Thread: Curious about why razors need to rest

I am curious about the logic as to why razors need to rest. There seems to be out there a belief that it is best for the razor to rest between shaves, like a day or a week. Is there a logic as to why there are 7 day sets of razors? And why do some straight razor users have a rotation of razors?

Alx

I only had one razor for the first 3 months I shave with a SR and it seemed to do o.k. without rest.

My morley and sons was used everyday for one week when i was on vacation too.

I dont buy into the whole resting razor thing. But I am but just a man.

Originally Posted by alx

I am curious about the logic as to why razors need to rest. There seems to be out there a belief that it is best for the razor to rest between shaves, like a day or a week. Is there a logic as to why there are 7 day sets of razors? And why do some straight razor users have a rotation of razors?

Alx

I was tempted to post with tongue in cheek and say,"Because they get tired." Now that I've gotten that out of the way ..... there was a fable that the edge needed 24 hours or so to return to normal before being used again. This has been proven to be false if I am not mistaken.

In the days when this was a common belief razors were sold in sets of 2, 4, and 7. The more wealthy customers got them I guess. A practical reason to have a rotation today is that you can always be sure to have a shave ready razor to use should one need attention or if an accident should happen. Dropping the razor or dinging the edge on the faucet. Then there is the RAD which many of use suffer from .... or enjoy... depending on how you look at it.

Originally Posted by alx

I am curious about the logic as to why razors need to rest.

They don't. Barbers used to use the same razor all day long on multiple customers. There is a theory that if a razor is rested then it doesn't need as much stropping, but that's a far cry from saying that razors actually need to rest.

They need no rest, just stropping. I shave daily with a straight, for the last year I used a single straight (wostenholm) probably 300 out of the 365 days. I had no problem at all, just take proper care of your blades

I also feel that there's no need to rest a razor.
Seven day sets would have been owned only by the wealthy. A razor cost a significant amount of money comparative to the average wage. That's one of the reasons barbershops were so common.

Originally Posted by alx

I am curious about the logic as to why razors need to rest. There seems to be out there a belief that it is best for the razor to rest between shaves, like a day or a week. Is there a logic as to why there are 7 day sets of razors? And why do some straight razor users have a rotation of razors?

Alx

I put this in the class of the pyramid honing method. It does
not meet my initial logic but folks have found great value in it
because it does work for many.

Since we are discussing the property of the very thin cutting edge
some unusual processes take place at a microscopic scale. Heck we
are not always sure what stropping does.

Thus this takes us into the world of speculation.... here are mine:

My bet is on room temperature thermal annealing at the micron
and sub-micron scale that anneals (softens) the work hardened
(by stropping) cutting edge. This in turn helps the strop reform
the edge (pull) and then with repetition renews the work hardened
quality of the edge.

Oxidation is another contender. Again at the microscopic scale
the edge oxidizes irregularly and those oxidized bits will have
differential response to stropping where the oxidized surface
thins resulting in a thinner sharper edge that is then revealed
on stropping. I do know that a tin can lid gets "sharp" when it rusts....

The authorities that would have had the best chance to observe
properties like this would have been professional barbers. Their
use habits are very different from the individual users that most
of us are. Tossing professional barbers into the hat very much
confuses the speculation game. Professional barbers would also
serve as local honemasters. In that context bringing a week long
box of razors to the barber for honing and stropping might make
more sense. What if I got to visit Lynn's town for bacon, lard, beans,
salt, sugar, flour and dry goods via horse and buggy. I would be silly
not to drop my set of razors off for a tune up a couple of times a year
when I got a haircut and perhaps a professional shave. In turn I would
also be silly to not alternate through my set (of one, two, ... twenty two)
razors and use them equally.

Alternating through a set of two seems like the real winner.

I'm alternating through a couple of hundred so I have no definite opinion.

I think there was a brief moment in time when razors alone, without strops, were pretty common. I think it was simply noted that if you let the razor "rest" the spine would correct the damage that occurs from shaving. So you could buy a razor, without a strop, and shave a whole lot, at least every couple of days.

Barbers immediately made strops the alternative because waiting for a razor to realign was out of the question (and a bit ineffective too).

But, I think strops and stropping became the norm for every user very quickly. I think a lot of people scoff at the idea of resting, instead of stropping, but to be honest, I hardly ever strop a razor.

Well, I used one razor daily for several months when I first started and there was no problem at all with that.

I dont think the razors need to rest at all. Just make sure you totally dry the blade and keep it in a dry place when you store it.

I also strop after my shave as well. Now that I have two strops, I'm midway through converting the old one into a pasted one. Just waiting on my CrOx for the leather side..!

I do 25 webbed fabric and 50 - 60 leather before each shave, then 25 linen with chalk paste (on the old strop), 10 webbed fabric and 15 - 20 leather afterwards (back on the new one).

My theory is that the linen and chalk will help polish out any damage that has occured to the edge during the shave. When I used this material daily it really helped to keep my edges sharp and I dont want to stop using it now I have a new strop. Nor did I want to paste my new strop, hence the odd stropping routine!

I experimented with doing the canvas before the shave as well as after, and found it made no difference. So I just stuck it at the end to spread the stropping out into before and after...!

Anyway, after that little novel, I dont think its resting that keeps the blade, its maintenance. Use a good strop, dry the blade and store it correctly and you should have no problems!