Thread: Resting a razor?

I thought that stropping was meant to fix the problem of an edge curling over? Could resting a razor be pre leather strops?

If you only shave every other day I guarantee that your blade will go twice as long between honing!

Originally Posted by johnmrson

I think that it sounds like it was a good old time marketing technique to get people to buy more razors. If the you follow the mantra that a razor must be rested for a few days then you're going to need a few razors in your rotation.

This sounds like the answer to me! What better way to double the amount of razors you sell??

I think for all practical purposes, it's a nonissue. As far as I've ever been able to gather, it's just one of those things that has been passed down for years that may have been based on some truth eons ago, but its practicality has gotta be obsolete. Here is a translated explanation from La Pogonotomia (1769?):

Some people have a strange experience: they shave until the razor refuses. They then
let it rest 6 to eight weeks, strop 4 or five strokes, and are then able to shave again. The
reason is seen under the microscope: rust forms in pores on the edge when it is wet;
after a few weeks the rust particles drop off while stropping, reducing edge thickness;
some more strokes create a new edge, and the razor is restored

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

I think for all practical purposes, it's a nonissue. As far as I've ever been able to gather, it's just one of those things that has been passed down for years that may have been based on some truth eons ago, but its practicality has gotta be obsolete. Here is a translated explanation from La Pogonotomia (1769?):

Lee
I agree. It may have been practiced way back then before air was invented.

Yeah I heard of this, there's also another method that works just as well you can also spin around 360 degrees kiss your wife eat a cornish pastie and somehow the edge as been miraculously fixed. I think the message they are trying to convey is buy more than one razor.

Originally Posted by celticcrusader

Yeah I heard of this, there's also another method that works just as well you can also spin around 360 degrees kiss your wife eat a cornish pastie and somehow the edge as been miraculously fixed. I think the message they are trying to convey is buy more than one razor.

Right Jamie. I think when they were including this method in their instructions, it was a type of marketing strategy.
When I first read this, I thought, "what now, people are tucking their razors in at night & reading them a bedtime story"?

"They then let it rest 6 to eight weeks, strop 4 or five strokes, and are then able to shave again."
I like this theory, 50 or so razors is all you need...

I must say though, my hat goes off to Whizbang for asking this question. He is kinda new here & he apparently has been reading, doing research & asking questions which is what we tell new members to do.

Originally Posted by engine46

When I first read this, I thought, "what now, people are tucking their razors in at night & reading them a bedtime story"?

Originally Posted by engine46

I must say though, my hat goes off to Whizbang for asking this question. He is kinda new here & he apparently has been reading, doing research & asking questions which is what we tell new members to do.

Okay...so I will stop reading my razor a bedtime story (I thought everyone did that). And I agree with most that it is probably an outdated view of how metal works...perhaps dating back to the times of alchemy...or maybe it was the beginnings of marketing strategy...or maybe as one suggested an excuse to buy more than one razor. I figure this last one is worth a try...so I am giving my razor a rest today (using a Schick Type G) and I told my wife, "I need to let the metal rest for a day. Gosh..that means I should pick up another straight razor!" Thanks guys for the advice...you are a wealth of knowledge (and strategy).