually two passes. This seems to keep the bevel in good condition and I don't think I ever have to go to lower grits if I don't damage the razor in any way. Pasted strops I don't use, only leather/canvas before each shave and Naniwa 12k every now and then.

I'm a little curious about your honing routines. How many shaves (or passes) do you perform before you have to go to hone or pasted strop?

It'll really vary depending on the toughness of your beard, how well you strop and how well you look after the razor.

A tough beard, bad stropping and a humid environment will all shorten the time it takes for a razors edge to deteriorate.

That said, anything from 10 or 15 shaves upward to 30 or 40 seems to be about the range from what I've read. I get about 20 shaves before I have to go back to the hones I've found.

The acid test is how it shaves though. If the razor pulls, doesnt remove hair or you find that you have to start using more pressure to get a good shave, then its time to hone the razor.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sami

How many shaves (or passes) do you perform before you have to go to hone or pasted strop?

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I get 20 - 30 shaves with the majority of the razors I have shaved that many times with. One or two passes is all I generally ever use during a shave

This is not a benchmark though, it's just what I notice with my own stuff

I strop about every other shave and get about 30 shaves from a honing. I update the edge with about 10 passes on a barber hone every two months or so. That would equal once a month, per razor, with two razors in rotation. In reality I hone two razors about every 60 days. Takes about 2 minutes total.

I always do this when shaving as I apply lather to the barber hone.

Since I take a few days off from any kind of shaving, or throw a DE shave in once in a while, it's really not an exact formula. Just a ball park estimate.

Hope that makes sense.

To be honest, razor maintenance can get pretty boring and uneventful.