Adjust for Skin or Whiskers

For those with adjustable DE razors -- do you adjust to match
your skin or to match your whiskers.

I.e. what does 1-9 mean to you.

Both, I suppose. The higher settings do work well for longer whisker length, however on a day to day basis I usually adjust for comfort ie a medium setting to start. Very rarely have I found a need/desire to go past 6.

I used to use a variable system; say 6 for WTG, 4 for XTG and 3 for ATG/touchups. Lately I've been using my adjustable more like a fixed head, leaving it on 4 or 5 for the entire shave. That works quite well too.

i just recently picked up my first adjustable.. a 1962 slim.. and for the first few shaves i just kept it on 3 and enjoyed a very mild and enjoyable shave.. it was a huge difference from my merkur 34c... today however.. i was working with 3 days growth and i figured i'd see how setting 9 felt.. it was a quick mow down really got the job done.. so i tuned it back down to 3 and did a second pass. seemed to work fine..

but to be honest i was considering starting this exact thread to find out what else to try.

Well I posted it because I discovered that if I set the razor for
my skin (tender) and select a sharp blade for my whiskers (bristly)
I got a better shave. I kept wanting to turn up the razor to
eleven for my whiskers but my face revolted.

And now with more attention to shave prep to soften
my "bristles" and dialing the razor "down" for my skin
I have many more different DE blades to select from.

that is a very good point.. i guess i don't switch the blades up enough to do that.. i've mainly just considered the adjustment as a way not to clog up the blade when my stubble is a bit longer.

Yep you adjust for your skin but more important you adjust for your whiskers and the blade you are using really can trump the others. Maybe someone can come up with a formula to figure it out.:)

It depends partly on the razor. A Slim on the top setting is not the same as a Futur on its top setting (Yikes!)

Before I got into Straightrazors I had a Merkur vision.
I found that what blade I was using i.e. Wilkinson or Feather had a lot to do with what level on the DE that ended up being the most comfortable.