Thread: How many shaves on a straight razor before the edge needs a refresh?

Shave #70, still going well. Not freshly honed but if you shaved with it, you’d find it difficult to believe that there are 70 shaves on this edge with nothing but linen and leather maintaining it. And it’s shaving well both feel and closeness. There’s another thread here discussing this kind of maintenance, and I have apparently settled on a very similar routine independently of that post which I did not see until I started looking because of this one.

I have a razor with 99 shaves and counting. It's presently out of my seven day rotation, but I will not hesitate to keep upping the count if it goes back into use.

I haven't done an edge retention test before, but was spurred to on another thread. Got my WH Morley an Escher edge and have gotten to my 9th shave.

Rarely used a razor twice in a row, let alone actually counting shaves on it. I know I have a couple that saw 40 or more shaves, but thats really just a guess at best. My urge to try a new stone or method usually kicks in when a razor has seen 10 or so shaves.

My routine is 2 pass WTG & ATG on cheeks and 3 passes on the neck. 40-40 linen & leather post shave and 60-125 before a shave on a Kanayama 30k.

The biggest issue for me is that I only shave 2 or 3 times per week due to time constraints, so racking up a high number (over 50 or 60) is gunna take awhile.

Never really kept track. Got some that have only seen leather with a lot of shaves on them though.

If dinnermint hadnt posted it id say it was my post. Thats how close it is to my routine. Even the shave passes.
After the last 12 months of honing to be sure every razors edge was right, ive started my count over. I think the most one razor has to date is 4 shaves. Its on my log so I know its correct. So, I guess I will reply again in 30 years to see where Im at then. As its going to take at least that long when i never use the same razor in 3 or 4 months time.

Sounds like I need to be looking at a quality strop with both leather and linen components.

Originally Posted by slim6596

Sounds like I need to be looking at a quality strop with both leather and linen components.

That is a smart move.

75 now on the Filly 14 Sub Cero. It will no longer deliver that powdered BBS shave, but it is knocking out DFS every single shave. Not too shabby, it’s still very comfortable shaving and hasn’t changed much since #35 or #40.

Will a quality vintage razor shave noticeably better shave than this Gold Dollar 1996?

Originally Posted by slim6596

Will a quality vintage razor shave noticeably better shave than this Gold Dollar 1996?

I would go to the forum search box, upper right corner, and type in "Gold Dollar". There should be quite a few threads on the subject of Gold Dollar razors. The subject of Gold Dollar razors is another one of those that is like opening a can of worms.

Bob