Did I Dull My Razor Already (4th Shave)?

My third shave went extremely well, when I put on my AS my face barley burned.

For my 4th shave I did not do anything different during my prep other than strop more. For my third shave I stropped 15 linen, 20 leather, and for my fourth I did 20/40.

After my 4th shave my face felt like my first, on fire. At first I though it was just my technique when shaving (which is still likely was a contributing factor). However I stropped my razor today and before I put razor to face I did a hanging hair test (cut loose hair with blade) and 95% of the razor does not cut the hair, the hair just glides over the blade. This is my first HHT so I do not have anything to compare it to.

When I stropped my razor the past two times, I used a light touch, I made sure the strop was firm and I did not use so much pressure that the strop flexed (using a hanging strop).

Did I strop incorrectly and dull the blade?

When I strop I try to put no pressure on the blade and what pressure I put (from holding the razor as it is moving) I try to keep on the spine. I noticed going down the strop is easier than going down in terms of maintaining lite pressure.

Could I be doing the hair test wrong? Any insight on stropping would be appreciated. I have watched several videos on how to strop and though I was following their advice well. Perhaps not.

Guess it is time to learn how to hone, and buy a new pre honed razor so I have something to shave with.

Any insight would be appreciated.

It's hard to tell, because there are so many variables. If you've only done the (questionable) HHT that once, it doesn't really say anything.

- you could have dulled the razor stropping.
- your angle/technique could have been different without you realizing it.
- your lather could have been too thick the 4th time
- it could just be too soon after your last shave (I need about 48hrs between shaves to avoid burn)

Stropping with no pressure, as you've been doing, shouldn't dull the blade (if the spine has been flat to the strop), but then again, if the pressure is too light, it won't have benefited the razor edge either.

I'd try a few more shaves, trying for consistency of angle/lather/stropping etc. If you get the same burning reaction each time, the razor has probably become dull.

Sorry to be so vague, but there really are a large number of possibilities.

You have a few errors in your post. Important ones, but I'll assess what I think you are saying . . . You found it easier using light pressure going one direction than another, and your shaves before this event barely burned, after your 3rd shave.

So the razor shouldn't behave that way on a strop.

Strop on a table for a while, say 100 passes, and start with some pressure. More than you've been using. Create enough pressure that you feel the strops tension on the razor. Use this added pressure as assistance to keep the blade flat.

Reduce pressure slightly, still using more than before. Resist the temptation to remove all pressure, as that can screw you up. Use enough pressure to feel resistance. So my advice for this part is more about you becoming in tune with the resistance, sensing it, using less pressure, and being so in tune that you can still feel some resistance, even with light pressure.

This kind of assumes that you meant to say the razor was easier to strop down than up, which technically wasnt what you actually typed.

Strop another 50 passes like that.

Try another shave and see if there is a little improvement.

When I add more pressure, how should it be distributed among the blade? I.e, along the spine as I am moving the blade or the business end?

Thank you

I would say evenly. The spine is the guide for the edge. The table or flat surface takes away 1 variable - tension. I would try to strop my razor back in shape but you can make things worse if you do it wrong. That does not sound like what your doing with your pressure so light. I do 25 to 30 laps on linen and 75 to 100 on horse hide between each use and my strop is in pieces sitting on a board right now. ( I am building myself 1 ) So many laps because I do stay light and it is what I was directed to do when I got my razor back from the honmiester. Slow smooth laps and pay attention to how it feels and watch the edge to see it stays flat on the leather. Lynn's video shows many ways to strop wrong. I think you are just missing something while you are concentrating on something else. I catch myself doing that !

So, we often talk about where to apply a little more pressure. Stopping is actually much more simple than reading about it. I'm sure I'm not the first guy that heard about varying where I'm supposed to put pressure on a blade, and then started stropping, and realized just how much dexterity I would have to have in order to do this.

It is this sort of trepidation that you might need to overcome.

Just apply pressure, evenly, but focus on ensuring that pressure that is applied is done judiciously and evenly.

To be bluntly honest with you, most of the pressure you apply when stropping, no matter how much experience you have, goes directly into the edge. It's a simple fulcrum/geometry problem. This is why pressure is important, both in application and in prevention. Easily, the greater percentage of pressure falls into the edge.

Getting the pressure applied evenly and equally between both sides is key. Keep the strop taut when you start stropping off the table.

What is the weather like?

Seriously, if we get a cold snap my skin gets sensitive over night. Sure I prep well...but 30 minutes of prep will not trump 24 hours of skin exposure to new extra dry conditions.

I still get good shaves, but the AS burns a bit more.

Another possibility? It's your 4th shave...are you trying to get a little better shave than your 3rd by taking an extra stroke or two? The difference between skin irritation and not can be as little as one stroke...or a few grams of pressure.

I guess I am lucky there. I could probably use my face to strop. I never think about things like that because I don't have to but it's the little things that take time to learn. And there are so darn many of them :<0)

It is very cold and very dry where I am at. Would that affect the hair test? Perhaps I am just doing that test wrong.

I will give my face and the blade another day to rest, strop, and shave again to see what happens.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Swan

It is very cold and very dry where I am at. Would that affect the hair test? Perhaps I am just doing that test wrong.

I will give my face and the blade another day to rest, strop, and shave again to see what happens.

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HHT is a misnomer...it is not a TEST it is a GAUGE, and gauges must be calibrated. I will not hash this discussion out any further than to say HECK YES!!! when it is cold and dry, so will be the hair exposed to those conditions...thus the reason we prep our beards before shaving (to make the hairs EASIER to cut).

Not only will a razor that "passes" the HHT on a moist hair potentially "fail" it with a dry one....but your FACE may also be dry and more sensitive resulting in elevated potential for irritation. In the winter, if I work outside for a day, I reach for the Nivea Sensitive aftershave balm....if I work inside where the humidifier is doing its job, I can enjoy my Clubman AS.

Do not sweat it...at 4 shaves in, you have plenty of learning to do probably...and a little AS irritation is NOTHING...heck, it could be that your face is just finally getting around to protesting the new stresses it is encountering with straight shaving.

Take a day or two off, and hit it again. This ain't a race, it is a double marathon;) If you are not bleeding like a stuck pig, you are doing fine!

I did not shave for three days and I had some pretty thick stubble.

My face dose not feels a lot better than it did last time, hardly any burn 20 minutes after putting on AS (before my face was burning for over an hour). However there is a lot of hair left on my face, like it got skipped over by the blade.

On my cheeks it looks like the whiskers got passed over, my neck not so much, is relativity smooth. I guess I can chock that up to blade angle. I tried my best to keep the spine as close to my face as possible, maybe when I was doing my cheeks I had it too close.

The blade defiantly grabbed a lot around my chin (both on the curve and the flat part right after the curve on the jaw).

My hair in that area is all over the place in terms of grain, I had to keep moving the blade around (top down, down top) to avoid the grabbing. At one point, I gently tugged the blade against the hair and could defiantly get a solid tug in. I do not know if this is because I was going ATG, because my stubble was thich, and/or if it is because the blade is dull. I stretched my skin a fair amount, perhaps not enough.

No cuts but I have about 4 or 5 nicks around my mouth (no tugging when I was shaving there).

Any input would be appreciated. I am still trying to figure out if it is me, the blade, or both.