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

15-30 shaves depending on if I have like a coticule edge/jnat edge. I like to hone though so it never bothers me to touch up a razor if I don't like how sharp it is. Also I have been honing 1-2 razors every other shave or something like that while practicing my jnat edge. I have only been shaving for just a year or so with SR and I probably hone more than I should on razors that I not practicing my jnat edge on. I also don't use CrOx or anything like that just either the strop or the stone.

Depends and is very dependent upon several things I would say. Things like the following come to mind:

-Facial hair coarseness
-How well you strop (your technique) the blade to set it up for the next shave
-Quality of the straight

This is just three things and I am sure there is more. Once I finish a shave and I have 16 in rotation I believe, I clean the razor of soap then dry it; then I run it across a nice German linen fabric stop to heat up the blade and set it up for the next; next is to run it across a Dovo (black) pasted leather stop several times and maybe even up to 20 x's; then I will sometimes finish with plain leather or even use my paddle strop with the CrOx infused to really bring the edge to.

I average about 8 estimated shaves before I take them to the Thuringian or Naniwa 12K for tuning up. I don't shave daily but about every other day. That means if I did my math right, about every 8 months a blade gets put to the stone for a light refresher. Maybe quicker if it warrants.

Like everyone else has said there are so many variables it is hard to say what an average is for everyone. I shave every day and do 4 passes. Here is what I found out when I was curious about the same thing for myself.

https://straightrazorpalace.com/shav...er-honing.html

Seems an edge can last quite a while for me personally.

Bob

Rookies ask this question all the time. It's probably in the top 10 questions and in all the years I've been around these parts the answer hasn't changed.

The answer is there is no answer. Like others have said there are too many variables.

From my own experience I've had razors give hundreds of shaves before requiring a touch-up and some needing it after 15 shaves.

Proper-stropping, indefinite, IMO

I have four razors in my current rotation. I use one razor per month. Shaving every other day means ~15 shaves. Because I enjoy using my hones I touch up the next month's razor at the end of the current month. The few times I've been too busy, the blade saw an additional 15 shaves with the standard linen/leather maintenance. Have always managed to get through the month just fine with standard maintenance. So 30+ is easily doable for me, but I choose to touch up for the grins.

I currently am rotating five razors daily shaving and have yet to feel any need honing. My first razor shaves like its first shave. Im still new but conservatively its seen 30-45 shaves for that one as it was my only requisite for a short bit.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Rookies ask this question all the time. It's probably in the top 10 questions and in all the years I've been around these parts the answer hasn't changed.

The answer is there is no answer. Like others have said there are too many variables.

From my own experience I've had razors give hundreds of shaves before requiring a touch-up and some needing it after 15 shaves.

Do not bother counting the number of shaves on a blade; that number is meaningless. Let your face tell you when it is time to refresh the edge. If you have a light beard and good steel in your razor, you might be able to go for a very long time between refreshes. If you have a fast-growing, tough beard and sensitive skin, you won't go anywhere near that long. I have enough razors that I only use a blade about once a month. I will refresh the edges about every six months on average (that is, after about six shaves). Blades with good steel (like TI C135 Carbonsong steel) may go a little longer. However, the trade-off is that honing the C135 edgers takes a little longer due to the high carbon content. At the other end of the spectrum are my Gold Dollar razors that hone quite easily, but don't hold an edge quite as long.

Refreshing an edge is quick and easy if you have the right tools, so do not try to get a few extra shaves out of a blade just to meet some artificially imposed standard. If the razor starts to tug or feels rough on your face, take it out of service and refresh the edge to where it needs to be. You face with thank you for it.

Since I rather enjoy honing my own razors nearly as much as shaving with them, the question for me is sort of like the ol' Tootsie Pop commercial from the '70s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6rHeD5x2tI

I shaved with one straight razor from mid-December to mid-June, or a period of around 180 days. But I shave every third day, so that means more like 60 shaves. During that period, I touched up the edge on a finishing stone twice, once out of curiosity to try a new stone and the other because the edge started to feel a little bit different. So that's a touch-up around every 20 shaves, or maybe every 30 out of necessity for me. But like others here, I'm inclined to do a touch-up as I like the honing process itself.