Hi folks,
I have a question about straight razors and I want to separate myth from reality.
Is it true that you need to "rest the blade" of a razor after each shave? By this I mean, having shaved with razor A, you need to, after stropping it, leave it be for at least 24-48 hours before shaving with it again? And during that 'rest time', move to razor B instead?
Was this one of the reasons behind those seven-day razor sets (apart from also having more razors and thus less honing to do)?
I ask because about two weeks ago, I nicked myself with my straight razor. I waited a couple of days and shaved again...again I nicked myself. I waited a little longer and shaved again. Nicked myself again. I finally stopped shaving for about a week to give the nick time to heal. When it was done healing, I had another shave with that same razor (which was also freshly stropped) and the shave was horrible. I didn't hurt myself, but the shave was crap. It wasn't cutting anything. I put the razor down and picked up my OTHER straight razor (also freshly stropped) and went to town with it.
In five minutes I'd shaved off four days of stubble and my face was perfect. I hadn't used this razor in at least two weeks while during that time, I'd used the other one (with varying degrees of success) during the same time.
Does this mean I need to hone the other razor 'cause it's gone dull? Or is it just not complying with me because I've used it too frequently over the last couple of weeks and it needs to 'rest'? Because despite the stropping, it wasn't doing much good...