I have read more than once that some believe you need to rest your razor for a day or two after shaving. Is there any truth to this maxim or is this just a myth? If it is a myth how did this idea get started?
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I have read more than once that some believe you need to rest your razor for a day or two after shaving. Is there any truth to this maxim or is this just a myth? If it is a myth how did this idea get started?
I say myth.
Who know how it started?
Yeah, myth. If I let a razor sit too long I usually feel like I want to hone it, like the sharp/keen got old somehow. That's probably a myth too.
I never heard of resting a razor but I have heard of letting your razor air dry for at least a day or so, more if you want. I will wipe mine off, blow through it in case there might have been some water in between things. (I've blown excess water out before). If I have some, I'll use canned air like they use on computers. I wipe it one last time & let it sit for about a day. I apply some pivot lube, wipe off excess & put it away.
Vintage, R.A.D.
But Babe, I have to let the razor rest so the edge can rebuild, at least 7 days…
Yes, I've heard of this, the legend is you are supposed to allow the razor to, "Fin", to rest for 24 hours or so.
The thinking being that the edge will return to its proper shape with a rest, as in straight, upright dorsal fin shape. That using the razor causes the edge to droop, or bend, and resting the razor and of course stropping the razor, returns it to its best performing state....legend? Who knows.....:hmmm:
Actually just checked my TI instructions and it say the same thing, as does the Dovo web site,
Attachment 241215
............:tu
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.
That's it actually, as explained to me by an old time honemeister and owner of one of the oldest wet shaving stores in Canada.Quote:
Originally Posted by xiaotuzi
He held his hand up and said the edge was like a dorsal fin, when it's straight up, it's good, but when a whale for instance has its fin drooping to the left of right, it's a sign that it's "sick", not right. So as the legend was explained by him, after a shave, the razor needed to be allowed to, "Fin" for 24 hours or so.
En Francais, it means to "finish", or "end", which translates more appropriately as, "rest".....
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!
This sounds like the answer to me! What better way to double the amount of razors you sell??Quote:
Originally Posted by johnmrson
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?):
:rolleyes:Quote:
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
LeeQuote:
Originally Posted by hoglahoo
I agree. It may have been practiced way back then before air was invented. :w
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.
Quote:
Originally Posted by celticcrusader
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. :chapeau
Quote:
Originally Posted by engine46
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).Quote:
Originally Posted by engine46
I tested this a while back. Rested razor vs used everyday. Same razor touched up before each test period. I found no evidence of a better shave by resting vs non resting.
Seems like a great marketing scheme - on the order of shampoo's greatest marketing gimmick: "Wash. Rinse. Repeat."
...
Adam
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
I've never needed another shave in that amount of time so I wouldn't know.
Finning is real and observable. It does exist!
That being said, I agree that it was a marketing ploy to sell more razors.
Finning is easily seen in a hand rip saw. Before you start sawing all the teeth are lined up and the sides feel smooth when you run your hand over it. Use the saw for an hour and when you run you hand over the sides you can feel the misaligned teeth (no longer smooth). Let the saw rest for about 8 hours and run your hand back over the sides and it is smooth again.
Before the age of power tools, lots of people knew what finning was. Men knew that their saws finned, so it was only logical that their razors finned as well. So why not use the common knowledge to sell more product to men chasing the BBS face?
I've never actually measured the movement on a saw blade, but it is very small - like a few micrometers level. You can't usually see that the teeth are out of alignment, but you can feel it. On a razor the teeth are so small, I would expect the movement to be in the few nanometer range. Which in my opinion is negligible since I'm pretty sure nobody hones their bevel to within a few nanometers (ok maybe Lynn and Glen do).
I asked my barber friend and he said he had 4 or 5 razors in his shop. He would soak a razor after using it in disinfectant and by the time he went through the rotation the first was ready to go. He said on a busy day he would use them twice. He said he needed to rest more then his razors. He started to laugh and said don't buy union razors so they won't demand time off. Keep in mind that was in the days barbers used straight razors. He also pointed out the stropping and honing have more to do with it then anything else. I also asked how he knew if the razor needed work. He said he shaved every morning with one of the razors. If he didn't like the feel it was set aside and at night it was honed and stropped.
Makes complete sense. In a barbershop they don't have the luxury to rest razors days at a time. Thanks for sharing!Quote:
Originally Posted by jkatzman
“Seems like a great marketing scheme - on the order of shampoo's greatest marketing gimmick: "Wash. Rinse. Repeat."
Kind of like the Marketing Ad Executive that doubled Alka-Seltzer’s sales over night, Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz, (Take 2 tablets, instead of 1).
I only rest my razors if they begin to droop! Euclid,noticing your location brings to mind one of the greatest marketing schemes in history. The Engagement Ring Story: How De Beers Created a Multi-Billion Dollar Industry From the Ground Up
Enjoyed the read. We're all using a shaving method that started to be outdated over 100yrs ago when Gillette came up with his '04 and we're saying that the Fin is a myth and resting a razor is obsolete[emoji33]
I for one say: Yes, men, there is a Fin. In all this world there is nothing else real and abiding!
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I for one believe there is a fin, if for no other reason than to have more than one razor!
